I read a lot of thrillers and, as a result, the big reveals in these books have started to become more and more predictable. This book was full of those big surprises that I never saw coming. More importantly, most of them felt well supported in the book - if I had just interpreted those moments a little differently instead of going exactly where Willingham led me.

This is the kind of book that has an ensemble cast, but really revolves around a few key people: Margot (our narrator), Eliza (Margot's childhood best friend). and Lucy (the mysterious cool girl on campus). We get a supporting cast of: Lucy's friends, the boy next door, and the frat boys next door. The book is mainly set in the present day, but we get some flashbacks to Margot and Eliza's childhood and their last summer together.

This one kept me on my toes despite being more of a slow burn thriller. The payoff at the end was absolutely worth waiting for.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

this is a slow-burn suspense novel with notes of toxic female friendship set in a college town

I feel very lucky to have been an advance reader of all three of Stacy Willingham’s books. I really enjoy the way she tells a story, and “Only If You’re Lucky” was a wild one.

Every college town has someone like Lucy Sharpe: larger than life with an unclear origin story. Introverted Margot is singled out by Lucy at the end of freshman year and finds herself living with Lucy and two other friends: sarcastic Sloan and Nicole, the nice one. Margot and Lucy become close friends, but by the end of sophomore year, one of the frat boys next door is murdered and Lucy has vanished.

What I enjoyed most about this one was how eerily accurate it felt in regard to life in a small college town. The girls live in a house connected to a frat, the type of weird real estate you’ll only find in one of these towns. I was also shocked by the twists — typical for a Stacy Willingham novel!

A story about four college friends who all seem a little different. Lucy is the mysterious one, Sloane has a sarcastic attitude, Nicole is sweet, and Margot is shy.

The story is told in two timelines. It is told from when the girls get to know one another and the after surrounding the murder of one of the boys in the frat house that is next door.

A lot unfolds and you find out Lucy knows a lot more about Margot than we think. The story is a very slow burn but I did enjoy it. It has some good twists in the end that will keep you enthralled throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am a big fan of Stacy Willingham and was so excited to be approved for the galley of Only if You’re Lucky.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

This one was a little harder for me than her previous ones though. I did enjoy it once I got into it but the first half of the book’s pacing was really weird. It felt slow and Margot’s paranoia was kind of constantly talked about without anything actually happening. And then all of a sudden, SO MUCH happened. And while I did enjoy when it finally picked up, it just picked up so late.

I will say that the twists were good. There were a lot of things I didn’t expect, I just wish some of them had happened a little earlier on to make the pacing a little better and not all in the last 40% of the book. And the authors note in the acknowledgments made the setting a lot more fun and realistic. Margot was also a very unlikeable character and a little off honestly but I think that it contributed to her unreliability as a narrator and created tension that definitely needed to be there.

I think that a lot of people will love this honestly and I will definitely recommend it!

I was SO excited to get a widget for an ARC of Only If You’re Lucky, as both All the Dangerous Things and A Flicker in the Dark were 5 star reads for me back in December 2022 and December 2021 respectively. Somehow I held off on reading this one until January, instead of keeping the December tradition alive 🤣 Thanks to Minotaur Books and St Martin’s Press for NetGalley access in exchange for my honest opinion!
Only If You’re Lucky takes place at a small college where, even though you think you know everyone and everything, there are still plenty of secrets. I went to a similarly small college of 1200 students (smaller than the high school where I now teach!) and we would joke that each person had a “phantom 500” - 500 students that you would never come into contact with because of your major, where you lived, when/where you went to eat, etc. which seems to be the case at this school, too!
I didn’t love this book quite as much as Willingham’s previous two releases, probably because it is slower-paced, but I still enjoyed it and recommend it for a twisty thriller where you likely won’t predict the ending. Reading the author’s note at the end about the parts that were based on her own college experience was especially interesting. It will be available Tuesday, January 16th!

I knew this book was going to be good from the moment I picked it up. No, really, I called it a five star read on my Instagram when I was only at 6%done!!

I have really enjoyed Stacy Willingams books so far so I was pretty sure I would love this one - and it did not disappoint! The story follows 4 college roommates but specifically the MC Margot. Margots best friend from home passed away in their senior year, and now she is trying to find her own way in a world the friends ad planned out together. She moves in with Lucy and her friends, despite barely knowing more than just their names. Things seem great at first, until one of the sorority boys next door is murdered and Lucy is missing without a trace...

This book just hooked me in right away and I could not put it down. The author does a great job at being mysterious with the characters back story and slowly unravelling it throughout the plot. I just kept wanting to know more.

It also felt like there were frequent moments that I wasn't expecting, even though the synopsis for the book felt fairly straightforward.

This book and the characters are both mysterious and riveting. I can already tell that this one is definitely going to be a contender for my favs of the year! Please do yourself a flavor and check this one out if you are a fan of mystery/thriller/suspense books!

Trigger warnings to note: Death, Grief, Murder, Drug Use, Sexual Assault

This is actually my least favorite of Stacy Willingham’s books. The pacing was off for me. The whole story felt like it was dragging with nothing really happening until the 50-70% point of the book. Then everything kind of snowballed. But the twists were predictable, I had an idea of the ending from the beginning.
One thing I do love about Willingham is she knows how to write an unreliable narrator and just shifty characters overall. I think this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I am going to start out by saying that Stacy Willingham always comes through with some amazing twists. However, this one just felt like it took SO long to get there. The first 70% of the book really dragged for me. I might have DNFd it but I had a feeling something good was coming so I kept pushing through. The last 30% really delivered and saved the story for me. The twists kept coming, my mind was racing trying to put all the pieces together & even then I still didn’t see most of what happened coming. It was an intense ending and made me feel SO much better about not DNFing.

Honestly the writing style was just not my favorite and I felt very bored for the middle 50%.
The ending almost made up for it but at the end end, I felt let down. I needed more, idk!

I looooved this book. The relationships between the college girls is so relatable and interesting. The twists in the book is definitely not what I saw coming. Margot’s best friend is dead. She starts college in the fall and befriends three popular girls and becomes their roommate. Now one of them is missing. I figured it was somehow connected but I was surprised with how. Definitely a must read book.

I liked this story of friendship, secrets, and lies as shy and studious Margot is befriended by outgoing and wild Lucy and invited into her group of friends and roommates. This twisty thriller is told in alternating chapters of before and after, revealing secrets and details bit by bit, keeping the tension high and leaving you flipping pages anticipating the next thrill. While the story lagged a bit in the middle, it was well worth pushing through to the shocking end. I truly didn't see it coming!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the best book I’ve read lately! Right from the start I was pulled in and intrigued. I couldn’t put it down. I love the duel timeline and it kept me reading to find out what happens next. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone! Definitely the best book by Stacey Willingham and look forward to more.

Margot is approached by Lucy, an outgoing and mysterious girl, who asks her to be a fourth roommate. The girls, plus Sloane and Nicole, start to get to know each other and hang out more. Margot reveals how her friend died a year ago and she thinks one of the guys they know did it. The story flashes back-and-forth between the past and the present, where the girls are being interrogated for the disappearance of Lucy and the murder she was being questioned about.

This book had me on the edge of my seat! Between the shirt chapters and cliffhangers, I had to know more. I haven’t stayed up reading a book in a minute, but here I am writing this after hours 🤪 there were some things I predicted and some things that came as a surprise, which is a balance I appreciate. I’m still processing the ending and how I feel about it, but overall, I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller!

3.5 ⭐️ - overall I liked it and I paired this one with the audio!

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 (Out January 16th)
Great Narrator (Obviously It Is Karissa Vacker 👑)
Dark Academia Vibes (Felt Really Similar To Other Dark Academia I have Read)
Easy To Follow (For Me)
A Couple Fun Twists (Listen And You’ll Know 🤭)
Sorority Girl Millennial Nostalgia (Millennial Through And Through 🙋🏼‍♀️)

I really loved Stacy Willingham's first book, and then liked her second one. I don't think this one was for me. I'm really hopeful the first one wasn't a fluke!

So Stacy Willingham can do no wrong!!! This book was AMAZING!!! I have loved all her others books and I truly could not put this down. Her writing is fantastic. I love the way she develops her characters as well as the plot. This was another amazing book that I finished in a day.

This thriller is dual timeline - one dealing with high school best friends and the other as young adults off at college for the first time. It’s the story of love in its many forms - and that people will do just about anything for love. The house in this one is sort of like its own character - and may be the richest character in the story. Many of the others fell flat for me - they weren’t very likeable. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read.

This book started off great for me! I have loved all this authors past books and this one was right up there with her others. I ended up enjoying the first half more than the second, it started to feel a little repetitive and the twists weren’t very surprising

I was very excited for the chance
to read an ARC of this one as I really enjoyed the authors previous books, and also like the dark academia vibes. However, this one fell a bit flat for me and took forever to get through. The first 60-70% was just boring me, and by the time the action was finally picking up, I just wanted to finish the book. I think I may have liked it more if there were dual perspectives, as Margot was a bit boring to me, and I think Lucy, Sloane, or Nicole's perspectives could have been a juicy addition.

I have read Stacy Willingham’s other books, and jumped at the opportunity to read this one as well. It didn’t disappoint, and honestly it might actually be my favorite of hers. I’m a sucker for a good plot twist, especially when I can’t see it coming. There were SO MANY in this book! Stacy weaved together three different timelines making it all come together flawlessly at the end. The characters were relatable and the pacing was good. I don’t know if I really liked Margot by the end of the story and actually may be feeling a little bad for Lucy. I’m not sure. I need to think about that some more!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early copy of the audiobook and the book! I listened and read along! I thought Karissa Vacker’s narration was fabulous.