My rating is somewhere at 3.5, I enjoyed the book but did not love it as much as others by Ruth Ware.
The settings were great, dark academia, and not too much drama, but it still felt like we were dealing with teenagers. Throughout the story, the reader was led in multiple directions and the twist was there, but not clear. I was able to figure it out, so it took my rating slightly down because I like thrillers that are unpredictable. However, the twist was very smart and if you weren't paying attention, it is very easy to miss it and be surprised at the end.
The pacing was slower than usual, so be aware that the build-up takes time in this book.

If you are looking for a not too creepy thriller with academic settings, this will be perfect.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC.

Ruth Ware has done it again with "The It Girl"! There's a reason why she's at the top of her genre!!! Great read!!

"The It Girl" is the second book by Ruth Ware that I've read. I know she has a loyal following, so I figured this book would be a good choice. The book picked up after a slow start, and I couldn't put it down.

There are two alternating timelines, "Before" and "After," and it is told from the perspective of Hannah Jones, whose Oxford roommate was murdered. While I found the book's first third, or so, to move slowly, it layed an excellent foundation and helped me get acquainted with all the characters. By the time I finished the book, I had a thorough understanding of what happened without any lingering questions.

Based on this book, I will go back and read some of the author's older works and wait for future releases.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

When Hannah's roommate is murdered in her university dorm room, it rocks their group of friends. All go their separate ways, but years later, Hannah and Will reconnect and end up getting married. When we meet them, Hannah is pregnant with their first child, and the man convicted of April's murder has died in prison. But his death brings up old worries for Hannah--it was her testimony that put the killer away, and questions have always swirled about his potential innocence. Her questions bring her back to campus for the first time in ten years, and back into contact with several members of her old crew. Did the right man go down for the crime, or was it one of their own?

Definitely one of Ware's better efforts! Lots of twists and turns and great character development. Really enjoyed this one.

This was a pretty solid, entertaining book. As others have mentioned, the pregnancy details tended to slow the pace at times, and I was much more interested in the “before” chapters, setting up the relationships between this group of friends, than I was with the “after” chapters dealing with solving the mystery. Still, overall I enjoyed it, and will recommend it to mystery fans. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

April is the IT girl. She has it all. Money, looks, the hot boyfriend.

She ends up murdered and her roommate, Hannah spends the next 10 years wondering if who she saw leaving the crime scene was the actual killer.

The book itself goes back in time and to the present day as this event spirals around the people affected.

Ruth Ware’s best book after Turn of the Key by far. The characters and plot are quite reminiscent of The Lying Game with a little less atmosphere.

I wanted to know if Neville really killed April or if it was one of the people around Hannah. The book had great twists and turns and things I saw coming and other things I didn’t expect.

My main beef: Hannah was a boring character that I just didn’t care for. I never understood why even April herself liked her. She was kind of a wallflower. Maybe that was the point of her character, but that is what had this book dragging in parts for me.

Overall, this book is a 3.75 and I enjoyed it. A solid thriller and if you’re a fan of Ruth Ware’s books, this one is definitely not one to skip. It’s her at her finest and I will definitely continue to read her future books.

Thank you Netgalley and Scout Press for this ARC e-book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm so bummed I didn't enjoy this one more! I LOVE Ruth Ware but her latest, The It Girl, is my least favorite of all of her books. I was engaged enough to want to finish but I found this one kind of lackluster. I was 70% in before it really picked up the pace and felt like a thriller. It reminded me a lot of The Maidens but with less red herrings and much better writing.

The It Girl is another winner from Ruth Ware. This psychological thriller about a group of first-year students at Oxford University covers a ten-year period and is told in two timeframes, "Before" and "After". The book's twists and turns had me eagerly along for the ride. Since the story revolves around the murder of one of the group, you find yourself picking out and dismissing the villain as the story moves along. A thrilling read!

This is the second book I've read by this author, and I have not been disappointed so far. Hannah is an incoming student at Pelham college, and she shares a dorm with April. April's family has money and privilege and she wants for nothing. People are drawn to April's beauty, charm and charisma, making her the quintessential It Girl.

Hannah finds April murdered in their common room after her play performance and all the evidence points to the porter, John Neville. Hannah testifies against Neville and he is put away. A decade later, Neville dies in prison still swearing he was innocent up until his death. This makes Hannah question if she put the right person behind bars for April's murder.

Hannah begins digging deeper, trying to remember the series of events that happened the night of April's murder and investigating the whereabouts of everyone that could have had a motive to kill April, which turns out is a lot of people. April was a bit of a prankster, and not a nice one at that.

This book was slow until 60% in and then it started to pick up the pace. The best part of the book was the last 20%. For this reason alone is why I knocked off a star. It took me much longer than normal to get through this book. Obviously the author wanted to give the reader as much background information as possible, which much of it was necessary and lent important information to the story and plot, but dang it was slow.

I was second guessing right until the very end, which is very much this author's style. I liked the ending and I thought it wrapped up nicely without any major loose ends. I would recommend this book to my thriller-loving friends.

Special thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one! This is my new favorite from this author. I loved the multiple timelines, and the settings at Oxford and in Edinburgh. I loved the characters. I did figure out the WHO but the rest kept me guessing. I was very pleased with the outcome. Cannot wait to read more from this author!

Ruth Ware has done it again. After a well deserved break, Ware has delivered a thriller that will keep you guessing and second guessing your intuition. The split timeline is done perfectly and the final act will get your heart racing. 5 stars

April Clarke-Cliveden had it all… friends, money, charm, charisma.. until she is murdered at college. Now decades later, her best friend and roommate begins to wonder if the man convicted was actually guilty.

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite contemporary thriller authors. I have loved all her books. Unfortunately this one is at the bottom of the list for me. It’s much longer than it needed to be. I was able to predict the “bad guy” and nothing really stood out about it for me. It is still a worthy read and will keep readers entertained, but it’s just not my favorite of hers. It’s has serious In My Dreams I Hold a Knife vibes to it, so I think a lot of readers will be pleased about that.

“She has stopped running from the monsters. She has turned to face them. She wants the truth.”

The It Girl comes out 7/12.

I was so excited to get this one early. I have had this on my list to read for months. I love her writing style and character development.

OH MY GOODNESS. Easily my favorite book from Ruth Ware and I have absolutely loved every single one of her books. This was non stop from the very first page and I am obsessed with this storyline. Her writing is fantastic and literally you never know what twists and turns she will throw your way. Outstanding novel. The characters were amazing and honestly I am ready to read it again!

Hannah wanted to be just like April from the moment they met at Oxford. She was the "It Girl" with all the friends, all the flair, the good looking boyfriend and all the right connections. When April is found dead by Hannah she is devastated but at least her testimony helped put away the killer. Years pass with Hannah and her husband (April's old good looking boyfriend) expecting their first child. When told that April's killer has died in prison Hannah feels a bit of relief until the reporter suggests that maybe the man convicted was actually innocent. The chapters flip back in time to re-examine what might have happened and take a deeper look into the old friend group which proves not just unsettling for Hannah but downright dangerous. THE IT GIRL is another example of why Ruth Ware is so good at mysteries that make you think as you fall down the rabbit hole with the main character. The perfect choice for readers of killer thrillers. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Ruth Ware does it again! I enjoyed this tale, even though I had a pretty good idea where it was going. The characters are compelling and the twists are well executed.

Thank you, Ruth Ware for never letting me down! Suspense, mystery, and intriguing characters are always a guarantee, and this one is no exception.

When Hannah and April meet at Oxford, Hannah is awestruck. April is gorgeous, smart, the life of the party and somewhat mischievous. The two of them enjoy their time with their group of friends, Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily, until April ends up murdered.

Now Hannah is married to Will, and they are expecting their first child. The horror of what happened should be in the past. But she just can’t seem to shake the feeling that mistakes may have been made, the truth may not yet be known. And she can’t be at peace until she figures it out.

I truly enjoyed every bit of this book. As it alternates between the past at school and present day, the reader really gets a chance to see into Hannah’s life, feel what she is feeling, and need to know what happened just as Hannah does. There are twists in the twists. Just another satisfying mystery given to us by one of my favorite authors.

Run to pick up a copy when it’s released on 7/12!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed the mystery and I was completely surprised by the reveal at the end. The novel goes back and forth starting with After which is about 10 yrs. since the murder of April to Before which it when Hannah and April meet the first day as dorm mates at Pellham. It goes through Hannah finding Aprils body and then stays in the present while Hannah is investigating the case after John Neville the man convicted of Aprils murder dies in prison and she is approached by a reporter who makes her question if he was innocent. This was really interesting and I loved reading about the friendships between the whole group Will, Hugh, Ryan and Emily before April was murdered and during Hannahs investigation she keeps uncovering things that she didn’t know about her friends and their relationships with April. So a good read and while the pacing was a little slow at times and there was a lot of emphasis on Hannah’s pregnancy which could have been cut down without losing any of the plot.


Thanks to Gallery/Scout Press and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

A decade. That’s how long it’s taken Hannah to build a somewhat normal life after finding her roommate strangled all those years ago. April, the golden girl, so loved by everyone.

Now Hannah has a husband, job, and baby on the way. But when the man convicted of killing April dies in prison, and new evidence comes to light that he might not have committed the crime, life begins to unravel again.

This is pure, perfect Ruth Ware. I love that Ware has gone back to the single narrator format, and uses that voice to create a chilling atmosphere. The reveals led to a perfect finale. Read this novel.

Interesting plot about a girl at Oxford University whose roommate gets murdered. 10 years later all the bad memories come back when the person convicted of her murder dies unexpectedly in prison. There is a lot of talk about the wrong person being convicted. Hannah left the university after the murder, unable to return to university life. She ends up in Scotland, as far away from Oxford as possible, married to one of her friends from Oxford. But not everyone remembers things the same way Hannah does and she begins to question her memory too. A good page-turner with a big twist at the end.