Stacy Willingham came out of the gates with a couple amazing books, and while this was a good one, it was not her best.

After Margot loses her childhood best friend, she is hoping for a fresh start at the college they were planning to attend together. She’s never had to find her own way before, and when dynamic Lucy asks her to move into a house with some other girls, Margot knows this is just what she needs to jumpstart her new life. What she found though was a lot more than she bargained for.

This book was a slow burn that I wanted to devour, but it left me feeling frustrated at times because it felt like there was too much set-up for the last 20 percent of the book to really let it all out. This wasn’t a bad book, but for me, it wasn’t what I’ve grown to adore about the author. I look forward to what she’s got in store for us next.

Thank you to Stacy Willingham, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of the book for an honest review.

I loved Willingham’s last book and was so excited to get this one as well! This one has some absolute twists and turns but most of it comes in the last 25%. This is definitely a slow burn with a big reveal at the end. Overall, I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as All the Dangerous Things and I think that one was much more mind-fucky the whole way through where as Only If You’re Lucky seems like it went for the shock effect at the end. Overall an enjoyable thriller.

After really enjoying A Flicker in the Dark, I was really excited to receive this ARC for Only If You're Lucky. Stacy Willingham's writing style is great and this was a thriller I really did enjoy and thought the premise was great.

The only thing that made this feel just ok for me, was it felt a little repetitive with certain things in a way that took the pace down a little at certain points. There tended to be a bit of re-explanation of the past in ways that weren't entirely necessary.

Overall though, I enjoyed the characters here and this author has great way of creating an atmosphere and drawing you in. Still definitely worth the read. Really excited to keep reading her books!

Many thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

For a thriller, this was a solid one. Stacy Willingham has secured herself as a writer of compelling plots.

Who is Lucy? What happened to Margot’s friend, Eliza? What is going on with this group of college friends?

I enjoyed the backdrop and the small college town vibes and the off-putting weird friend who is controlling and has secrets. It felt very in vein with other “Dark Academia” settings, but in places is a little lackluster.

Here’s what this book did well. Plot and twists and reveals. They are slow and methodical and quite surprising. The ending is satisfying for a thriller and I am being vague to not give anything away.

Where it lacked was any type of character building. I wouldn’t be able to know who Nicole, Eliza, Sloane, Margot, and Lucy were. They all read as the same character to me.

In comparison, Stacy Willingham’s other main characters are memorable to me.

Overall, this is a fun, popcorn thriller and I recommend it as a weekend or beach read. It is a well plotted thriller.

I was given an ARC by the publisher, but my opinions are all my own.

This lacked intrigue and suspense for me. I felt the narrative was repetitive in nature.

The story revolves around Margot, a shy college student, befriended by the bold magnetic Lucy the end of their freshman year. Living together off campus with two other girls, their sophomore year takes a dark turn when a neighboring fraternity boy is murdered, leaving Lucy missing. The novel explores complex friendship, extreme desire to belong, loyalty at what cost, envy, and betrayal.

Things at the end “surprised me” but not in an “wow this changes how I feel about the rest of this book.” Honestly, I struggled reading this one. I set it aside and after release was able to grab audio with my scribd trial which helped me finish.

I’m also wondering if this age group drama just isn’t relatable to me 🤷🏼‍♀️

2★| Thriller

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great thriller! I loved previous books of Stacys and this was on par with them.

I think for me i would categorize this as more of a suspense and mystery than thriller.

Margo embarks on the chapter of her life as a freshman at college. She feels out of place and lost at first because shes having to do this alone, instead of with her best friend Eliza who tragically passed away not too long ago. Margo quickly becomes friends with the “it trio of girls” and is invited to live with them off campus. She doesnt know much about them or their “head queen bee Lucy” but she is drawn to them, especially Lucy like her friend Eliza. Margo finds herself confronted by her past when Elizas boyfriend whom was the last to see her alive shows up at the frat next door. There’s secrets everyone is keeping but nobody knows how deadly those secrets are and what are people willing to do to keep those secrets?

This is seriously such mystery. I had no idea where this was all headed. I could tell maybe one part once its revealed that it made a lot of sense but the ending was such a truth bomb of twists that i was left floored! I loved the college life setting and how unreliable all the characters seemed to be. It left you questioning everyone and everything.

A question from the book that was talked about a lot and left in mind while writing this review and thinking of the story was: If you could get away with murder would you do it?

3.5 Stars
“If You Knew You Could Get Away with Murder, Would You do it?”

This book was disappointment for me! A bit of a slow burn, and not very fast-paced. I guess I went in with some serious expectations because the author's previous two books delivered such a gut punch of emotions with heart pounding moments that kept you turning page after page.

BUT, most of this book reads like YA in a college setting.
There’s lots of games, truth telling, and accusations throughout this story. There’s also lots of references to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, which makes sense because in reality we have a bunch of harmless, naïve girls who are capable of both good and evil. While there is a mystery component, it lacked a sophisticated intrigue.

Margot is a college student, who is grieving the death of her best friend that died shortly after their high school graduation. After spending her freshman year staying mostly to herself, she is befriended by the charismatic, Lucy Sharpe. Lucy draws Margot into her more daring and adventurous life. Margot soon finds that there is more to Lucy than meets the eye. One of their fraternity neighbors is murdered and Lucy goes missing.

There were some interesting twists and turns and a good ending but it was a long road to get there.
I found this to be more a character study/look at female friendships than a thriller until near the end.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St, Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and the author for an ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this book with me early to read and review. This book wasn’t my favorite but I do love bits of it and know others will too!

Thank you for the arc copy.

Overall this book was okay. It was a little choppy at times but did keep my interest. I did not like the characters as much in this book as this authors other stories. Good tension over all.

"If you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?”

Here I am with my first 5 star read of 2024!!! I have LOVED reading Stacy Willingham’s books, I can understand why this one had so many mixed reviews. For starers, it’s a slow-burn, college campus thriller which in my opinion is very different from her last two novels. Lucky for me, I love college campus thrillers, especially those that show the darker side of friendships, obsessions, secrets, murder & a twist I did not see coming.

Margot is entering her freshman year of college in a grief sicken daze. Her best friend, Eliza, died just three weeks after their high school graduation and has been unable to move on from everything that led up to Eliza’s death. Margot is shy and finds herself playing it safe her freshman year, that is until Lucy Sharpe, who is larger than life asks her to room together the following year. Margot ends up staying that summer with her new roommates and begins to come out of her shell, that is until the school year begins and someone from her past shows up and all those old feelings coming rushing back. As the semester goes on, Margot starts to uncover even crazier things realizing that her past and her present are much more intertwined that she ever thought.

Whenever I picked this one up, I found myself completely immersed in the story and each twist that came up perfectly falling into place.

what a frickin, wild ride! while the characters had no personalities and margot was the epitome of boring, the story kept moving along with twists every few chapters. i'm glad that this was not a total disappointment.

This author's books need to be on every single bookworm's shelf! I love everything she writes and boy can she tell a story! I loved the layers of secrets that were revealed as the story progressed. She has a way of building suspense and keeping the reader glued.

I really enjoyed the author's previous two books but this one fell a little flat for me. It dragged quite a lot in the beginning. The last 20% or so was interesting but it took way too long to get there.

I loved this thriller! A great story about toxic female friendship! The story revolves around Margot who is starting college alone after the recent death of her best friend. As Margot immerses herself in new friendships and college life the story gets more twisty with more questions than answers. This book is fast paced and I couldn’t wait for all the loose ends to fall into place. There were a lot of layers in this well developed plot and I was definitely engaged in it from the first page to the last. If you are looking for a book full of suspense give this one a try!

Loved this book and it was really enjoyable. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

One of the many aspects of reading that I love is that while I may not have thoroughly enjoyed a book
many others have and will. I share that tidbit as Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham was a disappointing read for me. Margot's dearest friend, Eliza Jefferson, died the summer after graduation. Their friendship had fractured shortly before graduation as a result of Eliza's budding relationship with a boy, Levi Butler. who had recently moved next door. Margot was devastated by Eliza's tragic death, and there were some unanswered questions after the investigation, yet decided to move forward and attend the small liberal arts college she and Elza had planned. Her freshman year was miserable and lonely even though her very nice roommate tried to help. Right before classes end for the summer, she meets Lucy Sharpe, and she is ecstatic when Lucy invites her to live with her and two other girls for the summer and the academic year. Lucy is everything that Margot isn't: fierce, funny and fearless. All is going well until Levi Buler arrives on campus. I'll be honest I found Margot to be a tedious character, constantly bemoaning her many "perceived" flaws. The book seemed to just go on and on, although I'm glad I stayed with it as the ending was definitely a surprise worth waiting for.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montour Books for the opportunity to read an ARC of Only If You're Lucky in exchange for my candid review.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
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I have to say that the more books that Stacy Willingham puts out, the better she gets! This one is probably my favorite out of her books and I loved that she incorporated the dark academia into this novel. Willingham constructs a rich a complex dynamic among the roommates in this book and her writing captures a compelling exploration of friendships, secrets, and a haunting mystery. My only c complaint is that this is definitely much more of a slow burn mystery instead of a thriller like it is being targeted as, so this is just something to be aware of going into the book! But overall, definitely one that if you are looking for a quick read, this is a good one!

I love Stacy Willingham. This book started a little slow, following Margot's POV. Margo is a college student whose BFF recently passed away before starting school. Margot accused a boy of murdering her BFF. Margot and her late BFF discussed attending college together but it was all cut short. However, in college, a popular girl, Lucy, befriended Margot and invited her to live with them. Margot wondered why Lucy and her friends chose to befriend Margot. The four girls partied and did normal college stuff. But one day, the boy Margot accused of killing her BFF showed up at her college and was living next door to her. It doesn't end there because he was found dead and Lucy was missing. Margot's perfect year at college is now invaded by police.

Stacy Willingham is a phenomenon. I love her books. this is no exception.

Thank you, Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Welcome to Rutledge College!! Happy Pub Day to Only If You’re Lucky by @stacyvwillingham!! I loved this book. It simmers with tension and intrigue. The dual timelines perfectly highlight each of the character’s actions and their motivations. The friendship and dark academia tropes are some of my favorite and Willingham has created the perfect mix of it. I can’t wait to read her next book.

This is another of my recent thriller marathon reads. Stacy Willingham’s All the Dangerous Things was one of my favorite suspense novels of last year, so I was really excited to dive into her newest book. I combined the ebook with the audio book and I’m really glad I did. The well done audio is what got me through this one.

This book is a slow burn and one that never quite ignited for me. It felt a little on the YA scale to me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but was not what I was expecting. I found the twists to be somewhat predictable and I never had that moment of shock and surprise that I long for in a thriller and that disappointed me. I appreciated the examination of the sometimes obsessive nature of young female friendships, but I’ve seen it done before and executed more effectively. Not a bad book but compared to the high bar Willingham has set, it was kind of a miss for me. Still, I look forward to whatever she does next. Thank you to @netgalley @minotaur_books @macmillan.audio for arcs of this book.