Stacy Willingham has quickly become one of my favorite thriller authors. While this book felt more YA as it focused on college kids, it was shocking!! That ending was wow.

Stacy Willingham, queen of the twisty thriller, returns with "Only If You’re Lucky," a dark dive into female friendships at a South Carolina college. Shy and careful Margot can’t resist the pull of Lucy Sharpe, who’s like a human magnet—bold, dangerous, and just the right amount of trouble. But when Margot moves in with Lucy and two other girls, things take a dark turn after a frat boy ends up dead and Lucy disappears. It’s a wild ride through loyalty, envy, and all the mess that comes with being "besties."

Despite its current lukewarm Goodreads rating, I found "Only If You’re Lucky" to be an addictive read. Willingham’s knack for creating messy, fascinating characters shines here, especially in the way she nails the college vibe, complete with all the drama, dorm life, wild parties and bad decisions.

Some twists were easy to spot, but predicting a few things didn’t ruin the fun. It was still a thrill to see where the plot went. If you love psychological thrillers with girls who have a dark side and a talent for landing in the middle of a murder mystery, you’ll devour this one.

Easy to keep track of with the POVs and timelines. slow but even pacing trying to figure out what happened. Stacy will be an auto read author for me!

Four college age friends— a borderline illegal apartment, a fraternity, and partying, what could go wrong? A missing person and mayhem that’s what. I enjoyed this one. While I figured out the ending before it happened, it did not lessen my enjoyment of the book. Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for providing me with an ARC.

Review posted:

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

After reading and really enjoying All The Dangerous Things and A Flicker In the Dark, when I saw Only If You’re Lucky was on Netgalley, I requested.

However, a IG friend did warn me that this was a slow burn. But man, did I not anticipate how sloooooooooooooooooow of a burn it would be.

In the first 2-3 chapters, I began to think this was a much watered down version of The Girls Are All So Nice Here, but that was not how it turned out. It just took forever for some action to start happening and by the time the action did start happening, I was somewhere between “meh and lukewarm” on this book. I don’t read YA books, but this seemed to have a younger audience feel and I realize these girls were in college and they are young, even though they think they are grown- but I feel Stacy’s 2 earlier books straddled a better line of being great reads for older and younger women. Just my 2 cents, though. YMMV.

What I Liked:

The cover is fantastic.

The actual ending. When everything ties together.



Bottom line: This book could have had at least 100 pages taken out and I think that would have been better for me. It was a times almost too angsty (again, perhaps considering the age of the characters). For me, it was just not up to the standards I have come to expect from Stacy Willingham. Fingers crossed book 4 satisfies like Book 1 and 2 did.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

I love me some dark academia, and this book is dark! (Trigger warnings: death, murder, rape)

Starting off innocently enough, I didn't think this book would be so heavy. But the more I read, the darker and heavier it got. I had some theories throughout and some were close and others were not, but it didn't matter because I was hooked and needed to find out what would happen next.

I really enjoyed this twisty thriller and I can't wait to read more from this author. This book is one that will be burned in my brain for a long time!

5 stars for a fantastic thriller

I heard the author speak about Flicker In The Dark and was hooked.
When I saw the book and its cover I knew I wanted to read it.
Students, a murder and missing people add up to a fast paced roller coaster ride.
Highly recommended for fans of thrillers.

Willingham returns with a new mystery filled with unexpected twists and turns.

Margot is a sophomore trying to find her people after losing her best friend a year earlier. The freshman year she imagined was crushed when Eliza died. Pulled into an instant group by Lucy Sharpe, Margot’s sophomore year is all the things she hoped for, close friends, parties, and an off-campus house. But Lucy is missing and everyone’s past is coming back to haunt them.

Told in past and present chapters the mysteries compound and unfold. It’s a good satisfying conclusion, but not as good as Willingham’s first book A Flicker in the Dark.

Margot is finishing her freshman year at Rutgers, a school she was supposed to attend with her best friend, Eliza, before she died.

When Margot decides to move in with three other girls she barely knows, things slowly start to get weird. During a drunken party Lucy asks, "if you could get away with murder, would you do it?" And now it all feels dangerous. Secrets are revealed, pasts get exposed, and loyalties are tested. A psychological thriller that explores the excess of college parties, the toxicity of greek life, and the power dynamics of friendships.

(Honestly, she should have roomed with Maggie and her matching throw pillows.)

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stacy Willingham knows how to write a book that keeps you wanting to read. Only If You're Lucky started off really strong and fizzled a bit toward the end. Overall it was entertaining enough to keep reading but I was left feeling a little disappointed with how things ended.

3.75 STARS- I liked this alot!

Thank you Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and the author for an #ARC in return for an honest review!

Stacy Willingham's writing must be crack because I fly through her books every single time. Its entertaining and engaging. If you are looking for a book to keep you hooked from the word go... then pick this one up.

I think what was different about this novel compared to others from this author, is that this was more a YA story/vibe. So if you are expecting something like All The Dangerous Things, then you might not like this as much. The college experience and dark academia setting was imaginable and fun. I think I have semi out grown the "crazy college' theme. I could have used more details regarding the main characters. The characters were immature and I had a hard time relating to them but it didn't completely take away from the story, personally. Some details felt predictable and repetitive which is why this was not a 5 star rating. The twists though.... dang!🤯 I did not see all that coming. I physically gasped., even though it was quite out there tbh. Toxic female friendships. Can you ever trust anyone fully? What about yourself?

I had fun reading this and I will continue to read anything Willingham writes ✍🏻

Read if you like:
🕯️fast paced
🕯️murder mystery
🕯️morally grey characters
🕯️alternating timelines
🕯️dark academia vibes

Loved this book! I have loved all of this authors work so far! Very talented! A definite unputdownable book! Look forward to more releases by Stacy!!

This book really didn’t disappoint in ensuring that you had know idea who did what, when, how, or where. Sometimes you think you are kind of sure what the answers are and BOOM YOU DO NOT. What a wild turn of events that occurred here. The way that the author set up the present vs past and had these girls girls making me guess wtf was up the entire time…. She really did a good job. The unraveling of absolutely every last detail at the end of this was everything that I needed. Good job Ms. Willingham- well played!

I was so excited to read another of Stacy Willingham’s books - I have loved the previous ones by her. However, this one fell short of my expectations. I felt as though I figured the twist out midway through, the mystery was enough to keep me needing to finish the book, but the characters were not likable, it felt drawn out, and for the ending to fall flat and be relatively easy to figure out, it wasn’t worth the hype.

Overall, it was just okay…grab it from the library.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Only If You're Lucky" by Stacy Willingham is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of friendship, trust, and hidden secrets. With her signature suspenseful writing style, Willingham crafts an intricate narrative that keeps readers on edge. The story follows the unraveling of tightly held secrets, leading to an explosive climax that questions the reliability of those we think we know best. Characters are well-developed, and the plot is filled with unexpected twists, making it a compelling read for fans of the genre.

I liked this book even if the ending didn't quite pan out the way that I wanted or hoped. The beginning was definitely stronger than the end for me but it did keep me interested and hooked.

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I didn't dislike this book per se - I just found it to be a bit of a drag getting through it. I know the intention was for it to be a psychological thriller but it seemed to lack a lot of the thriller aspect, and even when things that should've "thrilled" happened, it just seemed to fall flat. I'd still read her other books though as I did enjoy the writing, maybe it was just the concept that fell flat for me.

This was so painful to get through. It had all the makings of a great suspense/thriller but something was just off. I think the pacing.. it just felt incredibly repetitive and I just straight up didn't care about a single character. The ending was just okay. I really should have dnf this one but I love this author!

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

Only If You're Lucky is a story about the things you may do if you think you can get away with it. We Margot who has quietly moved through her first year of college after losing her best friend right after highschool graduation. Then Margot meets Lucy who convinces her to move into a house with a fee others girls. Here the story begins to weave through the secrets, lies and mystery surronding these characters.

Like many others, I found the pace to be slow - difficult to stay engaged at times. It alternates timelines with past and present and these are seamless and easy to follow but I was left wanting more. The last twenty per cent of the book really did pick up and there were some great twists and unexpected turns.

This is a story that is loved by many and it would be one that I would encourage others to try - especially if you have loved this author in the past - it just didn't work for me.