Spoils by Tammar Stein

©Stephanie Tiner 2018

​When Leni’s parents won the lottery, she was a young girl, they went a little crazy. They built an elaborate mansion, they put Leni and her sister in the most expensive private school they could find, and even bought her a dolphin for her birthday; she made them return the dolphin, of course. Now the money is running out and the only money left is in Leni’s trust fund. She knows her parents expect her to give it to them even though she knows it will disappear the same way the rest of the money did.
When her older sister, Natasha, confesses to having had something to do with their parents winning the lottery, Leni doesn’t know what to say. When Natasha claims that the money is a curse she begs Leni not to give it to their parents and to find a way to break the curse before it is too late. But how?
This book was nothing like what I was expecting. Absolutely nothing. The synopsis gave me no warning at all. That said, this was still an interesting, mostly good, read.
Leni’s personality was very easy for me to relate to. We seemed to share a lot of ideas and opinions, which I found very interesting as this does not happen as often as some might think.
Leni is more of a laid-back realist. She loves science and cares about the environment and does not put a lot of stock in the extravagant luxuries so many people long for. She knows that her trust fund money could help her attend any college she could possible wish to attend without the stress of tuition. However, she is well aware of her parents’ financial straits as well and though she feels it isn’t the best use of her money, in a sense, she is willing to give it to them anyway.
She cares about the people in her life, even the ones she sometimes doesn’t like. And this caring helps her find the strength to do what is right in the end.
I found her family to be rather obnoxious, however, I also found them to be realistic. Her brother’s slovenly behavior and her mother’s destructive pride are something we know can exist.
The setting is fitting to the character of Leni as well as to the underlying message. I also highly enjoyed the slight love interest’s character. His character is refreshing compared to most of the other characters. I also enjoyed his dedication and new ideas.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel even if it was far from what I had anticipated. I gave this book four out of five stars and would recommend it to fans of Christian coming-of-age novels.
I bought my copy of this novel from my local Dollar Tree and the image above is my own. 

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