I definitely still look forward to every new Ruth Ware title. Great writing, and she always delivers.

Ruth Ware is an automatic read author for me. She never misses with her books.
The It Girl is a dark academic mystery. Hannah meets April in college and April is a bright, outgoing it girl who has everything going for her. However, when April ends up dead during her second term, all her friends are sent reeling. Ten years later, Hannah is married and expecting a baby. When the man convicted of killing April dies in prison, she is thrust back into the middle of the story again.
This kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. I loved the characters and the dark academic vibe.

I received a free copy for a fair and impartial review.

The It Girl was okay.
I was very sure that would become one of my favorites, but the story didn't draw me in. had true potential, but the telling left much to be desired. started and ended strong, but the middle was hazy. The narrative jumped around, leaving me confused. The writing was occasionally good, with a few genuinely humourous moments and some highly quotable lines. had so much potential but ultimately let me down.

The It Girl was another great book by UK author Ruth Ware. The suspense was slow building and the author took plenty of time on character development. I really felt like I was at school alongside Hannah, Will, and April. The book does take a bit to get exciting, but it's worth the wait. I thought I had April's murder figured out, but I was definitely surprised by the reveals. Can't wait to read more thrillers from Ware. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

A very solid mystery that kept me guessing! Seriously, I thought I had the ending figured out about five different times and was wrong each time… that is my idea of a great mystery. I will say, it could have been about 100 pages shorter.

4.5/5

Well Ruth Ware has gone and done it again and fully redeemed herself! While I wasn't a huge fan of One by One, I had high hopes that the next book would be better and of course, it was. I loved that not only is a lot of The It Girl set at Oxford but there is plenty going on in both timelines to really keep things interesting. I loved the way Ware blended the past and the present together until everything ultimately comes to a head, and there was exceptionally amazing suspense built by constantly switching between the two. April was the epitome of an it girl, and I could easily see why Hannah was drawn to her. The school setting is one of my favorites and I especially loved the way Ware brought Oxford to life despite being nervous about it.

I was also completely blown away by how the story ended and despite sensing something a little fishy, I couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly where that would lead. There was one aspect that just killed me and I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but the rest was perfection and totally shocking. As if you need another audiobook recommendation from me, but if you do, I will say that The It Girl is a great one! Imogen Church quickly became one of my favorite narrators and I have listened to so many books now that she has voiced. She did an amazing job with this story, and I found her very fitting to voice Hannah. Church is incredibly talented, and I promise you that you can’t go wrong with the audio. It is about 17 hours long as the book is a little chunky, and I swear Church literally made it speed by. This is a crazy ride and if you enjoy Ware’s novels you will not be disappointed!

I’ve enjoyed so many of Ruth Ware’s books, and can always count on her to bring the atmospheric settings and gothic mysteries and couldn’t wait to read her newest release, THE IT GIRL.

The book switches between Hannah’s arrival at Oxford and leading up to April’s murder and present day. Overall the plot was entertaining and I thought the pacing was done well too.

*many thanks to Gallery Books for the gifted copy for review

You know that one person that has everything and everyone as friends, the It Girl. April Clarke-Cliveden was just such a person and the first person that Hannah Jones met at Oxford. April is the center of a tight group of friends and includes Hannah. When April is murdered the group shatters and each makes their own separate ways.

Ten years later, the person who was convicted of murder, a night porter at the college, dies and a journalist contacts Hannah to say that he was innocent. Who else would want to murder the popular April? Can it possibly be a member of their group of friends who all have secrets?

I’m a huge Ruth Ware fan. Her books atmospheric, claustrophobic in the best way, and tend to veer towards modern gothic. She excels at a locked-room mystery. I’d be hard pressed to think of a current author who builds settings quite the way she does (the opening chapters at the desolate carnival strip in The Death of Mrs. Westaway are more vivid than a motion picture in my mind). Her latest book The It Girl felt a bit different from her others stylistically and while I really enjoyed this insightful and spine-tingling story, I definitely missed that extra gothic magic that Ruth Ware typically has in her books.

Ruth Ware’s settings usually steal the show for me in her books. The places she creates tend to take great stories to next level. In The It Girl, we got a touch of that in the flashbacks to college at Oxford and the suite where Hannah and April meet and live together. When our narrator Hannah Jones first arrives at Oxford, she meets the titular “it girl” April Coutts-Clivedon. April is a rich society girl, an early influencer when it was considered elite (before every reality tv contestant became one), and an actress. Her beauty is only outmatched by her charisma—April is one of those people who you want to be around and have like you.

Hannah couldn’t be more different—quiet, shy, and unsure of herself on her first day at Oxford, Hannah feels lucky to befriend someone like April. They quickly form a tightknit group of friends and Hannah finds herself nursing a secret crush on their friend (and April’s boyfriend) Will. But Hannah has other worries—namely a porter named John Neville, who she continues to have unsettling interactions with. When April is murdered towards the end of their second year and Hannah spots Neville coming down the stairs the very same night, her testimony puts him in prison for April’s murder.

In present day, April is married to Will and expecting their first child. She hasn’t ever totally processed what happened in university. In fact, she dropped out after April’s murder and never returned. When Neville dies in prison and a reporter reaches out to Hannah to talk to her about her testimony, he talks to Hannah about his theory that Neville was innocent all along.

The novel switches back and forth between Hannah’s arrival at Oxford and the months leading up to April’s murder and the present day, when Hannah reluctantly considers whether she could have helped put the wrong person away ten years earlier. The plot is cleverly crafted, and the scenes are compelling. I found myself a bit more interested in the past storyline, but that was in part because April was such a dynamic character and I was fascinated by the friend group and their secrets. I particularly liked the exploration of the trauma survivors go through and I enjoyed how detailed the stories of even the side characters were. Truly the characters alone make this book worth the read!

Ultimately, this is a great drama and story, but the mystery itself lacked a bit of Ware’s unique style. I really enjoyed the book and I only noticed the difference from my expectations because I am such a huge fan of Ware’s work. The ending is satisfying if not entirely unsurprising. This is a book that isn’t great because of the twists, but because of how much everything that happens fits together when the final reveal is complete.

I recommend this book for those who love a book with a compelling cast of characters and a delicate but compelling plot!

I was so excited to receive an early copy of The It Girl!! I love Ruth Ware’s work and this book was no exception.
Our story is about a group of college friends and the disappearance of one of their group members, the most popular one. A man was convicted of her murder and he died in prison. However, new evidence has come to light that he may not have committed the crime.
The friends struggle to come to terms with this information. They felt things were settled and resolved, and now there are new suspects. Can anybody be trusted? What really happened to April?
Ruth Ware doesn’t disappoint. Thrilling, edge of your seat writing. April is the stereotypical “rich girl,” so at first I struggled to identify with her as a character. However, the friend group was varied, and I felt connected to other characters in the group, which worked since April was deceased and her friend Hannah was asking questions 10 years later.
Another brilliant mystery by Ruth Ware!!

Bought this book for the library and it is takennn by out often. Another winner by Ruth Ware. Thank you, NetGalley!

I usually am in awe of everything Ruth Ware writes, but this one wasn’t my favorite. It felt so slow and dragged out. The end was the only remotely good part. I didn’t love any of it. The characters were mostly annoying, and the plot felt so slow. I wouldn’t recommend this one.

For ten long years, ever since the trial, in fact, she's been hiding from that spotlight. For ten years April's death has been the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up, and the last thing at night. And she knows it's been that way for Will too- they have spent the whole of their relationship with the shadow of April's memory looming over them.

Hannah had lived the dream of academia. Going to the most prestigious centers of learning in all the world - Oxford University's famous Pelham College. It will be her new home for 3 years. She will in the same halls of Nobel prize winners, great thinkers, politicians, all surrounded by her greatest love- books. Her roommate is April. She is everything Hannah is not. She comes from money. She is beautiful, livens up a room. She also has what Hannah wants- Will.

The narration is done before and after. Before April was murdered and after the death of her accused killer Neville. Ten years until he died in prison, Neville has claimed his innocence. With his death, Hannah is haunted that she has stolen her best friend's life. She is now pregnant and married to Will. For 10 years she has been wanting to forget the day she discovered her friend's body. What lead to April's death. Did she send the wrong man to prison?

This is my first book by Ruth Ware and hopefully it will not be last. She writes beautifully and descriptively. You could hear the bells ringing each morning in Oxford. The anticipation of Hannah and April's friends as they started their education that would lead to life long dreams of changing the world. There is a dark side too that the killer could be someone close. Someone that is calculating and could Hannah be the next victim. Like peeling an onion, the before and after reveals what you thought you knew about those closest to you and what you are willing to face.

A special thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Another Ruth Ware winner. The it Girl brings you all of those elements that make this genre so incredibly appealing.

Ever since The Woman In Cabin 10 I have been a big fan of Ruth Ware's writing. Suspense, intrigue, action, and creepiness galore.

The It Girl is told in alternating timelines, before and after. Ten years ago, before, Hannah found her roommate, and good friend, April dead. Now, after, a married and pregnant Hannah has tried to put the past behind her and move on with her life. But when April's alleged killer dies in prison and a journalist brings the case into the spotlight again, unanswered questions and suspicions arise.

The premise of this book drew me in and the twists, turns, and suspense kept me pulled in. Love Ruth Ware and anxiously await her next book. Thank you to Gallery and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 4 stars.

I love a book with the backdrop of college or a boarding school, so this was an automatic good read for me. I loved how I kept second guessing who the “bad guy” was.

Ruth Ware is a great at what she does. It was an interesting story, everyone has something to hide. Read if you like duel timelines, college relationships over the years and twist endings. I have to say, I didn’t guess it.

This book was not it for me.

It was VERY slow and took me months to get through. I contemplated DNFing it a few times but stuck with it and am just sort of meh about it.

I've read a bunch of this author's books before and they have been hit or miss, some I love and some I could do without so I wasn't that surprised to find myself not into it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I might try this one on audio to see if I would enjoy it more in a different format.

There is something about British-based fiction that feels right at the holidays. The It Girl starts at Oxford University ten years ago, and the story is split between the events of then, between a group of first-year "friends" and present day in Edinburgh, around the main character, Hannah, and her discovery that a friend's murder might not have been what it seemed. Very clever plotting. I didn't figure it out until near the end, and over all, such a cozy feeling! Thank you to Netgalley for my copy. My opinions are my own.

Told through alternating past and present timelines, the story is presented through the main character, Hannah’s, point of view. I loved her detailed descriptions of Oxford’s campus- they made me feel like I was walking the grounds with her myself.

This was a solid dark academia style mystery, that left me guessing until the very end. It was slightly long for my liking, but I binged it in two days, so don’t let that stop you from picking it up!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an e-copy of this novel to read and review!