3 stars for this ill-paced read. The story itself is fine, but my goodness it took way too long to make its point. The main character, Margot, is dull. The amount of alcohol consumption in this book is staggering. I am giving it 3 stars because I did actually get interested in the second half to see how it would resolve. But overall it was just OK.

I was very excited to start this book as I LOVED the authors first two books. This one read more of a YA book and dragged a little. The ending was somewhat of a surprise but could have been a little more based on the buildup. However, I will be an avid reader of this author still

Starting my year with the latest STACY WILLINGHAM book is becoming tradition & I loved every page ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY.

I’m forever drawn to stories that explore the complicated + dark dynamic of female friendships. There’s such relatability to the instant bond that forms, particularly in college when you seem to go from strangers to inseparable in a snap. Whether it’s the desire to belong, to fit in or to find your people. A chance to reinvent yourself, to push beyond the person you’ve been, to leave the past behind and allow yourself to get swept up in the idea - in the promise - of something new.

Margot spent her freshman year holed up in her room, her head down and her walls up, grieving the death of her best friend the summer before. But then Lucy Sharpe walks into her room and everything changes.

Lucy is the ultimate *that girl* — oozing confidence and beauty, a larger than life personality and a seemingly effortless air about her. Everyone is drawn to Lucy. And Margot’s been mesmerized by her all year.

When Lucy invites Margot to be the fourth in an off-campus house, she’s intrigued. So what if she doesn’t know Nicole and Sloane? If the house is on the very rundown side? And if their neighbors & landlords are the Brothers of Kappa Nu? It’s Margot’s chance to live a new life and she grabs it, becoming fast friends with her roommates & settling into a party and play routine at Kappa Nu.

But when the book opens, in the middle of their sophomore year, a fraternity brother is dead, Lucy is missing and a Detective is looking for answers.

With dual timelines and great twists I was hooked from the start. There’s such an ease to STACY WILLINGHAM’s writing & to the flow of the story, but she stops me in my tracks with a line or phrase that will cut deep or evoke a memory or leave me slightly speechless. Yes, I’m obsessed.

And be sure to read the acknowledgements for the inspo for the book and for Lucy. Love the behind-the-writing-curtain bits!

Huge thanks to to @stmartinspress & @minotaur_books for granting my ARC wish.

Take a trip back to college days, but buckle up. It’s a dark and scary ride. In Only if You’re Lucky, newbie-on-campus Margot is swept into a group of friends led by Lucy. We all know a Lucy, the one who captures the attention of everyone in the room, the one who calls all the shots, the one who is never told no. So on a small college campus, the most popular girl befriends a shy and innocent but vulnerable girl, Margot. What does Lucy see in Margot? What does she want from Margot? Their apartment is now complete with Margot, leader Lucy, Sloane, the sassy one, and Nicole, the nice one.

Stacy Willingham is the wizard of the psychological thriller and a master at drawing her readers into a story. This is a story within a story, one of female relationships and a darker tale of murder. The action begins with the death of one of the fraternity boys next door, and then Lucy goes missing.

The writing is fast-paced and descriptive, bringing back vivid memories of long-ago college days. There’s plenty of parties and booze, but don’t get lulled into a stupor. The twists keep coming, and they wind even tighter toward the end of the story. The author does an amazing job of keeping the suspense on edge throughout the narrative.

I was interested to read that the author set this story in a locale similar to her housing at the University of Georgia. Although inspired by a real place, the characters are entirely fictional. Don’t miss this 5-star nail-biter.

Only If You’re Lucky follows a girl Margot who is just trying to fit in a world where it’s not very easy to. Always being not so spontaneous she spontaneously rooms with three other girls and we are in for a ride. Page turning thriller that kept me entertained. The ending was nothing that I expected and again was shocked by the end results, like all of Wellington’s books. I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of the latest by Stacy Willingham!

I was so excited for this book as A Flicker In The Dark and All The Dangerous Things were both 4⭐ reads from me, but sweet mother of all that is holy this book was not for me. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow. I'm not big into slow burn books, but this moved at a snails pace, with nothing happening until the 70% mark.

There were some unpredictable twists, but several plot elements were completely unrealistic and ridiculous. It's a solid no from me.

This is a slow burn mystery/thriller. The main characters are freshmen and sophomores in college and it brought back so many feels. College was great but I never need to go back 😂 The story is told hopping back and forth between before and after a death and someone going missing and you slowly figure out everyone's secrets.

I have to say that I wasn't blown away. It was a pretty typical thriller and the burn was a bit too slow for me. I think multiple POVs would have been more imteresting!

This was just okay for me, but would still recommend it to someone who enjoys slower moving plots!

I felt that our MC’s POV was a bit monotonous and I didn’t love her character.

*3.5 stars rounded up.

Margot heads off to Rutledge College with a sad heart--her lifelong best friend died from an accident a few weeks after high school graduation. They had planned to be roommates at school and now Margot is having to carry on alone. She has a nice roommate and the two of them tend to keep to themselves.

But at the end of that freshman year, a popular and charismatic girl named Lucy stops by Margot's dorm room to invite her to come live with her and her two friends in a house owned by one of the fraternities. Margot's been watching the three friends for months, envious of their closeness, and can't believe her luck. Why would Lucy want to include her? The four soon become fast friends but something is not quite right.

It takes a while for this story to unfold and the changing timelines can be a bit confusing, but be patient--the twists of the last 20% are well worth the wait. I sure didn't see them coming!

St Martins Publishing Group provided me with an arc through their Influencers Program via NetGalley. I am very grateful for the opportunity to read this new thriller by Willingham. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Only If You’re Lucky is a spellbinding thriller that explores the intricate dynamics of friendship and the dark underbelly of human relationships. The narrative follows Margot, a reserved and careful college student, whose life takes a thrilling turn when she becomes roommates with the larger-than-life Lucy Sharpe. The novel unfolds against the backdrop of an off-campus house where Margot, Lucy, and their two roommates, Sloane and Nicole, form an unlikely sisterhood. The story takes a chilling turn when a brutal murder rocks the college community, implicating one of the fraternity boys from the neighboring house. Lucy Sharpe, the charismatic ringleader, goes missing without a trace. The suspense builds as Margot, now emerged from her shell, grapples with the unraveling mystery and the shadows that linger over their shared past.

Stacy Willingham simply does not miss. The pacing was near-perfect, the characters were enigmatic and convincing, and I never saw the plot twist coming. Only If You’re Lucky is not merely a thriller but a compelling exploration of the nature of friendship and belonging. Stacy masterfully captures the complexities of human relationships, leaving readers questioning the trust they place in those closest to them. A must-read for anyone looking for a gripping psychological thriller.

Well - this will be a 3 star review but one of those 'still read this it was good 3 star reviews'. Hear me out though.. I think if I didn't have high expectations from this author because of her previous two books I would have liked it a whole lot more? This one felt quite juvenile, then it almost lost me, and the end left me mega confused. I really don't want to spoil anything with my review, so I won't explain why I was confused or what I didn't like all that much about it, but it didn't hold up to her previous two books.

Now, in saying that, it was still fairly good. It was super dark, super twisty, the writing was phenomenal and it was hard to figure out what characters to like or trust. It was a fairly slow burn, but it weaved the dark tale to set you up for the blow out ending.

I loved this author’s two previous thrillers but this one for me was not as enjoyable. The story about female friendships, a dead college student and a missing friend unfolded without much happening for a large part of the book. I kept waiting for something to happen. The last quarter of the book did pick up with some interesting twists and turns and a good ending in keeping with this author’s previous novels 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. I did like the writing style which was easy to read.

I will look out for this author’s next novel as I did really enjoy her earlier works.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

This was just an okay read for me. Told in dual timelines, which normally I am a fan of, in this case though, the plot unfolds at slow burn pace that made me lose interest in what was happening. The characters were unlikable, not always a bad thing, but mixed with the slower plot I struggled connecting to the story. The storyline was intriguing and overall a well written novel. I have read other books by Stacy Willingham and while this wasn't my favorite, I will be looking forward to her next novel.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review a complementary digital copy.

This was an interesting story with some unexpected twists. I found the plot to move very slowly, though, and it took me nearly three weeks to finish the book. All in all, it was just an okay read for me.

Only if You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham
.
Shy Margot has had a really rough freshman year at college. So when super popular Lucy asks her to be the fourth roommate at their new rental on campus, Margot is thrilled she was noticed. Until someone dies, and Lucy goes missing.
.
What I liked:
-I really think this was my favorite of Stacy’s mystery/thrillers. It really kept me guessing what secrets were lurking.
-I really enjoyed the dark and ominous vibes to the book.
-I felt like this book was a wonderfully twisted web that I enjoyed watching untangle. The ending was good and I liked where it went.
.
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So good! I’m a huge fan of Stacy Willinghams writing style! The twists were very twisty and it kept me engaged throughout the entire book! Definitely a must read!

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

ᴏɴʟʏ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ ʟᴜᴄᴋʏ
sᴛᴀᴄʏ ᴡɪʟʟɪɴɢʜᴀᴍ
ᴍɪɴᴏᴛᴀᴜʀ ʙᴏᴏᴋs
ᴘᴜʙ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: ᴊᴀɴ 𝟷𝟼, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺
✩✩✩✩

Happy Friday! I’m about done with IG to be honest 🤣 I’ve been action blocked since LAST Friday, not being able to like or comment- so it’s basically JAIL without the label. Happen to anyone else lately? Let’s see what posting does to my account 😬

Anyways, I LOVE author Stacy Willingham @st , her books are always twisty, addictive, and filled with crazy characters. Her newest thriller 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 did not dissapoint and was another fun thrilling ride.

Compared to Willingham’s past books this one has more of a YA feel, and although this is not my favorites dialogue it wasn’t super cringe. I actually enjoyed the frat house setting and @ did a great job with creating typical college age characters. There were a few twists I DID NOT see coming, and over all this was a solid 4 ⭐️ read.

Special thanks to @net and @min for the early copy! This book releases next week, so definitely set yourself a reminder to pick this one up!

4 out of 5

Only If You’re Lucky is a suspenseful thriller that dives into the dark side of friendship. The story follows Margot, a cautious college student who tragically lost her best friend, Eliza, just weeks after their high school graduation.
Margot becomes obsessed with Lucy, a charismatic and charming girl who soon invites Margot to live in an off-campus house with two others.

Margot quickly realizes that Lucy is carrying many secrets, including that she was possibly involved in a brutal murder close to home. Armed with suspicions, Margot has to find out the truth about Lucy before it is too late.

I wanted to love this book, however I struggled with it. I bumped it up by .5 stars based on the ending. Otherwise, this was a slow burn. I was annoyed with Margot and many of the YA references. Despite this, Stacey Willingham continues to be on my “must read” list and I look forward to her next novel.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books, the author, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was able to get my first Netgalley audio of the year, Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham finished before publication day! 🎉 (January 16)

I really enjoyed Wilingham’s other books, Flicker in the Dark (4⭐️) and All the Dangerous Things (5⭐️) so I was super excited when I was approved for Only if You’re Lucky.

A dual timeline, college setting, that involves female friendships, loss, suspense and murder…but I wasn’t sure what to think about this book. 😕 I liked it. It bugged me. I was back and forth.

I waffled between giving it 3 or 4⭐️ The story is a slow burn, but wallops you in the end, so I gave it 3⭐️ on Goodreads but more like 3.5⭐️ Clear as mud right? 😂

I thought it was a good book but I feel it wasn’t as good as Willingham’s others. Still a huge fan and will definitely read whatever she puts out.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillion.audio for this ARC!

Stacy Willingham does it again! I read this one shortly after finishing "All the Dangerous Things" and couldn't put it down. If I didn't have to sleep, I would have finished it in one setting. Told in alternating time period POVs, we follow Margot's experience through college and she and her friends find themselves in a bit of a predicament. This one really hit home as I've been in Margot's shoes with my own college experience as I struggled to find my place and make friends - sometimes I went along with things and people I didn't even like just to feel accepted and like I belonged. Similar to her other novels, Willingham takes us through quick pacing with plenty of twists and turns. I've read a LOT of thrillers, and this one kept proving me wrong every time I thought I had an idea of what was to come next. I predict this one will take Booktok by storm upon its release, and I plan on recommending this one to my book clubs as I'd love to pick the brains of others who have read it. Thanks so much for the ARC!