Have you every been haunted by a decision you have made? Ten years later a man you accused of murder has died in prison, but new information emerges that cause you to question you testimony. A g
Journey into the past reveals the true killer. No one would have guessed.

This book is dark, haunting, and unputdownable in the best way possible. It's full of suspense with well-developed characters and gripping past-and-present alternating chapters. The It Girl is a slow burn, building up suspense as you read further. Ruth Ware has produced another great thriller!

I've read a few of Ruth Ware's books, and they absolutely never disappoint. This particular story follows a woman through her college career and her best friend's murder, to the present day where her murderer dies in jail, claiming his innocence. It goes back and forth to give you the whole story, and there was a twist at the end that made the red herring all the more worth it. I look forward to more of Ware's books.

For a fast paced ride from a Queen of Crime, be sure to get a copy of Ruth Ware's latest novel, The It Girl. Ten years after Hannah's college roommate, April is murdered in their dorm room at Oxford, the porter convicted of the crime, John Neville, dies in prison.

Neville always proclaimed his innocence and it was Hannah's testimony that led the jury to convict him. His death prompts Hannah to question his guilt and she is determined to get to the truth. If John Neville didn’t kill April, then who murdered April?

What Ware does beautifully is seamlessly move from alternating perspectives of before and after as she leads the reader on a spine tingling journey to the big reveal. While the plot and twists and turns kept me turning the pages, there were times the plot felt a little slow.
Not my favorite book by Ruth Ware, but still a great book!
Definitely worth reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Galley/Scout Press for the e-arc.

The It Girl is positively irresistable! Mostly a murder mystery, The It Girl also touches on peer pressure, social and economic disparities, friendship, and love. But it's the death of "It Girl" April-pretty, popular, and privileged-the "must have's" to be an It Girl-that is the heart of the novel. April is a mere college freshman at Oxford University when she is found strangled in her dorm. Suspicion immediately falls on college porter John Neville. He's had creepy and disturbing interactions with April's roomate Hannah, and is seen coming out of their dorm immediately before April's body is found. Neville is charged with the crime and spends 10 years in prison before his death. When Hannah learns there's potential evidence John Neville may not have committed the murder, her world is turned upside down. Hannah is married to April's ex boyfriend Will, further complicating the situation. Unable to live with possibly sending an innocent man to jail (and the thought the actual murderer is roaming free), Hannah is determined to find out what really happened to April, despite Will's pleas to leave the past behind and focus on their married life and impending parenthood.The It Girl flips back and forth in time between April and Hannah's first year at Oxford, and Will and Hannah's life ten years later. The dual narratives are crisp and smooth, with easy flow between the timelines. The It Girl does lag at times-and with a minimal list of suspects you'll accept and reject each one until the last pages. The ending is a head turning "I never saw that coming" moment that feels both brilliant and implausible at the same time. The It Girl is a quick read that is perfect for the beach. Enjoy!

The It Girl, Ruth Ware’s new psychological thriller, is my favorite of her books so far. Hannah and April are roommates at Oxford but couldn’t be more different. When April ends up murdered at the end of their first year, Hannah testifies that she saw John Neville, a campus porter leaving their stairwell moments before the body was discovered. On her testimony , Neville is found guilty and sent to prison. Neville proclaims his innocence until his death. Could Hannah have gotten in wrong?

The story follows two time lines, before and after. “Before” is where you learn about the characters and follow them through that first year at Oxford. “After” is ten years later and Neville has just died in prison. It is at this time that Hannah begins to question exactly what she saw that night and what really happened to April. As she begins to dig deeper , everyone comes into question.

Even with all the twists and turns, it is an easy read that will keep you turning the pages to see who really killed April and what will happen next. Fans of psychological thrillers and especially Ruth Ware will not want to miss this one.

A great mystery thriller from Ruth Ware. I really liked the setting and the characters. The mystery kept me guessing right to the end. The Before and After dual timelines is always a favorite of mine. I love getting to see the characters 10 yrs before while in college and after in the present. This is a great summer read!

This was a fun thriller from Ruth Ware that kept me guessing. Told in two interchanging parts, Before and After, it tells the story of Hannah, her “It Girl” college roommate, and the tragedy that changed her life forever. Twisty but not too complex.

I never miss a chance to read one of Ruth Ware's books and this one is definitely my favorite of hers to date! I love when I'm half way through the book and an unexpected twist turns everything upside down. This one was suspenseful right up until the very end. I gave it 4 stars here, but it is really more 4.5 stars for me! A perfect beach read!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

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This is an page turning murder mystery as only Ruth Ware can write. It is full of atmosphere with chapters alternating between the present and the past.. That adds to the suspense and drama. April is one of the first persons that Hannah met at Oxford. April is truly the IT Girl, bright and outgoing. They form and tight group of friends, but by the end of the first term April is dead. Hannah testified that that the porter, John Neville . killed April. John has died in prison and Hannah questions her actions and whether he really was the killer. Was she wrong? No spoilers here, but Hannah begins to questions her friends and what they mght have to hide. Who killed April? Read The IT Girl to find out.

I really enjoyed this. It was a fun read in one of my favourite genres. I thoroughly enjoyed this one after enjoying the author’s previous work.

First things first, I give it 3 and 1/2 stars. Second my major gripe with this book is that April didn't seem like an "It" girl. Nothing that described her made it seem like she was the girl to be. I really just feel like it centered around Hannah and her doubts about the whole thing. Either way it was ok and I know people will love it.

Hannah and April are best friends. One night when they are celebrating with their friends, April leaves to go to back to their dorm room. Hannah, worried that she never came back to the party goes to check on her and she finds April dead. A few minutes earlier Hannah sees the Porter leave their room. The same Porter, John Neville that she filed a complaint against.

Fast forward ten years in the future. Everyone has moved on with their lives including Hannah. She is happily married and pregnant. When she hears that John Neville died in prison, still maintaining his innocence, she feels she owes it to April to find out who really killed her. As she digs into April’s death she realizes that one of their close group might just be the killer.

The book drags in a few places but the ending was amazing!

The It Girl by Ruth Ware takes place in two timelines, before and after the murder of a college girl. All the clues and twists and turns will keep you guessing until the end! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Pub date: 7/12/22
Genre: dark academia, thriller
In one sentence: April Clarke-Cliveden was the ultimate It Girl at Oxford - and her friend Hannah is still dealing with her death ten years later.

Oh, how I love dark academia! Ruth Ware excels at writing books where everyone is a suspect, and it's not until the last pages that you unravel the mystery. April and Hannah's opposites attract friendship was so much fun, and I loved watching queen bee April get into scrape after scrape, wondering how she would end up dead. This book takes the dark academia of The Maidens and improves it with a tighter plot and more satisfying ending, and there are also echoes of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife in the dual timeline.

If you enjoy dark academia and friends with secrets, I bet you'll enjoy this one! I read it on a plane and had to finish it before my flight landed. I know a lot of readers were disappointed with One By One, but this one is much more suspenseful!

Thank you to Gallery Books/Scout Press for providing a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Posted to Instagram 6/28/22.

In the past I've had good experiences with Ruth Ware's books. For me they've always fallen into the category of junk food reading. They aren't exceptionally written and usually fall flat in some areas, but are nevertheless fun to read. And I always devour her books within a short time period. However, The IT Girl didn't do this for me. It instead resembled a dry granola bar that was marketed a fun flavor.

It's hard to explain what felt different about this book without giving away minor spoilers, but a large part of it was most definitely the university setting and Ware's lack of ability to write younger characters. You could quite honestly stick this book in the YA mystery section of a bookstore and it'd fit right in. But while saying that, the 'current day' chapters of the book felt more adult. It often seemed like Ware wanted to go the dark academia route but was instead told she had to make it a domestic thriller. It simply had no cohesive vibe.

If you've read other Ruth Ware books you'll already know that her protagonists are usually duller than dull. But Hannah took that to another level. She was such an infuriating character to read from, and not in a thrillery 'ooh, she's mysterious' way. She was simply bland. You'd think reading from younger her and adult her would be interesting as surely she's matured even a smidge, but alas, nope. Her character continued to be dumb in any decision making and somehow became more whiny with age?

April, however, was interesting. While yes, she was a very stereotypical IT girl from a thriller standpoint, she did have layers and I was interested in reading more about her character. All the other characters, you ask? One of the same. Think The Secret History character list but without the eerie atmosphere surrounding them.

But what is a thriller review without a non-spoiler discussion on the twist? Well.. it was something. The ending of books has never been Ruth Ware's strong point (unless you're talking Turn of the Key, which I did wholly enjoy), and The IT Girl sadly continues that trait. It was lackluster and seemed to drag on without it needing to.

Basically, if you tend to read Ruth Ware's new releases, you may as well pick this up. It's more of the same. However, if you aren't that familiar with Ware's writing and are just looking for a fun thriller to pick up this Summer, skip this. It's not going to be a memorable read.

3.5 stars. I waffle on Ruth Ware novels, but I really enjoyed this one. Interesting characters, atmospheric setting, good pacing, this book had everything I ask for in a mystery read. My major gripe is that it felt a bit long, but this only knocked it down half a star for me, since it was an otherwise enjoyable escape from reality. Perfect for fans of Ware, Paula Hawkins, etc.

April Clarke-Cliveden had it all back in her college days. She had friends, money, charm, and everything else under the sun & more! Until she is murdered at college … Fast forward to the present, her roomate/best friend starts to question if the man who was convicted of her murder is actually guilty when he dies suddenly in jail.
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When I saw this one on netgalley, I had to request it! I’ve only read ‘In a Dark, Dark Wood’ and ‘One by One’! I have ‘The Turn of the Key’ and ‘The Women in Cabin 10’ on my bookshelf at home still to read. I really want to try and check those out soon. For this book, I enjoyed the different alternating timelines that were going on. When both timelines really fell into place it was so satisfying and interesting!! The characters were fantastic and developed very well. The plot in this one was intriguing! Twisty to say the least and kept me guessing throughout the story!! Thanks to @netgalley @scoutpress and @gallerybooks for the gifted ebook of this one! Make sure to check this one out when it hits shelves July 18th!

Ruth Ware’s books are hit or miss for me, and this one was a miss. The It Girl was a rehashing of alllll of the thriller/mystery tropes and ended up being quite dull. A super hot and wealthy girl is murdered and her much less glamorous best friend is left behind to mourn and wonder what happened (and marry the hot dead girl’s boyfriend). Then the man convicted of killing the hot girl dies in prison and now everyone is upset because some journalist guy thinks maybe he didn’t do it.

This would be a good read for newish thriller fans who might not see the twist coming, but nothing in it was much of a surprise for me.

Ruth Ware can be hit or miss with me. I find I either love her books or I don't finish them. The It Girl was one that fell into the first category for me. I liked this book a lot and it had me guessing to the very end. Parts were a little far fetched, BUT, I couldn't put this book down. Well done!
Thank you to NetGalley and Scout Press books for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.