TW: Language, drinking, death of friend, classism

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can't say no—something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious.

And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It's a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she's been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered... and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.
Release Date: January 16th, 2024
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 386
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing is descriptive

What I Didn't Like:
1. Boring
2. Characters found in any other basic thriller

Overall Thoughts:
Cool another book that makes out like making friends with other girls is just as easy as reaching for a banana in the same basket.

It's so difficult to like Margot when she pretty much mentions that her furniture is prefect for her parents mansion but not this new place and then to her mentioning not wanting to go to a party with public school kids.

60 pages into this book and I'm already tired of hearing about Eliza.

Honestly she says that Trevor being around is like him bringing Eliza to college but she lives in the ghost of her because she's always bring her up. Every sentence is Eliza this - Eliza that. What about Margot? Or anyone else...

Final Thoughts:
I dnfed at page 100. I was bored and nothing happened. I didn't care for these typical college people. Hearing about how hot someone was to drinking and drugs reminded me how much I hate being around people that do this stuff. No thanks.

This book is great if you like reading about basic one dimensional rich characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the ebook & Macmillan Audio for the audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you for this advanced copy! This was my first time reading Stacy Willingham. I enjoyed the setting of Only If You’re Lucky as it brought back memories from my college years. I did think the story was a bit slow and drawn out. I also feel somewhat implausible, at least for all aspects to work together. I was entertained but would rate this somewhere in the three star range.

I thought I had things figured out until I didn't. Even though the characters are in their 20s, it doesn't give off ya vibes. I highly recommend this book.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬💭:
There’s no denying that this author is a master storyteller when it comes to thrillers. Flicker In The Dark and All The Dangerous Things are two amazing thrillers she’s written that I fell in love with. So as long as she writes it, best believe I’m going to read it!

Thank you for my e-ARC Minotaur Books!

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛📝:
Margo moves in with 3 other girls to finally come out of her shell on her sophomore year after spending her first tucked away hiding. In the middle of the school year, their next door neighbor winds up dead and their ringleader Lucy is missing.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Compared to her other books, this one was slow. It was not as fast paced as her other ones, but she has been consistent with the short chapters which remain to be what keeps me glued and intrigued. It doesn’t really pick up until half way through, but I ended up enjoying as things unfolded. Some parts were repetitive which I didn’t love, but overall it played out as a really great dark academia and got tied up all neatly as it ended. It was giving me Mean Girls meets How To Get Away With Murder vibes. If you love these kinds of plots, this is absolutely worth picking up!

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚: 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘹 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘰 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳

Stacy Willingham is one of my favorite thriller writers. When this books was announced I posted a huge excited post about it. So, when I started it and then had to restart it, and restart it, AND RESTART it to say I was disappointed would be a huge understatement. I just could NOT get into it. It draaaggggggged. But, because I love Stacy I went against my norm and continued. I fully believe in the DNF, but have faith in Stacy. It did pick up in the last 25-30% but really you shouldn’t have to wait that long for good content.

One thing that did keep me going here was the fact that I also listened to the audio as I did an immersive read and Karissa Vacker was the narrator. I adore her and would honestly listen to her read anything but she did add something to this one, even the draggy parts.
2.5 rounded down.

Slow Burn - dark academia- psychological thriller-female friendship, adoration, obsession - unreliable narrator - long bonfire nights - a visit to an uninhabited island - frat boys next door ...
This book is captivating in it's own way, short chapters kept me engaged while the single
POV was balanced with flashbacks to different times.
The main character Margot has to cope with her best friend Eliza dying during their senior year (was it an accident ?) instead of deferring like her parents want her to she starts college first as dorm life than moving in with loose acquaintances but as soon as Margot comes out of her shell again things pick up around her as well, people die and people disappear ... what is going on and does it all relate to her ?
This was an entertaining and quick read !

Only If You're Lucky delves into the angst of college living, and the friendships we make that shape our experience there. Margot has come to a small liberal arts university still reeling from the death of her best friend Eliza, who died right after high school graduation, spoiling the girls plans to attend the college as roommates. She drifts through the first year with a kind but boring roommate, and she can't help but be intrigued by a girl on her floor named Lucy, who is effortlessly cool, and reminds her a little of her friend Eliza. She is surprised but thrilled when at the end of the year Lucy asks her to move in with her and her two running buddies, Sloane and Nicole.

The girls are living in a house on the grounds of a male fraternity. The author does a good job of drawing a Southern Gothic picture of the less than healthy life at the boy's fraternity. Margot loves her new life, but is thrown for a loop when a boy from her hometown shows up as a pledge at the fraternity. She blames him for her friend's death.

Things get steadily murky from this point. Lucy has a lot of secrets, and Margot, our narrator may be hiding a few of her own.

This author is a good writer and has an easy to follow flow of words. I really enjoyed two of her other books, but I am so far removed from the college experience that this book had a bit of the YA feel to me, like a Pretty Little Liars vibe. Like the last two books I've read, I feel this book could have benefited from some editing. Margot's ruminations became repetitive and almost boring to me after a certain point. While certain revelations are made in these spooling of Margot's memories, I feel like some of it could have been more succinct and tightened writing.

The ending was interesting and actually rather chilling to me. It's unnerving to think how people can hide who they are, and justify their actions.

For me this read was a 3.5, but I'm rounding up rather than down, because I think Ms. Willingham is a good writer.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review,

While this was not my top of Stacy Willingham books, I still find her skill at slowly building a story and crafting characters absolutely marvelous.

This was reminiscent of pretty little liars for me and it drenched me in nostalgia for my younger self. For my college self. My shy self with a best friend. I love that Stacy never crafts “completely perfect” or even likable characters and this book was full of unlikable ones (something I liked). I loved the college murder mystery, and the links between Lucy and Eliza threw me for a loop.

I especially liked how this book looks at female friendships, female envy and jealousy: that innate thing we all feel when we meet a girl we are just fascinated by for some reason.

This was so much fun and I will read anything Stacy writes!

What a chilling read! Only If You’re Lucky felt completely different from Stacy Willingham’s previous two books. It’s more of a dark academia campus thriller, which is a thriller trope I love!

I will say that it starts off pretty slowly–there’s a lot of scene setting as we meet all the characters and get used to Margot’s daily life on campus. Once the twists get going, though, they really take off.

It’s I guess technically new adult but reads like a YA thriller at times–these characters are young and have a lot to learn, but that’s part of what endears the reader to them. Margot was hard to like at first, but she grows on you as the story picks up pace. The story becomes an interesting discussion on toxic female friendship and what it means to belong.

While I appreciated this new side of Willingham’s writing, the book took a little too long to get to the point. The story is good, but I had to switch to audio partway through to hold my interest. My library hold came in just in time!

Unfortunately, this book was not it for me. Dragged on and on with unimportant details and summed it up in 3 pages at the end. As a Stacy Willingham fan, I was disappointed.

Willingham is clearly a talented writer and it shines through in this one. I really enjoyed all of the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde references and how the author used them to compare female friendships. Also, I really enjoyed the dark academia aspect and the unexpected twists. Readers and fans of her prior works, will also enjoy Only If You’re Lucky!

This book is a multiple timeline thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat until the absolute very end.

After the tragic death of her best friend, Eliza, Margot is struggling to move on with her life. She is enrolled in their dream school and trying to make the most of it, but everything seems to remind her Eliza until she meets the energetic and mesmerizing Lucy Sharpe.
Lucy invites Margot to move into a home off campus that she shares with her two friends Sloane and Nicole. The home is owned by the fraternity next door, so it's always an endless party until it isn't. Lucy is missing and one of the fraternity members is dead. Is this related or do the two events have nothing to do with each other?

So this book definitely kept me reading because I wanted to know what happened.
This is another book that will have you guessing until the very end; and it is definitely a jawdropping book.

I recommend this one if you love thrillers but I definitely enjoyed this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was amazing. I was hooked right from the beginning. I love the dual time lines, and the story as a whole. A great thrilling read!

I wasn't able to read this book because life has been extremely busy, so I will rate this 5 stars to compensate. The blurb looked very promising though, and I will read this when I get the chance and I will edit my review

I enjoyed this book despite it feeling a bit YA. It was a slow burn with lots of unlikeable characters. There were lots of twists but it took a while, pretty much until the end of the book, to get to them. Dark academia meets murder mystery. 4 ⭐️

I loved the atmosphere, the first person narrative (my favorite) and her writing style. I really enjoyed the college campus setting and the uniqueness of each character. Some were definitely unlikable but it made the story more real with this particular setting. This book gave a good amount of suspense but also brought on other emotions as well. I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read more by Stacy.

3.5 stars. This was a slow but that kept me entertained. I did have high expectations based on the author's two previous books. This one was ok. It was difficult to connect with these characters. So you have a slow burn with unlikeable characters. Me not liking the characters didn't take away from the book for me as I felt the author wanted us to not like the characters. There was great tension and suspense buildup throughout the book. There were also twists that I did not see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Read Completed 12/29/23 | 3.25 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur books, for the audiobook review copy. This free copy did not affect my review in any way.

ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY was a very different read than Stacy Willingham's previous two books, and sadly, this one didn't really work for me. Willingham's gorgeous moody, atmospheric writing is lost on a college setting that once again is just full of drinking and drugs half the time complete with the same enigmatic, mysterious girl that the main character is weirdly drawn to. Not inaccurate for college but, snooze, boring, give us something else.

Stacy Willingham's books are slow burns, but the beginning of this book was just boring and drama, not tension and a cool slow burn that creates suspense. The first 15% is setting up at college which bored me completely and I almost quit the book because I didn't like how young adult everything felt. We could have skipped a lot of that, knowing how everything ends. Then until about 60%, it's a drama and grief while experiencing college with some very minor flashes to present-day that show a hint of the thriller side of the book. FINALLY at about 60-65%, we get some good, interesting reveals that make things more thriller, less college drama. There are many thrillers that follow this feel too, setting up drama for much of the book until the ending finally gets to the more thriller part. That's also never been my style. I end up quitting a lot of those books early on.

I also really didn't care for the characters. I didn't like Margot at all -- she was trying to find herself in many ways but nothing about her was endearing. Lucy was annoying and I don't understand why everyone liked her... but I guess such is the way when people are fighting for your affection. The other roommates are barely there and barely developed and I would have liked to see more group dynamic, at least. All of the frat boys were annoying.

The ending does have a twist or two that I partially saw coming but they were still a surprise... but it really didn't warrant the rest of the book. I would have MUCH rather spent the majority of the time in the book in the present day with the actual exciting part than spending all of the time in the past. The past could have revealed some things along the way and instead, we get to spend more time in the present feeling the suspense and tension that everyone must have been feeling.

Mostly, the setting and age range just didn't do it for me. I trusted Stacy Willingham to be able to write anything because I loved her first two books, and this wasn't a bad book but it definitely wasn't what I was hoping for. I felt a little better about it at the end, but there was just too much I didn't like.

If you enjoy books in a college setting, maybe this one will work better for you! It all just felt too young adult and mostly, I felt like Stacy Willingham's writing style just clashed with this atmosphere and vibe. Nothing really seemed to fit and it all felt like it was forced to work here. I'm sure people will love it but it just fell short for me.

Too slow and too wordy for me to find it interesting. It took me forever to even get half way through the book. This one seems geared towards a younger audience than her previous books. Something about the writing with this one that just didn’t do it for me. I was bummed because I love a good dark academia book. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t it.

3.5 stars!
College life, friendship drama, murder mystery, betrayal and hidden secrets! Margot was our MC and she was a freshman at Rutledge. Like any other freshman, Margot has a hard time adjusting. The life in Rutledge was not what she had pictured when her best friend Eliza and her was planning it. It’s an escape from life at home that she wanted to be far away from, it was the fresh new start that she hoped for yet there seem to be something that was not fulfilling. Eliza was no longer with her, she tragically died the summer after Highschool graduation but she seem to be everywhere around her.
I love the good character development in this book. Though the ending was somewhat predictable to me , I still favor the manner of it unfolding. It was like peeling each and every layer delicately to reveal the truth. Margot was very unreliable main character. I both like and dislike her. She was doubtful, childish and insecure the whole time and it did get to my nerves. There were parts that were redundant yet I think it played out positively because it added to the buildup of the plot.
If you enjoy psycho-mystery with dark academia vibe, this book is for you.

Special thanks to St.Martin’s Press via Netgalley for the advance e-arc in exchange of my honest review.