4.5/5

This book was slow to start but once it got going I didn’t want to put it down. The book goes between the present and the past in Margot’s point of view. She loses a friend in a tragedy and then finds a similar friend in Lucy. Lucy is not who you think she is. Margot, Lucy, and their two roommates Sloane and Nicole have quite a crazy semester.

A great read! Just have to get through the beginning! Stacy Willingham doesn’t disappoint!

Only if You’re Lucky was the perfect first read of my year!

I will be honest, I was sorely disappointed in Willingham’s previous A Flicker in the Dark, and put off reading this new one for a while. However, if any author can develop and improve, it has been Stacy Willingham!

Only if You’re Lucky introduces the reader to mysterious characters that spark empathy. I had several ideas of how the plot would play out, but I am happy to report that any of my guesses fell far short of what the author had planned. The pacing is very good in this novel; there are only a few moments that seemed to drag to me, but my investment in the characters and story kept me reading.

I am so thankful to have been an advance reader of Only If You’re Lucky, and am excited to recommend it to other readers!

This is the second book I’ve read by Stacy Willingham and it did not disappoint. Right from the start I was lured in and captivated. I couldn’t put it down. The two timelines seamlessly weave the story from past tragedies to present tribulations of a college student trying to make a new start and the company she keeps. Oh the secrets they hold on to…

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone! Definitely looking forward to more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This is one I really wanted to love. I’ve seen it all over, and couldn’t wait to read it! The beginning started off strong, but I lost interest with some of the characters. I think they seemed a little longer than college age. This wasn’t my favorite read, but I’m glad I read it.

Stacy Willingham does it again! I’ve enjoyed her previous two books so I was looking forward to this one. I could tell from the start that this book was going to be different than her first two. I was captivated immediately and did not want to put the book down. I wanted to know all of the answers! The mystery was great, and had twists that made it unpredictable. I love that Stacy is a local author for me so I can visualize her remarkable descriptions of the setting with ease. She has a way of writing that truly immerses you into the story. She remains a must buy author for me and I look forward to her future novels. Make sure you have this book on your TBR!

"Only If You're Lucky" by Stacy Willingham introduces readers to Margot, a college student navigating life after the tragic loss of her best friend, Eliza. The story takes a turn when Margot befriends the vibrant and popular Lucy, who invites her to share an off-campus house with a diverse group of girls. As Margot begins to emerge from her shell, a shocking event occurs—the murder of a fraternity boy and Lucy's mysterious disappearance. The novel weaves a thrilling tale of friendship, betrayal, and the consequences of choices.

As I dove into this book, I found myself caught in a well-paced thriller that skillfully revealed its secrets, building tension until the explosive final pages. Willingham's narrative, straddling two timelines, delivers a compelling story that keeps readers on the edge.

The character dynamics are brilliantly explored, with Lucy's magnetic personality contrasting sharply with Margot's introversion. The decision to room together sets the stage for Margot's transformation, pulling her out of the shadows and into a tumultuous adventure. The murder of a fraternity boy, known to Margot, and Lucy's disappearance create a gripping mystery, and Willingham handles the escalating tension with finesse.

The narrative's effective use of flashback moments adds depth, allowing multiple perspectives to enrich the story. The characters, though flawed and at times petty, undergo significant development, contributing to a well-rounded ensemble. Plot twists emerge seamlessly, ensuring a breathless pace that keeps the reader engaged.

Stacy Willingham's 'Only If You're Lucky' stands out as a thrilling psychological suspense, skillfully blending mystery, character-driven storytelling, and unexpected twists. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy a gripping, unpredictable narrative."

A tantalizing thriller about the dangerous side of female friendships, this book heavily features themes of loyalty, envy, betrayal, and the darkest side of the desire to belong.

I love a campus thriller. From In My Dreams I Hold A Knife to The It Girl and the OG dark cult classic The Secret History, dark academia is my jam. There's just something enigmatic about the contained setting- narcissistic youths on the cusp of adulthood left to their own devices, making poor decisions, wrapped up in the bubble that is their world.

I also love Stacy Willingham. She has been an auto buy author for me since her debut A Flicker In The Dark blew me away and I was thrilled to get this complimentary arc from St Martin's Press/Minotaur. Only If You're Lucky felt a bit different than her two prior novels and was a lot slower in getting to the real meat of the story. I didn't feel that much happened in the first 200 pages, and I found myself struggling to get into it. Jealous girlies don't resonate with me enough to build a whole whodunnit on. Not to mention, there were a lot of characters to keep track of who took up unnecessary space. I also wasn't very invested in the characters or the mystery, so... This one was a miss for me. 3,5 stars rated down to a 3,

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, The It Girl, Dare Me, Never Saw Me Coming, The Girls

Wow! This was certainly a twisted story.
It’s a well written psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Lots of secrets will see the light of day. I was a bit surprised by the ending

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.