When I first started reading Only If You’re Lucky, a thriller set amongst a group of college friends, it seemed oddly reminiscent of my own college campus (the nickname for the all-girl dorm I lived in freshmen year was the same). So, I was quite pleased with myself when the story ended and the author discussed her own college experience in the acknowledgments—lo and behold, she attended my alma mater as well (Go Dawgs!).

Even though the actual story was NOTHING like my own college experience, and the setting was actually in a completely different state, the overwhelming sense of familiarity kept me hooked with this slow burn the entire time; but let me be clear, burn s.l.o.w.l.y. it did. If you like your thrillers, well, thrilling, this one saves the thrills for the last quarter of the novel and it might be a bit of a slog. If you, however, enjoy a character study, particularly about the intense relationships of young women, then this might be the book for you. I didn’t really like any of the characters in the story (a common complaint that I tend to have with thrillers) but I was eager to see where the story went, and the setting, in particular, kept me turning pages. The last quarter of the book kept me up past my bedtime and while I predicted certain outcomes, others left me feeling foolish that I didn’t figure out some of the twists, given the many clues.

Overall, an entertaining read, albeit with a slow start.

I really tried to give this a go. I made it all the way to about 30% in but the characters are so boring, indistinguishable and annoying. The plot is also too jumbled with the flashbacks and flash forwards not being labelled every chapter drove me crazy.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham

When Margot heads into her second year of college, she is still struggling to start a new chapter of her life. She desperately needs a new beginning that helps her cope with the death of her best friend. When mesmerizing and mysterious Lucy befriends her, it sets off a series of events that no one anticipated. Well, maybe almost no one? We all have multiple sides to us…some just happen to be deadlier than others.

This, imho, is the best of Willingham’s books. It kept me completely enthralled and fit into the murder, mayhem, and mystery box. It’s a great binge read for a stormy or dark night. Willingham (via Margot) describes in the following quote what a good book can do, and it definitely applies to Only If You’re Lucky:

“That’s the beauty of fiction, of words: when your life becomes too boring, too bland, too hard or depressing or chaotic or calm, they allow you to simply float away and inhabit another, try it on for size.”

#onlyifyourelucky #stacywillingham #mystery #mysterybooks #murdermystery #minotaurbooks #minotaur #netgalley #bookreview #bookclub

Only If You're Lucky is Stacy Willingham's newest mystery novel, out today. This was a twisty, unpredictable story set on a college campus, where not everything is as it seems.

Margot has spent her freshman year at Rutledge being invisible, going to classes and staying in her room. She has kept to herself even more after a tragedy the summer before school started. But now, Lucy, the most popular girl on campus, has invited Margot to live off-campus with her and her two best friends, Sloane and Nicole. Being enamored of the three of them, jealous of their friendship, Margot agrees, but she has no idea what she's getting into.

When another tragedy strikes at the college and Lucy goes missing, the rest of the girls are questioned about what happened. Did Lucy murder their next door neighbor then run away? What happened in the sand dunes during the big frat party? And what is Lucy hiding?

This was a gripping mystery with twists that I didn't see coming. I couldn't have predicted this ending. Margot is a relatable character, dealing with grief and loss, and trying to fit into this friend group. Lucy is a charismatic leader, bringing everyone with her wherever she wants to go. Sloane and Nicole are less of a focus in the story, but are nonetheless fleshed out with their own personalities and issues.

Written with a non-linear timeline and not-so-reliable narrator, the story was paced well with intertwining plotlines. Margot's home life and college life end up intersecting in ways that she didn't want, the lives of the characters twisting together. Willingham's ability to write an interesting, suspenseful, surprising story is unmatched.

All in all, a great suspense novel with unpredictable twists and turns. If you enjoy Stacy's other novels, then definitely pick this one up! I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys the books of Karin Slaughter or Ruth Ware.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @MinotaurBooks for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

I’ve heard so many amazing things about Stacy Willingham’s thrillers, and now I know why!! She channels her readers into the psyche of her characters in a way that hooks you and doesn’t let go. 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘐𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 is full of moral ambiguity, toxic friendships, and enigmatic characters in a dark academia setting. This book kept me guessing the entire time, and I absolutely devoured it!

Margot is trudging through the end of her freshman year of college while grieving the death of her best friend when she meets Lucy - the magnetic, cunning, beautiful “it girl” on campus. Lucy befriends Margot and pulls her into a new life full of frat parties and shared secrets among a new circle of friends. Just when college life seems to be looking up for Margot, things take an unexpected and deadly turn, leaving one person dead, and Lucy missing without a trace.

This book really took me back to my college days and had me reliving so many of those mixed emotions that come with starting a brand new life, tasting freedom for the first time, wanting a clean slate, and wanting to belong. Willingham shows us how easy it is to get caught up in someone else’s orbit, and how quickly things can spin out of control.

This is a slow burn, which might not appeal to everyone, but I loved the pacing and the way she weaves in flashbacks to give us clues and build tension, right up to the big twist (which I did not see coming!) Everything about this thriller was just so expertly written and well-crafted. As someone who loves character-driven stories with a strong plot that’s full of surprises, this is as good as it gets!

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC! I can’t wait to dive into Willingham’s back list!

A very fast read but not too memorable.

It was more of a character study than anything, I thought. There was an air of mystery surrounding our cast but nothing to me was very shocking.

Lucy was a complicated person. She did a lot to get into Margot's good graces and it all unravels slowly. Margot, having been through the death of her best childhood friend, was understandably standoffish but I wish she had more of a backbone throughout instead of just at the end.

I did guess one little mystery not too long before it was shown on the page but all it made me think was "huh, that's interesting I guess".

I still think this author's first novel was the best

Margot’s college life is not starting out how she wanted it. Her best friend from high school passed away and since then she has become a wallflower. She ends up with her current roommate as her friend because it was easy. But the three girls that captivate her are where she wants to be. Lucy is at the center of those girls and when she asks Margot to move in with her and the other two, Margot drops her current roommate. Everything changes from there. Margot starts to get more comfortable until a fraternity boy is murdered and Lucy goes missing.

This is a bit more of a slow burn than I was expecting. I also was annoyed with Margot - she was an unreliable narrator. The middle kind of stalled out for me but the ending made up for it. Could this also be considered a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde retelling?

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books. Only If You’re Lucky comes out tomorrow.

I really, really enjoyed this one! Only If You’re lucky is a slow burn mystery centered around female friendship and belonging and the lies we tell ourselves (and each other). It’s also a tale about morality, whether people are inherently good or evil, or if like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, they are “radically both.”

This story follows Margot, who starts her first year of college in a haze of depression, grief and guilt following her best friend’s death. Margot has always been the shy, careful friend, but when popular girl, Lucy Sharpe, asks her to move in with her & her friends, Margot can’t help but be drawn in to Lucy’s larger than life (and maybe even dangerous) personality. The four girls are all opposites, but they find themselves intertwined as lies are told and secrets are unraveled.

Nothing is as it seems with these girls. The house they move into is a character of its own. I love Stacy Willingham’s writing and this book really made me think. I was drawn in the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur for an advanced copy of this book. It releases tomorrow 1/16!!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review: I’ve been a fan of Stacy’s since I received an arc of her debut novel. While her debut remains my fav, this book was great!

She has a way of describing things that I don’t see often. Her books are very atmospheric which I love! This book was sort of a slow start for me, but I was dying to know what happened next. The backstory started to seem like it would go on forever, but once the twists started it was a rollercoaster of events. I loved the ending of this book and how Stacy is able to tie every miniature detail into the main plot. Check this one out!

Margot spent her first year at Rutledge studying and keeping mostly to herself while still mourning the death of her best friend who should have been here with her. At the end of the first year, Lucy, a bold and dangerous girl approaches Margot to be the fourth roommate in the house she's found off campus, away from the dorms. Something about Lucy makes everyone do what she wants. But there is a secret, sinister side to Lucy, and there are secrets, dark secrets about her too. By the middle of the second college year a fraternity brother is murdered, Lucy is missing and Margot has learned all of Lucy's dark secrets and even tho they are hard to believe, Margot knows they are all true.

Only If You’re Lucky was a twisty tale filled with secrets, murder, and drama. The first half of this book took me forever to get through but I did fly through the last half of the book. It seemed like things got more interesting towards the latter half of the story. I liked the author’s writing and I thought the main characters were intriguing. There were a lot of twists in this story and things definitely got wild at the end. I don’t think the ending was very believable though and it seemed way too far-fetched. I was not a fan of the ending, but I still would recommend this book to mystery/thriller lovers.

3.5/5 stars

“You’re only young once, and only if you’re lucky."

Wow, what a ride! This is my second read by Stacy Willingham (I also read A Flicker in the Dark) and I loved this one even more! I usually find thrillers to be relatively predictable, but for me, this one was anything but. I thought I had it at all figured out time and time again, but nope…I didn’t see the twists coming.

- Thriller
- Mystery
- Dual Timeline
- Single POV

I have really come to enjoy books by Stacy Willingham. The stories always play out well, and the character development is great.
Only if You’re Lucky is another terrific psychological thriller, taking place at a college. Margot has gone to South Carolina to escape her small town and the memories it holds, especially of her dead best friend. She meets Lucy, and things are going great, until they aren’t. Something about Lucy is off…
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, thoroughly enjoyed!

Do you love a slow burn mystery in a college setting? I love a campus novel with suspicious students and this one delivered! From the first chapters you are sucked into this story and just NEED to know more. The chapters are short which kept me listening to one more, then one more. This is definitely more of a slow burn than a traditional thriller, so go in with that expectation and you will be satisfied!

Pub date is today!!!! @stacyvwillingham is an auto buy author for me. This book's ending reminded me why I love her!

Margo was shy and grieving the loss of her best friend from high school, who died before they could go to college together as planned. Lucy was the fun one, the magnetic one. When Lucy befriends Margo, Margo is shocked and hopes maybe this will turn things around for her. She moves in with Lucy, Sloane and Nicole next to a fraternity house. But when she sees a face from the past, her world is rocked again. As she gets in deeper with this group, things start to unravel. Then a boy is murdered and Lucy disappears. What is everyone hiding?

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I felt like the buildup was just a tad bit slow, but the twists are so worth it! I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for an advance copy!

This is a slow burn mystery about a group of college friends where one is dead and one has gone missing. Girl friendships can be quite toxic at times, but I am not sure this one is about friendships since Margot moves in with girls she doesn’t know. This was the start of me silently screaming at her. I’d say who does that but if she doesn’t, then there is no book.

There are so many red herrings and so many twists, all in the last third of the book, hence the slow burn, that I wish the pacing would have been a little more even. With unlikable characters and a slow pace, I was losing interest by the time the good stuff started.

Luckily, I had the audiobook too and it was narrated by Karissa Vacker. She is one of my favorite narrators and keeps me wanting to listen. I highly recommend this on audio if you pick it up.

I should add that I think the author nails college life and what can go wrong with jealous, studying and friendships.

While this is not my favorite read of the authors, the twists and reveals in the last third did redeem the slow start.

The ending really saved this one 😮‍💨
Something just seemed off about Margot so she wasn’t my favorite character but I liked how easily she fit in with her new roommates. I also did really enjoy how everything came together in the end even though it was a little bizarre. It’s always fun to see how little hints throughout the story show back up.

3.5 stars — this book had a nearly perfect recipe but fell short in the execution for me. I loved the college setting and there were several twists I really didn’t see coming, but overall it was just TOO LONG and led by a really generic protagonist. Maybe if it was told in multiple POVs it would have been better? The short chapters helped with the pace but it was overall 50-75 pages too long.

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

I love a dark academia thriller and this one had me holding on right until the end. An ending some weren't satisfied with (or so I've read), but I loved it! Life doesn't always wrap everything up in a package with a nice bow, and I'm ok with a book that doesn't!

Filled with many flawed characters, this one delves deep into friendships, especially female friendships. People lie. People keep secrets. Even those closest to us.

Margot is a bit of a lost soul. She had planned to attend Rutledge with her BFF Eliza, but Eliza's untimely death the summer before college changes everything. Margot is there, but deep in her grief and just trying to survive.

Enter Lucy, a larger than life personality much like Eliza was, who bursts into Margot's life, convinces Margot to move into a house she rents with two others next to a frat house, and changes Margot's life.

When Levi arrives at the frat house next door, a blast from Margot's past and the guy who was with Eliza right before she died, Margot spirals.

Some bodies turn up. Some people go missing. Some secrets are revealed. And you'll be on the edge of your seat right up to the controversial ending.

Both the audiobook and the ebook were fantastic!

Many thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for both an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Out tomorrow [Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC to review!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Margot is grieving the loss of her best friend when she gets pulled into the orbit of the magnetic Lucy Sharpe—and set on a collision course that will change everything.

I genuinely think Stacy Willingham is one of the very best thriller authors out there right now, so this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY is definitely a bit different from Stacy’s previous books, but I really enjoyed it.

Academic thrillers are some of my favorites, and this one felt like a pretty unique take on a familiar dynamic. I figured out some of the twists but was completely blindsided by others, which is always the ideal mix, in my opinion! I definitely recommend this one if you want a twisty psychological thriller in a college setting.

CW: Death/murder/blood; sexual violence