Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour: You Never Know by Lilian Duval

Title: You Never Know
Author: Lilian Duval
Publisher: Wheatmark
Publish Date: January 1, 2011
Source: Pump Up Your Books

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Tobias Hillyer had a promising future until a car accident claimed the lives of his parents. Abandoning his dreams, he dropped out of college to take care of his orphaned, brain-damaged younger brother. Now in his late thirties, Tobias must struggle to provide for his family, working dead-end jobs that fall far short of the academic career he had imagined.
Then he wins the lottery.

His financial worries eliminated, Tobias anticipates nothing but smooth sailing ahead for himself and the people he loves. But he soon finds that his amazing stroke of luck may threaten everything he holds dear.

Over peaks and valleys, this uplifting journey will challenge everything we think we know about luck, life, and what we value most."

My Two Cents: 

I'm sort of mixed on this book. The first part of the story really drew me in. We meet Tobias, a young man, racked with guilt after his parents were killed and his brother was brain damaged in a car crash where although Tobias was driving the car, he did not cause the crash. He is left to take care of his brother, Simmy. Through Simmy's time in the hospital, he meets Carmela, a nurse, and falls in love. About the first two-thirds of the book talk about the building of Tobias' and Carmela's family. This part of the book covers almost 15 years.

They struggle financially but they get by. Then Tobias wins the lottery and everything changes... pretty much for the worse. Everyone wants to borrow money some for good purposes, some for not good purposes. Tobias and Carmela make some not good investments with their money. They're unhappy with each other and their family situation. Their daughter is kidnapped. Just one thing after another. I kept reading because at that point, I really liked Tobias' and his family and was fully invested in the characters but it was disheartening to read about all of their bad luck! The characters are really fantastic and really realistic and they are what drive the story along.