''Luckiest Girl Alive'' is a 2015

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mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

written by the American author Jessica Knoll, and is her debut work. It was first published on May 12, 2015, by

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in the

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, and

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, and is written in the

first-person narrative A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller, ...

. The novel follows a young woman, Ani Fanelli, who has sought to reinvent herself in her adult life, following a series a traumatic events she experienced as a teenager, including a school shooting and a

gang rape Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

. Throughout the story, Fanelli is referred to by several different names: Tifani, Tif, and Finny. The paperback version of the book was released in April 2016.

Synopsis

At first glance, 28-year-old Ani FaNelli appears to have a perfect life. She works as an editor at a glamorous New York City women's magazine called ''The Women's Magazine'' and has a loving fiancé named Luke from a wealthy family. Yet Ani also hides a secret – as a teenager, she underwent a series of horrifying and emotionally crippling events, including a

school shooting A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of firearms. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple c ...

, that have continued to impact her well into her adult years. During the course of the novel, it is revealed Ani was

d when she was 14. She tried reaching out for help after the assault, but was subjected to cruel bullying and taunts by her peers, who did not believe her. As the story progresses, Ani begins to question whether she is truly happy with who she has become, and if her current life is the one she wants and needs.

Development

While writing the novel, Knoll drew upon her own experiences of being gang raped and bullied as a teenager. Knoll did not initially make this public knowledge while promoting the hardcover book, at first telling fans she based the rape and aftermath on stories she had heard from other rape survivors. In March 2016, Knoll wrote an essay for the online feminist newsletter ''

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'', describing her own experience. She further stated that she came forward after interacting with several fellow rape survivors at book signings. She said: Knoll later stated in an interview that she "was so conditioned not to talk about it that it didn't even occur to erto be forthcoming".

Film adaptation

In April 2015,

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announced that they had obtained the film rights to ''Luckiest Girl Alive'', with

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set to produce. It was announced in February 2021, that

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was set to star in the film, now at

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. Produced by Made Up Stories and

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, the screenplay was written by Knoll and directed by Mike Barker. The movie was released on Netflix on October 7, 2022.

Reception

Critical reception has been positive. ''Luckiest Girl Alive'' has been compared to Gillian Flynn's 2012 novel '' Gone Girl'' and Paula Hawkins' '' The Girl on the Train''. The book received praise from ''

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'' and ''

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'', the latter of which wrote that "Recent newsworthy topics create a backdrop that can, at times, make the reader uncomfortable. Yet the visceral tension Knoll creates actually complements the reading experience."

References

{{reflist, 2 2015 American novels American mystery novels English-language novels Novels about rape Gun violence in popular culture 2015 debut novels Simon & Schuster books