This was a fun one. I enjoyed the small college setting and how very different the characters were. The codependency of the roommates was very realistic. The character development was strong - Willingham captures the impulsivity of young adults so well. Karissa Vacker narrates so I know I wanted to listen on audio as I find her audiobooks wonderful. She, as always, did a fabulous job so I highly recommend the audio for this one!

I struggled so much with this one. I ended up having to quit 10% in. It felt very YA and there was just tooooooo much description. I wanted to get to the point so bad.

The story is a winding story told both from two different times. I was intrigued right from the start. The pacing was good as the story unfolded. The book was interesting, and I was absorbed in the story wanting to know what happened next. I didn't want to put it down.
At times, I thought I had it figured out, but I was still shocked by the way the story was resolved. Definitely well worth the read. This is definitely an author I will watch for in the future. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

𝟮.𝟱 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡
Gets a bit messy (in a good way) towards the end, but was mostly boring the whole way through.

As always, I love Stacy Willingham’s prose. I feel like she has the most well-written thrillers on the market in terms of eloquence. However, this book was super lacking when it came to the plot. The plot of “who is responsible for the death of my best friend?” in the BEFORE timeline and “where is Lucy?” in the AFTER timeline were both so uninteresting to me. I just felt the stakes couldn’t have been lower for such a high stakes type of situation, because it dragged the entire time. I should have cared about both mysterious aspects, but I was just waiting for something to happen for most of the book.

Really enjoyed this one! Alternates from past to present, leaving you with lots of questions from one chapter to the next. I definitely did not predict that ending!

This one was a bit too slow paced for me! The last 15% was good + I enjoyed the twist but overall I couldn’t stay invested.

3.5 stars. I loved so much about this: the campus setting, dual timelines, and short chapters. A few things didn’t work for me. It felt dragged out and repetitive. I wanted more from the ending to make the slow burn worth it. The twists you could see coming and there was too much of an information dump at the end. I do enjoy Willingham’s writing style and enjoyed this overall, it just wasn’t my favorite of hers.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this eARC!

I will upload my review to Instagram on publication day.

I'll start off by saying that I'm a huge fan of Stacy Willingham and All the Dangerous Things was one of my favorite books of 2023, so I was incredibly excited to read her newest book Only If You're Lucky.

What starts off as a typical dual timeline story, you're slowly walked through everything that's happened to a group of 4 girls as they start their sophomore year of college. Lucy, the charismatic one, Nicole, the shy one, Sloane, the cautious one and Margot, the nice one. How did these four women go from best friends to Lucy's disappearance and the rest of the girls speaking to the police about a murder?

Margot is our main character, and she is reeling after the death of her high school best friend, when she starts her freshman year of college. She's had a boring first year and looking for something exciting when Lucy invites her to live with the other two girls for their sophomore year. What starts out as a way to break out of a rut turns into a year she, or the rest of the women, will never forget.

While there are times I wanted to yell at some of the characters for making awful decisions, it's easy to understand the motives when you remember that they're all recent high school graduates. Let's be honest, I think everyone has made some bad decisions early in their college years, so that part actually felt very realistic.

I was able to pick a couple of the twists throughout, but there were some big twists that kept me engaged. Once again Stacy Willingham has crafted an engaging and exciting story that you won't be able to put down.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martin's Press / Minotaur books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

After losing her best friend Eliza, to a tragic accident a year prior, Margot continues on to the college they were both planning to attend. Upon her arrival she realizes she is just surviving instead of thriving. That is until she meets a girl named Lucy who has all the qualities that made Eliza her best friend in the first place. Margot seems to have somewhat of an obsession with both of these girls. Lucy invites Margot to be her roommate along with two other girls at a house they rent from a fraternity. Margot jumps at the invite despite not knowing any of these young women.
The four of them quickly become best friends and Margot feels herself coming out of the depression she was in and enjoying life again. That is until Eliza's neighbor and ex-boyfriend, Levi, pledges for the fraternity next door. This brings up all of the emotions she has been trying so hard to avoid. She tells the other girls of her issues with Levi and warns them to watch out.
When Levi turns up dead at a camping trip Margot and the other girls attend with the fraternity, suspicions start to run rampant. Margot and her roommates begin to discover that they know very little about Lucy and scramble to connect the dots. But as it turns out, Margot has secrets too.

I enjoyed this book. I wouldn't necessarily call it a thriller like Stacy Willingham's other novels. It is a character driven mystery, I felt some of the characters could have used a little more development in order to really invest in their stories. Margot was a little boring, especially when describing her and Eliza's relationship. It seemed a bit one-sided and somewhat emotionless besides her obsession. I also wish we got a little more insight into the backgrounds of Nicole and Sloane. But overall I enjoyed the plot points and twists. Everything was pretty much wrapped up at the end which leaves the reader feeling like the story is complete. I was very excited to receive and eARC from Netgalley. Even though this one wasn't my favorite, I am still intrigued to see what Stacy Willingham comes up with next.

This book is such a slow paced book and I was not here for it! I wasn't surprised about anything that happened in the story, and I would say what was supposed to be the twists weren't a twist to me. I honestly just could not wait for this long, drawn out story to be over with. I did not care about what happened to Margot's best friend or why she did not like the boy next door.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ALC

How well do you really know someone? An even more important question, how well do you know yourself and trust yourself? When it comes down to it, what would you do to protect yourself? These are just a few of the questions the characters in Only If You’re Lucky by Stacey Willingham should consider.

This was my first book I’ve read by this author and I absolutely loved it. The timing on the storytelling was actually perfect because it had you guessing all throughout who did it? I was so convinced I knew how everything was going to work out in the end and the author, Stacey Willingham proved me wrong! So so wrong. There are some bread crumbs throughout the book that I didn’t catch on until later, and it just blew me away. Little things that you just don’t think twice about.

If you want a good mystery book that keeps you guessing, I highly recommend Only If You’re Lucky. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books.

Thank you NetGalley, Saint Martin’s Press, and Stacey Willingham for sending this Book for review, and consideration. All opinions are my own.

First, I was so excited to be approved for this ARC! I have absolutely loved other books by Willingham, and this story was no exception. I enjoyed it so much that I may end up buying a physical copy just so I can add it to my bookshelves.
With that being said, my main complaint was the seeming stupidity and blind trust all the characters placed in Lucy, I understand the attempt to portray her as a charismatic personality who was able to effectively create any identity she wanted/needed, but I wish Sloane and Nicole had been written as slightly more intelligent. I was also very bothered by Margot just blinding taking a pill Lucy offered to her without even slightly questioning what it was. Again, I understand the need for this part of the story to form Lucy as manipulative and conniving character, but I found myself wanting to shake some common sense into the three girls who Lucy befriended.
Aside from that semi-problematic issue, this book delivered everything I like in a suspense/thriller. I especially enjoyed the smaller reveals throughout the story as "breadcrumbs" leading to the big conclusion. The characters rallied around Nicole and supported her (albeit in a very shocking way) and it's clear that these three will be life-long friends. As for Lucy, I more felt incredibly sad for her then happy with her ending, but as far as "satisfying" endings go, this conclusion was excellent.
Overall, totally worth the read and a great way to conclude my 2023 year of reading!

Thank you for allowing me to read!

This was an awesome thriller centered around the lives of 4 college roommates. This author is an auto read for me and her newest novel lives up to her past books.

You don’t know who to trust and just know that you can never believe we are all “little girls”.

5 stars!!

I liked this one a lot. The story was a bit slow but I was engaged the whole time. Enjoyable twist. Multiple time lines. An enjoyable thriller overall.

Willingham unquestionably knows how to write suspense. The final stretch of Only If You're Lucky, comprising the last 20 percent of the book, is a wild rollercoaster, filled with sudden revelations and twists that unfold at a breakneck pace—it's a fun but far-fetched experience. My struggle with the novel arose from the profoundly unlikable cast, particularly the central figure, Margot. Introduced as a college freshman in coastal South Carolina grappling with the recent loss of her best friend, Eliza, Margot is whiny, needy, and obsessive. The readers also meet Lucy Sharpe—a fellow freshman and charismatic figure reminiscent of Eliza—who befriends Margot. The book unfolds in two timelines, delineating events "before," which focus on Margot and Eliza’s relationship and Margot's freshman year/ first half of her sophomore year, and "after," when something ominous has happened to a fraternity pledge and Lucy. Willingham does a good job of portraying the college party culture and the fraternity that features heavily in the storyline. (Be sure to read the author’s note). However, the lack of sympathetic characters made this book a 3.5-star read for me.

I really loved Willingham's debut novel so was excited to get an advanced readers copy of Only If You're Lucky. Sadly it didn't live up to its predecessors. The first 75% or so of the book was a struggle to slog through. and nothing really picked up until the last quarter or so of the book. When the action and connections started to come together. And while the book is placed in a college setting, it read alot more like a YA. The characters were quite juvenile in their antics.

What I did enjoy was the correlations to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That said I still struggled to connect to our characters. And I wish they had more depth. Some of the reveals and the surprises at the end redeemed the book for me. In the end while I didn't hate the book it was definitely not my fav by the author. And it won't prevent me from picking up future works.

This was a solid suspenseful thriller! I gave it 4 stars, which means I really liked it! The college setting & vibes were perfect, and I think she expertly described/gave us a look into the characters lives and minds. I could understand each one, how they were feeling, what they were doing, and why.

The reason for me that it's only 4 stars is because it was pretty slow for the first 60%, and suuuuper repetitive. But, once things started to pick up... they REALLY picked up and I thought the ending (last 30ish%) was so good and interesting. Some things I predicted, and other really surprised me!

I was so so excited for this book because I absolutely loved Willinghams last 2 books. I enjoyed this book but I felt like throughout a large portion of the book, there wasn’t much happening. The main character wasn’t my favorite and I felt like the ending just wasn’t believable.

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

All the Dangerous Things was my favorite thriller of 2023, so I could barely contain my excitement when I received the ARC for Only If You're Lucky. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. I enjoyed the overall premise of the story, and I was intrigued at the beginning. However, as the book went on, I found I was bored. I enjoyed the setting and most of the characters, but there was no tension. I, unfortunately, did not care what happened or if anyone was still alive. I also found the reveals to be unbelievable. Over-the-top twists or unbelievable reveals rarely work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

You'll like this book if you enjoy a slow burn. We take our time getting to know the characters, getting into their psyches, finding out what makes them tick.

Margot left the Outer Banks of North Carolina to attend college at Rutledge in South Carolina, after her best friend Eliza's tragic death. In the summer before her sophomore year, she befriends and moves in with a group of girls renting a house next to a fraternity house, which is owned by the brothers. The last person she expects to see at Rutledge pledging her neighbor/landlords' fraternity is someone from her hometown, which she thought she left in the past.

This story is filled with twists and turns. We gradually peel away the layers, and find out the lies and secrets each character has been hiding, and their motivations for acting the way they do. It's a great study in the duality of human nature: the face we show to the world vs. the darkness that lies hidden within. To what extent will people go to hide their dark secrets?