Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham is a captivating and intricately woven tale that delves into the complexities of female friendship. This twist-filled mystery unravels with precision in every chapter, ensnaring readers and refusing to release its grip. Prepare to be immersed in a dark, intense, and utterly addictive narrative.

In Only If You’re Lucky, author Stacy Willingham weaves a compelling narrative that explores the complex dynamics of friendship, identity, and the consequences of unraveling secrets. The protagonist, Margot, evolves from a shy and cautious character to someone entangled in a web of danger and mystery. The author masterfully captures the essence of each character, creating a group of individuals who are both distinct and deeply interconnected. As the plot unfolds with the murder mystery and Lucy's disappearance, the novel grips readers with its suspenseful twists and turns. The exploration of loyalty, envy, and betrayal adds layers to the story, making it a tantalizing thriller. Stacy Willingham continues to demonstrate prowess in the realm of psychological suspense, solidifying their position as a gold standard in the genre.
Only If You're Lucky is a must-read!

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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

Margot's best friend Eliza has died, and Margo decides to go the liberal arts college Eliza was planning to go to, wanting to fulfill Eliza's dreams. Margot quickly meets the eccentric and loud Lucy, and they quickly become close, and decide to become roommates along with Lucy's friends. But then Eliza's former boyfriend Levi shows up, the only other person there who knew Eliza.

We learn from a split timeline that Levi is dead, presumably murdered. And it's through flashbacks to "before" that we learn what really happened between Margo and her friends.

Thank you netgalley and St. Martin's press for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Summary: Only If You're Lucky is about four girls who live together near Rutledge College in South Carolina. Lucy is the ringleader of the group, Sloane is sarcastic, Nicole is nice and Margot is an introvert who was recently invited into the group by Lucy. Margot is trying to find her identity after losing her best friend, Elyza, three months after graduation. Margot had always imagined going to college with Elyza so she's thankful, and maybe even a little obsessed, with her new group of friends. The girls live next door to a group of fraternity boys and they have a lot of fun partying together until the middle of their sophomore year, when one of the boys is murdered and Lucy is nowhere to be found.

Stacy Willingham does it again! She's a must-read author for me and I've loved every single one of her books. Only If You're Lucky had me hooked from the very beginning and it was fun to reminisce my college years as I read this book, although I'm glad my college years were MUCH less eventful! I couldn't put this down and found it easy to read and listen to. My only complaint was that some of the ending felt a little far-fetched. Maybe I'm naive, but I couldn't believe that some of the things the girls did would actually happen in real life! Even though it felt a little bit dramatic, I was still gripped by this book from start to finish and will definitely continue to root for Stacy Willingham and all of her future books!

I enjoyed this thriller. Set in college, there is such a naïveté about the characters. Several twists and turns! And I love the setting of the house.

I absolutely love Stacy Willingham and I was beyond thrilled to be approved to read this one!

I have to say though that I didn't love love this one. It fell a bit flat for me. I didn't like any of the characters, especially the main character. I figured out what she had done early on but Willingham is an expert at creating suspense and making you wonder whodunnit so it kept me reading.

Still read this one if you are a Willingham fan and if you haven't read any of hers, read this one first and then read her others because they are beyond fantastic!

Campus thriller? Sign me up! Willingham has yet to disappointment me. I've loved all her thrillers and Only If You're Lucky is no exception. I was immediately drawn into the story and struggled to put the book down. I loved how dark this one is and how it focuses on toxic college friendships.

I didn't love this one quite as much as her other books (which got 5 stars from me, so a high bar to meet!) but I still really enjoyed this dark academia suspense. It's definitely a slow burn, so if you go in expecting a high-pace thriller, you will be disappointed, but it's still filled with fun twists.
*
Synopsis: Quiet, malleable Margot is struggling through her freshman year at college and gets invited to join a group house with three other girls she doesn't really know. Lucy, the ringleader, is the kind of person everyone loves and loves to be around, and Margot is thrilled for the attention. But all the girls have secrets, and all the girls are willing to go to extremes to protect them.
*
I think what I liked best about this was the character development. She does such a great job of slowly bringing out different aspects of Margot's personality, I feel like by the end of the book I had a completely different understanding of her. It also has a fabulously tense atmosphere. Like, you know this is clearly a bad idea for Margot to move into a house with strangers, but you can't put your finger on the issue exactly, and it's just like watching an accident waiting to happen.
*
One twist surprised me, and while the rest were easy to see coming, it was still fun to see how they unfolded.
*
Overall a solid thriller/suspense! Definitely recommend!

I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive an advance copy of Only if you’re lucky. Willingham’s previous two novels were both a five star read for me so I was ecstatic to read this one. This book took me by surprise, I didn’t expect it have a slow pacing. I don’t think I would classify this book as a thriller, more so a mystery. I enjoyed the flashbacks throughout the book to better understand Margot. I do think some parts were a bit repetitive in terms of Margot’s obsession with Eliza and then again with Lucy. I love that Willingham tackles the topic of toxic female friendships. Overall I did enjoy the ending and all the twists along the way. All the loose ends were tied up in the end.

If you’re looking to pick this up I would advise looking up the trigger warnings.

Thank to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book about complicated, co- dependent, toxic, destructive female friendships.

This is a perfectly good story until you get just over halfway through. Then... it's fabulous! You know how sometimes, the ending ruins a book? Well, I LOVED this wrap up!

Margot is a college student that has been through a lot. Her best friend dies, she struggles to relate to her parents... it's tough. Enter Lucy. Lucy makes everyone feel special. She somehow really gets Margot. Margot finds herself being accepted by new friends and is feeling good. But... is it really good? Something seems off.

I hope you like this book as much as I did. 4.5 stars!

I have really enjoyed both of Stacy Willingham’s previous two books, so when I received a copy of her upcoming story, I was pretty stoked! Plus this one has some campus thriller vibes which is a sub genre I have always enjoyed!

The story primarily follows Margot during her first couple years of college. She’s still grieving after the death of her best friend the summer after graduation and her first year is pretty uneventful and she mainly flies under the radar. But that changes once she’s pulled into the inner circle of the enigmatic Lucy. Soon enough, Margot, Lucy, and their two other friends/ roommates all become the best of friends and it coincides with the murder of one of the frat boys next door. What follows is the unraveling of secrets, lies, and friendship. And one of the big questions from this book is, if you could get away with murder, would you do it?

This was a super quick read with short chapters that will make it easy to fly through, even if the pace is a bit on the slower side than this author’s previous work. I will say that none of the characters are very likable so at times it did hinder how much I was enjoying it because they were just do frustrating. However, I do understand that was probably the point of the whole thing because this book brings up topics like complicated, toxic, and obsessive female friendships. In addition, there is even a small side with darker theme when it comes to frat culture and privilege.

There were also two POVs, once from the present day and what Margot was up to with Lucy and Co. and then also from the past in the months leading up to the death of Margot’s best friend. It becomes apparent there’s some sort of underlying connection between the two and as the story progresses. While I did find a bit of a predictable, it still kept my interest as I wanted to really grasp everything that happened and the reasons behind it.

While this was admittedly not my favorite from the author, I can still see plenty of people enjoying the atmosphere and vibes of this one!

I liked the mystery and thriller vibe of this book, as well as it taking place on a campus with a questionable friendship. It kept me engaged that's for sure!

Absolutely amazing. I'm a sucker for some messy, toxic, female friendships and this DELIVERED. Stacy Willingham does it again, my friends.

This book was okay, I just had trouble getting into it. The ending was pretty good though. I just didn’t really care for the main character and I struggled to stay engaged for most of the book.

Margot tells this coming of age campus murder tale of toxic friendship. It moves back and forth in time- before and after the death of Levi, the boyfriend of Margot's bff Eliza, who died the summer before. Oh and Lucy, the queen bee, has disappeared. Is Margot a reliable narrator? I wasn't as taken with this as I have been with Willingham in the past (the age of the protagonists, I think) but it is a page turner, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of the campus thriller.

stacy willingham knows how to keep a reader hooked. from the second i started this book i couldn't put it down and i read it in one sitting (as i've now done with all three of willingham's books). this book was executed so well, and i loved all the twists and turns along the way. i'll definitely read anything that willingham writes

This story was so good because it felt real to me. The characters, the setting, and the writing overall was great. I listened to this one and I think this narrator is amazing!

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
I really loved the author’s previous two books, A FLICKER IN THE DARK and ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS, so I was really excited when I received a copy of her up-coming thriller. I went into this one thinking that it was a thriller like her previous two books were, but it ended up being more of a mystery rather than a thriller. I do enjoy a dark academia type of book, and this one had that going for it. I feel like it was really slow moving, and too slow for my liking. I did enjoy the twists, betrayal, and the secrets…but the time it took to get to all the good stuff I was warn out and bored. This one sounded so promising, but unfortunately it left me wanting more and feeling rather disappointed.

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞?
If you like a dark academia read that is SLOW moving and don’t mind the build up to the twist at the end, then this one may be for you.

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️3/5

I usually enjoy college campus thrillers and overall I enjoyed this but it felt very slow for anything to actually happen. I found that I often put it down and it would take me a while to pick it back up which never happens. I’ve loved her other books but this one was a bit of a miss for me. Definitely a slow burn!