I enjoyed this book. The setting and characters were all interesting, especially Sprinkles. The locked door mystery came to a plausible conclusion. We were given the clues at the same time as Riley which was nice. The ice cream recipe at the back was a good bonus.

Fun, rich, and effervescent April is the first person that shy and quiet Hannah meets at the Oxford campus. Opposites in many ways, the roommates become fast friends. Hannah is excited to become part of April's orbit, even as she pines for her new friend's boyfriend, Will. But by second semester, April is dead--the victim of a murder that instantly becomes front page news. A decade later, now expecting a baby with Will, Hannah has finally put April's death behind her. That is, until a journalist confronts Hannah with evidence that the person put away for April's murder is actually innocent. And the main piece of testimony that put him behind bars? That had been Hannah's eye witness account...

As a thriller reader, I'm obviously all over Ruth Ware. I begged the universe for an advanced reader copy of this book and was thrilled (get it??) when NetGalley came through for me. I started it immediately, What I liked about this book was Hannah's character. We follow her the entire time, flipping between the past and the present, zooming towards a surprising conclusion. Despite marrying her dead best friend's boyfriend, Hannah is a very likeable and relatable person. Because we see the tumultuous friendship between the two girls during their first semester in Oxford, I felt like I really understood how Hannah could both love April, and hate her a little bit. April is narcissistic and cruel at times, and treats Hannah like a pet, and yet Hannah admires her because when she's feeling generous, she's warm and kind. In some ways the book reminded me of the first season of Veronica Mars, which is a mega favourite of mine. Points to Ware for making me feel on edge when alone at night.

What is keeping my rating from being higher. is that I would have enjoyed more of a twist in the ending. I also would have liked if things had moved a little faster in the present timeline because they didn't really pick up until the last quarter of the book. I would give this one 3.5-4 stars! Can't wait for more Ruth Ware. Thanks again NetGalley!

I love Ruth Ware books and this one certainly did not disappoint! She is a master of suspense, weaving her characters and plots into a web full of surprises. This who-done it jumps back and forth from students at Oxford to present day. It is full of twists and turns and keeps you guessing as to who might be the murderer.

A great story!! True page turner, kept the reader guessing at solving the mystery until the end! Highly recommend this book

Ruth Ware does it again as The It Girl has all the clues, twists and turns which make a fast-paced murder mystery successful.

Before: Hannah Jones and April Coutts-Cliveden from two different worlds become fast friends when they are roommates their freshman year at Oxford. April is wealthy, was an abundance of energy and is malicious at times with her pranks. April the “It” girl is murdered in their second semester by a creepy campus porter, John Neville.

After: 10 years later April’s convicted killer who always claimed his innocence passes in prison. Hannah married and expecting her first child, after ignoring all journalist for years, decides to communicate with a young journalist who has new evidence. Is the real killer still out there!

The campus setting came alive and the characters were well defined whether likeable or not. The Before and After structure of writing was very easy to follow and made this page turner thriller/mystery that much faster to devour. Wow! I thought I had the ‘whodunit’ figured out.

I was thrilled when I received notification that NetGalley approved me to read an ARC of this book. Thank you Ruth Ware, Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley.

As one of the suspense/thriller releases I was most looking forward to this year, I’m glad that after a somewhat slow-burn of a start, by the last third of the book, I was unable to put it down,
Ware writes really well and although “The It Girl’s” setting wasn’t very unique, (off the top of my head see: “The Maidens”, “My Dark Vanessa” and countless other contemporary dark academia novels) the execution was well done and balanced out with the “after” portions of the novel.
I’ll be honest, this isn’t my favourite novel by Ruth Ware (which would be The Death of Mrs. Westaway), but I enjoyed it and will recommend it as a good summer thriller release.
Big thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for allowing me to read an ARC of this highly anticipated thriller!
A solid 3.5/5 rounded up!

I really enjoyed this book! It goes between before April is murdered and after 10 years in the future. Hannah, April's best friend and roommate at Oxford has some doubts about the person she believes murdered April. This book was skillfully written and it was not until the end did I figure out who actually did it. I will definitely be reading more by this author!

This is a smart and fun thriller that keeps you guessing to the end. It has a satisfying ending that doesn't feel like the author had to resort to unbelievable options to tie it all together. Enough clues are parsed out as the story progresses adding layers and twists to the narrative. The characters felt well developed in the 'before' portions of the book so when we get glimpses of them in the 'after' sections they are already familiar to us. Kubica's books are always entertaining and continue to feel fresh and unique.


Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Scott Press for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

April is the It girl, the girl every girl wants to be friends with and every guy wants to date. Until one day, she’s mysteriously murdered.

Her roommate Hannah’s testimony leads to the conviction of a porter, Neville, who works at the university they attend. Years later, it is brought to Hannah’s attention that the wrong person may have been convicted of this crime. This leads Hannah to question the events surrounding April’s death and her actions afterwards.

This book accurately captures the psychological separation that occurs when you experience a traumatic event, as it shifts between the before (prior to April’s murder) and the after (after April’s murder). I found this book enjoyable and gripping, as every time I thought I figured out who the murderer was, new details emerged that changed my mind. However, I did find that some of the storylines had too many mundane or unnecessary details. For example, Hannah’s high blood pressure was described in great detail, which didn’t really add to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and it was a quick, interesting read. Three stars, as I found the unnecessary details took away from my enjoyment of the book.

I'm a big Ruth Ware fan and this book did not disappoint. I usually pride myself in "figuring it out" and I didn't! This well written and captivating book took me on psychological twists and turns and while I got a piece of the conclusion earlier on - I was still surprised. A great read - loved that it was set in a university. Lots of interesting characters and plot developments. Good entertainment for sure! Thanks for the opportunity to read this.

I really enjoyed this thriller! I feel like it moved along at a fairly quick pace pretty consistently the whole way through, but was still very descriptive and intelligently written. As with any thriller, I like being surprised and thrown off the scent and this book got me a few times with who the killer actually was and whose funeral Hannah attended at the conclusion of the book. I am relieved that Hannah was able to figure out the ‘why’ and not just the ‘who’ - the story would have felt incomplete otherwise. This book really was ‘unputdownable’ and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a gripping and unpredictable read!

Thank you NetGalley and Scouts Press for the digital advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Attention all Ruth Ware fans: The It Girl may very well be her best book yet!

Hannah and April are college roommates from very different backgrounds. The two girls become best friends and are part of a group of six students who regularly hang out together. After a night of celebration, however, Hannah returns to their room and discovers April's body on the floor. A man is convicted for her murder, largely due to Hannah's testimony.

Ten years go by and this man, who has always professed his innocence, dies in prison. A reporter brings new questions and information about April to light, and Hannah finds she cannot rest until she knows the truth about what happened that night. She quickly discovers that her group of friends all have secrets to hide, and things were not at all as they seemed in college.

The It Girl grips you in a labyrinth of suspense until the very end. Ruth Ware leads you down tunnels as each secret is revealed, luring you deeper and deeper in a maze full of twists, turns, and dead ends. When the minotaur is finally revealed, it will blow you away.

I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley,#TheItGirl,#RuthWare

This is my fourth Ruth Ware book and probably my second favourite behind The Woman In Cabin 10.

I loved the setting which alternates between the main character’s first year at Oxford and present day 10 years later living in Edinburgh.

Hannah has been living in Scotland since her roommate and best friend was murdered at Oxford and her testimony put the killer in prison. When Hannah is contacted by a reporter who claims that the man imprisoned for the murder may have been wrongly convicted, Hannah goes down a dangerous path to finding the truth.

I don’t read a lot of thrillers because I don’t like feeling like I can’t trust any of the characters in a book. I was invested in this story but I didn’t let myself like any of the supporting characters because I assumed any one of them could be a murderer. I thought I had the mystery solved but was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong.

If you enjoy thrillers, you will likely love this one.

I enjoyed this book, Ruth Ware has a way of making her characters real, they worm their way into your heart. Hannah’s roommate and best friend April is The It Girl, seemingly having it all. She’s beautiful, smart and charismatic but her life is tragically cut short. For years Hannah believes April’s murderer to be safely locked in prison until he passes away and questions start to be raised about his insistence that he was innocent, Now everyone is a suspect in Hannah’s eyes, including her own husband. She won’t rest until the killer is found, I don’t read a lot of thrillers but this was a good read. I found it a bit slow in the middle but it ramped up again in the conclusion,

Let’s just get this out of the way: Ruth Ware is my favourite current author. So it pains me to write that I did not love this book as much as I wanted to.

Her writing and command of plot were brilliant, of course, but the main drawback was that I did not like any of the characters. Specifically, the main character drove me absolutely round the bend with her constant self-doubt and complete lack of self-preservation. The words that come to mind if I were to try to describe Hannah are vapid and insipid, and because the story is told from her point of view you are stuck with a lot of her inner monologue. That could be down to a personal preference or the fact that the character shares the same name as my boss, who would never behave the way this Hannah did, that coloured my reading experience.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but unlike In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Turn of the Key and One by One, I didn’t find myself mourning the loss once I’d finished the final page and immediately wanting to read it again. It still gets four stars for plot crafting, though,

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Net Galley for the ARC of this book.

I was blown away by this book!! I have read quite a few Ruth Ware books, and this one was by far my favourite! The mystery keeps you on your toes and really keeps you guessing what the main character is going to discover next! Thank you Netgalley for giving me an early copy to review, and I cannot wait to discuss this with people once it releases on July 22nd!
I also found two typos on location 911, and 4793.

I loved this book.The characters were believable and the pacing of the book was excellent.I have read most of Ruth Ware’s books and I would have to say this is one of her best.I especially liked the “Before”and “After”style she used for this book and look forward to her next one.

I inhaled this book. The It Girl called me back to my younger days, when friendships ruled my life; when “It” girls held a mystique greater than any celebrity. There are twists and turns aplenty, which kept me guessing until the very end. Excellent story and even better mystery!

Drawing inspiration on the "it girl" and surge in social media influencers, Ruth delivers a modern day thriller that will draw in readers from various generations. College is hard enough but add in the pressures to fit in, make your mark, excel and compel and you have the perfect setup for April, emerging "it" girl to turn the ends of friends, lovers and enemies - that is until she's found dead by her best friend Hannah.

Ruth never fails to disappoint! She has become one of the best modern authors of locked room mysteries making her an auto-buy author. Just when you think you got it - you don’t. And even when you think you do - there’s always that last wee piece that remains obscured resulting in a final twist that leaves you saying - of course!
Well played, Ruth. Well played!

Ruth Ware does it again! The it girl keeps you guessing until the end. Chalk full of suspense, you’ll have a hard time putting it down. Definitely recommend for fans of the genre as well as for works of Ware’s other novels.