I see a movie in the making! This was a great read with lots of twists, turns and many, many red herrings. You cared about the characters, their relationships….even though you knew this was a mystery. Great plot, good character development, one of the better mysteries that I read lately…and really-locations and actions will make a great movie!

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. I have loved every book that I have read by Ruth Ware and this book was no exception. The It Girl follows the lives of a group of friends from college. It is 10 years later and they are uncovering some facts about the death of one of their friends. You will be hooked with this book and begin to suspect many of the different characters. Just when you think you have it figured it the books turns in a new direction and surprises you. Read this book, you will not be disappointed.

Ruth Ware does it again – I love a good thriller and thus enjoyed reading The It Girl and thought it was a suspenseful and engaging read.

Hannah and April meet at Oxford as roommates who then turn unlikely best friends. Ware explores multiple timelines (one “before” and one “after") as we learn that April was murdered at the end of their first year of college. We are then left figuring out who killed April, the “It girl.”

Overall, I enjoyed this book. For the most part, I liked Hannah and thought she was a reliable character. April was so enjoyable and entertaining to read about. Was it a complete amazing shock at the end? Eh. But it was a good read and would recommend it. The It Girl is out July 2022!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book – I appreciate it so very much.

4.25
Ruth Ware hits it out of the park again. She really knows how to draw the reader in, while keeping us interested the entire time.
She keeps enough tension and intrigue in her writing to make you want to keep turning the page. I’ll definitely be purchasing this for my personal shelf!

I absolutely love Ruth Ware books! This one was really good. However, this was not my favorite. Ten years ago, a group of students all become friends in college. They have a lot of good times together as well as the typical teenage/early 20’s friendship issues including dating, jealousies and insecurities.

April and Hannah are roommates and are unlikely friends. If they had not been placed in the same housing area they probably would not have been friends. They make it work though. In come the others and they go through college together. April is then murdered and there is only one likely suspect and Hannah is the main witness.

Ten years later when the suspect dies in jail Hannah decides to revisit the case and her memory of the incident. She has been second- guessing herself for years. This opens a can or worms for all of the college friends and things turn complicated.

I felt that this book didn’t have the suspense or mystery that I am used to with Ruth Ware’s books. It is more that we are walked through a second investigation of the crime as Hannah is looking into evidence and talking to people that may have information that is new. This being said, I did enjoy reading it and always look forward to Ruth Ware’s books!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book. I appreciate the opportunity to give an honest review.

This is my second Ruth Ware work and once again she grabs the reader right from the start. Well-written, gripping and holds your attention. bravo

Newly pregnant Hannah Jones has a nice life with her caring and sweet husband, Will. Still in the back of her mind there always lingers the death that brought them together. Ten years ago, Hannah's roommate, April, (former girlfriend of Will), was murdered and discovered by Hannah. When the man who was convicted of April's murder dies while in prison, it is all brought to light again. Did he really do it? Hannah can't let go that he might have been innocent, and that maybe she missed something that night. As she digs up the past, she starts to wonder if their friends are as innocent as she thought.

This was such an enjoyable page turner! It had me guessing all the way to the end and I was so surprised by the ending! I couldn’t put it down!!

I love Ruth Ware and her latest book is no exception! The It Girl follows the lives of college freshmen as they navigate new friendships and coming-of-age decisions. Like all Ware novels, murder makes its way into the plot rather quickly and the reader will spend the rest of the book trying to figure it out. This one, in particular, I was sure I had solved quite early in the story but of course, I was wrong (and I was glad to be wrong!). This is a quick read and in some ways, bests her other novels with the character development.

Ruth Ware has done it again!!! The It Girl is the perfect book to get lost in one afternoon. Traversing back and fourth to when six students, April, Hannah, Emily, Hugh, Ryan, and Will, arrive at Oxford for their first year they become fast friends and in some cases more. By the end of that year, one of them lay dead. Ten years later, two in the group are married and expecting their first-child. The man who was convicted of the killing has died and prison and once again the case becomes big news. Was the man, as he claimed, innocent and wrongly convicted. The one who found the body begins to have serious doubts and won't be stratified until they know the truth. As in her previous titles, Ruth Ware is a master of creating suspense. This is a book you won't want to miss.

Really enjoyed this latest thriller from Ruth Ware. I sometimes get annoyed with novels that switch back and forth from the past to the present but in this story it really worked. Compelling and fully-realized characters and interesting settings.

Thank you to Netgalley, Gallery Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book.

I've read most of Ruth Ware's books and sometimes I fluctuate a bit on my responses. This one, however, hits most of my check boxes for a good thriller! While this narrative is told from two time perspectives (Before and After), both settings are great. In the Before, we get a great campus novel--one of my favorites. We spend a lot of time on campus with our characters so the setting is put to good use. The After setting is also fun: Scotland, where the protagonist works at an indie bookstore. My only complaint would be that we didn't get to see the setting put to as good of use as it could have been. It was really a great set-up.

This story gives the reader lots of culprits to consider--including the possibility that the man who went to prison for murdering the "it" girl 10 year ago was, indeed, guilty. I often find the final reveal of thrillers to be a bit too caricature and affected, and that does happen here to some degree, but it wasn't enough to stop me from flipping the pages. I also thought some sections were a tad drawn out, but in fairness that might have been a "me" problem, too, as I was reading this during a very busy time of the semester.

Overall a suspenseful and engaging thriller. If you're on the fence about this one, I'd suggest grabbing it and giving it a try.

The author does a great job of setting up many characters as the possible murderer--the victim has complicated situations with a lot of them, so the reader keeps guessing as to who was responsible. The two time frames also work well to create tension and establish the specific setting, which is described in detail and feels authentic.
Hannah as the main character feels a bit flat at times, though, and her relationship with her husband will lacks depth. The fact that she backtracks to try and solve the crime ten years later is set up by Neville's death, although the reader wonders why, if she had so many doubts, it hadn't come up before (also the fact that Neville is convicted solely based on her seeing him leave the building is questionable). Overall, a solid read with some feasibility issues.

Ahh Ruth Ware - I was so excited to receive a digital ARC for this novel because she is such an incredible mystery writer; I just had to get my hands on this one (Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this copy in exchange for my honest review).

This story follows April Couts-Cliveden and her developing friendship with Hannah, a girl she meets at Oxford. Over the first term at school, they become fast friends & develop their own small circle of friends - by the second term, April is dead. Years later, the man who was convicted of April’s murder dies in prison, and someone shows up at Hannah’s door with new evidence that suggests that someone else must have killed April.

Things I loved:
- the multiple timelines - it allowed for clues to be dropped when least expecting and added to the overall suspense of the novel
- the ending? a masterpiece. definitely did not see it coming.
- the college friend vibe is one of my favorites

I would definitely recommend this book for fans of Ruth Ware, excellent mysteries, and those who love stories that keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat!

Thanks to NetGalley and to Gallery Scout Press for the review copy.

This may be the best book Ruth Ware has written so far, and that is setting a very high bar!
The characters are well-drawn, especially the women. I loved/hated April, right along with Hannah. The male characters are not as detailed, leaving lots of room for suspects.

I was fooled right up to the end with all the twists and turns the author takes us on.

Well done!

I have read several books by Ruth Ware and was excited to receive an ARC.
I enjoyed the book and loved the alternating chapters between the pst and present. With all of Ruth Wares books, I was left guessing through twists and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced opportunity to read this book

Ruth Ware has definitely shown her eclectic nature with her latest, The It Girl. Her well-structured plot, divided by Before and After chapters, moves effortlessly, building suspense with each successive chapter. Taking place on Oxford's campus, her characterization of each student is realistic and distinct. You get to know these friends well. Like all of Ward's books, this one is a page-turner. 5 stars.

I was thrilled to have received this arc and dove right into. I’ve liked some of Ware’s books better than others but this one did not disappoint. Four college friends must revisit the murder of their friend/roommate after the convicted murderer dies claiming his innocence. Hannah, the victim’s roommate, searches to find answers to what really happened.

The multiple time periods, alternating between present day and college, work really well in creating and keeping a high level of suspense through the entirety. There is definitely an Agatha Christie feel to this with several possible suspects. The ending is absolutely brilliant. Ware has once again given readers of psychological fiction a real treat!

I really enjoyed the book. I loved how it jumped around to before and after. Was easy to keep track of the storyline. Kept me guessing and trying to figure out the answer.

Ruth Ware has done it again! She has solidified herself as a queen of suspense. The very first novel I read by Ms. Ware was The Lying Game, and I have been hooked by her exciting, quick-paced, unputdownable novels ever since.
Her most recent novel, The It Girl, is no exception to what I expect in her writing. Could it be her best novel to date? ...Very possibly and emphatically, yes!
From the moment Hannah meets April, we are brought on a tailspin of a story that wavers between "Before" and "After". Hannah is quiet, unassumingly pretty, and bookish. April is quite the opposite...outgoing, beautiful, and the quintessential "it girl". They meet at Oxford on move-in day and quickly become best friends. By the end of the second term, April has been murdered. This turn of events completely unhinges Hannah, and she spends the following 10 years trying to come to terms with April's death and the media coverage that comes with it. She begins feverishly replaying that night in her mind and obsessively wonders whether or not the right person was convicted in the slaying. Although it does take a few chapters to acclimate moving back and forth 10 years, I quickly found myself anticipating the jumps in time and filling in different pieces of the puzzle.
The It Girl is a thrilling, suspenseful, and thought-provoking mystery that holds on and doesn't reveal itself until the very end.