I am, like many others, an absolute sucker for a Ruth Ware. This is another fantastic mystery where everyone can reasonably be suspected, but I am missing her earlier narrators who gave me some reason to root for them. I'm finding less to connect with and enjoy about the people whose perspectives I'm reading from and her protagonists more often resemble, in the least flattering way, characters that I find in a Shari Lapena story. Hoping for a bit better the next time around!

This was an okay story. It lost my interest a few times and took me longer to finish. It would be a good pass the time book.

April Coutts-Cliveden was the kind of girl who could light up a room. When Hannah Jones arrives at Oxford, she's immediately drawn to April's sparkling personality and ability to make friends with nearly anyone she meets. As their friend group grows, Hannah begins to finally feel like she belongs. At least, until April is murdered. 10 years later, Hannah is finally at peace with what happened to April. Expecting a baby with Will, they've both settled into their lives after April's death. But when new evidence comes to light that points to a wrongful conviction, will Hannah be able to figure out what really happened to this it girl?

I really wanted to love this, and completely expect it to be everywhere this summer. However, it just wasn't for me. I felt that the pace was quite slow and a bit repetitive. I didn't find Hannah's character particularly compelling, and overall I just wasn't wowed.

I found this book a different kind of read than her previous books. The main character Hannah has lived through the murder of her best friend April back in college. The book is set 10 years later in her present life, married and pregnant, but flashes back to her college days. It’s told as “before” and “after”, giving the reader a first person view of Hannah’s college experience at Oxford, and her present life such as it is now. When the convicted killer dies in prison it sets the storyline in motion. He always claimed he was Innocent, making Hannah wonder if maybe she got it all wrong as the prosecution’s main witness.. Although I feel it started out slow the book finally caught my interest as each character continued to develop, keeping me hooked enough to want to know who was April’s real killer. Was Neville really guilty? Who can Hannah really trust? I enjoyed this book, but I’ve enjoyed some of Ruth Ware’s previous books much more.

The It Girl was a solid thriller packed with twists and turns. Although the characters and plot felt a little stale, Ruth Ware still did a good job of making me question what really happened. I enjoyed the dual timelines between past and present, and the academia setting of Oxford where many events of the book took place.

Ten years ago April was murdered in her dorm room on the prestigious campus of Oxford. Her roommate, Hannah, gave the witness testimony that convicted John Neville, college porter, of murder. Now after Neville’s death, a journalist has stirred the pot. Was Neville really guilty, or was he just a convenient scapegoat? Hannah is forced to go back and remember the days leading up to her best friend’s murder and could possibly find something she didn’t want to know.

Wow this book was incredible! I finished it about a week ago and still can’t get it out of my head. As always, Ruth Ware sets the tone for a perfect thriller. A group of really smart, cool college kids with lots of drama between them and a mysterious, old college campus. It’s truly the perfect setting! I loved everything about this book. It was so twisty, unpredictable, and realistic. I thought I had it figured out, but nope! I never saw that ending coming. It’s a book that I can see myself rereading just so I can see the clues I missed along the way. What an amazing book!

I received a copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Wow wow wow! I loved this book so much. I haven’t read a thriller in a while, so when I saw the new Ruth Ware book on NetGalley, I knew that this would be the perfect ARC to get me back onto my thriller game. This book delivered. I am a big fan of Ware’s writing, and this might be my favorite of her books yet.

The novel centers on Hannah Jones, telling the story leading up to, and ten years after, a horrific event happens to her while at university at Oxford. Hannah’s roommate, April, was murdered and Hannah is the one who found her body. The plot goes back and forth between the before and after with each chapter, allowing the reader to get to know Hannah and April and their gaggle of friends, and then the repercussions of everything that happened after. I loved this design for the plot and thought it was really well done and a great way to progress the story.

The characters were incredibly well written. They were pretty complex people, and both likable and not trustworthy at the same time. Ware does such a good job in writing people who are so realistic and does it in a way that makes them come to life.

The plot was so full of twists and turns! I kept trying to guess what really happened, and had so many theories about whodunit or what occurred, but I was SHOCKED when the truth was revealed. I have to say, up until right before it happened, I had no suspicion of that. Well done Ware. I was very much in the dark there.

And speaking of dark, this book is perfect dark academia vibes. I mean, it is set at Oxford University after all. Gives me all the aesthetics I need or could want in a book. The setting was so beautifully written, and I could picture everything in very clear detail.

I would considered the book pretty medium paced for the majority, with the last quarter picking up the pace and making it so you cannot set the book down!

Overall, we have another masterpiece from Ruth Ware. She is a queen at what she does, and is one of my must-reads for thrillers!

Borrow/Buy: Buy
Would I reread: Absolutely!
Would I recommend: If you are a thriller fan, you have to read this.

i t has been 10 years since the murder of her roommate at Oxford and Hannah is finally leaving it in the past. But when the convicted killer dies in prison and a journalist claims to have new evidence that he may have been innocent Hannah finds herself questioning everything. The more questions she asks, the more confused she becomes. What really happened to April? And is the real killer someone close to Hannah?

The IT Girl was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint! Thank you so much to Ruth Ware and Gallery Books for my ARC. This book was about Hannah and April, two friends who met at Oxford and quickly became best friends. April is rich and carefree, living her life to the fullest. Hannah is so excited to meet new friends and quickly becomes part of the group. When April is found murdered, Hannah’s life will never be the same. Now years later, Hannah is married and has tried to move on with her life. When April’s convicted killer dies in prison, a journalist finds Hannah and hopes she will help him clear the killer’s name and find the person he thinks really killed April.

Thoughts: You know I am a sucker for an academic thriller. I loved the setting of Oxford and the amazing character group Ware wrote into this group. I could imagine them all and loved the set up she provided. I felt that April was pretty much Caroline Calloway, and Hannah was Natalie, happy to be in her world. Like any book by Ruth Ware, the story is gripping, well-written, and completely absorbing.

I really loved the characters in this book, even if there were a few things that didn’t add up. The atmosphere was wonderful and the tension was great. Hannah was totally reckless which was irritating to me, and I’m not sure why she was so hung up on April if she was such a bad friend. Anyway, I think the reveal was obvious and much too drawn out. There were lots of red herrings but only one obvious answer. I will absolutely always pick up the newest book by Ruth Ware, and this is no exception. You will see it as a book club choice soon, as I think it will definitely create some good conversation! 4-stars!

I was lucky enough to be selected as an ambassador for Tandem Global Collective to get to participate in a readalong of THE IT GIRL thanks to Scout Press Books for the gifted ARC copy!

Grabbing me from the start, Ware quickly immerses us in the culture at Oxford, and the unlikely friendship between our main character Hannah and it girl, April Clarke-Cliveden who is murdered in their first year of college.

The thing that made this book for me was the relationships. In both timelines the way these characters connect, the secrets kept and strong personalities make the whodunnit aspect interesting and had me guessing until the very end.

How each of the characters related to Hannah and her feelings leading up to and after April’s death was so real and raw — I don’t want to spoil any of the twists and turns but loved how Ware wrote the setting in a way that lent itself perfectly to this mystery, the feelings of college and that in-between vibe of being a new adult. I loved how the past impacted Hannah’s present with will and how the nostalgia, guilt, and determination all played into the plotline.

“She stands for a moment, looking at the shadow of the girl she left behind, bidding her goodbye.
And then she lets the door close, and turns to face the present.”

4/5 stars from me, I've been on a thriller kick this month and always love a great readalong, they always make the book more interesting for me.

I’m always a fan of Ruth Ware and this book was a lot of fun. It was different from what I was expecting but I really enjoyed it. It started out on the slower side but once I got to the half way point I couldn’t put it down. I would highly recommend this book and look forward to more from RW!

I love Ruth Ware and was really excited for this title. It did not disappoint! The setting at Oxford made this book especially appealing.

Ruth Ware has done it again with an outstanding mystery that pulls the reader in and keeps them there until the very last page.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Another great read from Ruth Ware. I love Ruth Ware’s writing and storytelling. She is an automatic but author for me.

I struggled between giving this 3 and 4 stars, so I'll say outright I'd settle at a 3.5/5. Although I've never read anything else by Ruth Ware, I've heard of her in recent years as a big fan of the mystery/thriller genre. The It Girl is a story with two timelines - before and after the death of a popular Oxford student named April, through the eyes of her admiring roommate Hannah. Although the format and plot details are not groundbreaking, Ware crafts some interesting characters and several red herrings that left me ultimately surprised by the ending. This was not my favorite book of the year so far by any means, but I enjoyed the adventure and playing whodunnit.

This book just kind of fell flat for me. The story should have been interesting, but there was very little sense of tension, suspense, or even mystery. Told in dual timelines, this is the story of Hannah and the defining event of her life--the murder of her roommate and de facto best friend, April. The two bond in their first weeks at Oxford, along with a small group of other classmates. When April is discovered dead several months later, Hannah believes she knows who killed her, but all of April's "friends" seem to be affected by the murder in one way or another. Many years later, the man convicted of April's murder dies in prison, and Hannah begins to wonder if she pointed the finger at the wrong person.
This book just felt disjointed and a bit uninteresting. In the "Before" timeline, I just really got bored: we know that April will end up dead, but there was absolutely no feeling of suspense or doom. It just seemed full of anecdotes about how terrible of a person April was--were we supposed to think she deserved to die? The creepiest part of that timeline was John Neville, the man in jail for April's murder. I didn't have any sympathy for him, either, and so Hannah's quest in the "present" timeline to find out if he was really guilty seemed weird because John was so unsettling.
And then in the "After" timeline Hannah seemed like a completely different person than "past" Hannah. Not to mention the fact that she seemed to be dealing with debilitating PTSD-like symptoms. I really wondered how she had survived this far in life without having some sort of complete break-down.
When the tension finally picked up towards the very end of the book, it was too little, too late. I really didn't care what happened to Hannah, and was really only interested in who had actually murdered April and how they did it.
I don't think I would recommend this book. The pacing needed to be tighter and the book suffered from a lack of tension.

I've enjoyed all of Ruth Ware's books so far and this one was no exception.

Oxford is one my favorite book settings, and this story goes back and forth from the present to the main character's time as a freshman at Oxford. The 'whodunit' theme was a familiar one, but this story had an interesting spin that made it feel fresh.

My only complaint is that it may be a little drawn out, but the ending was perfect and definitely made up for any slow parts along the way.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.75) rounded up to 4

Keeping this short and sweet because it was the last of my vacation/plane reads!

I loved the Oxford setting of this! It was a bit of a slower pace but kept my interest. I had a feeling who the killer was but there was a surprising/interesting motive and means.

This wasn’t my favorite of hers (I preferred IN A DARK DARK WOOD but liked it more than THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10) but it was entertaining! It’s not the most original plot but I think fans of her other books and of Lisa Jewell will enjoy this. I’d describe it as ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL meets IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE (without the frat/sorority stuff).

⚠️: eating disorder, stalking, murder, pregnancy, kidnapping, bullying, toxic relationship

Ruth Ware is a favorite thriller author and The It Girl didn’t disappoint. I thought I had it figured out quickly, and then at some point I thought every other character could’ve done it through the twists thrown our way. I’d say it’s more of a “who done it” than thriller, but I’m quite alright with that. The ending had my heart racing. Slow build up for the majority of the book, but over all incredibly done.

Not my favorite Ruth Ware, but pretty darn close! I loved all the twists and turns that keep you guessing, even though you are expecting them. I'm so glad I was able to read the ARC so I can handsell it to my customers from Publishing Day on!