Dark academia fans should run for this! While dark academia isn't often too my taste, I still found things to enjoy here and was invested in the outcome of the mystery!

Another solid thriller from Stacy Willingham. I loved the college setting.
The first half of the book dragged for me for a bit, but the second half really picked up. I loved how complicated all the characters are. I loved the focus on friendship and sisterhood. Stacy Willingham has become an auto read author for me.

Another disappointing thriller for me from this author. I really enjoyed her first book, gave it 4 stars, then gave her second book 3 stars. I guess it seems fitting that I give her third book 2 stars. I guessed one of the big plot twists at 55% and honestly, I wasn't very shocked by any of the twists. This book felt entirely too long, it could have been at least 100 pages shorter instead of dragging on like it did. I didn't care for any of the characters and most of the book just felt like filler, literally nothing going on except some girls making their way through their first year of college. I'm sad to say this will probably be the last book I read by this author.

Thanks to Minotaur Books for the gifted copy for my honest review. Wish I could have given it a better one.

3.75 stars.

I binged this book on a day off from work and read the entire thing across about 30 hours. I really liked it, mostly.

✨ Mystery: There are multiple mysteries at the core of this book and it was fun watching them all unfurl - one I guessed right, the others I didn’t. The first half was slower, the final third picked up a lot. The reveals were satisfying enough.
✨ Vibes: It made me nervous - the vibes are eerie and I kept waiting for something terrible to happen. I think I wanted to get through it fast to be done with that feeling. It reminded me of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife.
✨Overall: I enjoyed it. I wish we got a little more character development for two of the roommates, and it was a bit repetitive, but it brought me right back to college and those bonds you form.

Thank you Minotaur and NetGalley for the gifted e-ARC.

I received Only if Your lucky as an advanced readers copy from the publisher, @stmartinspress.

I am a big fan of Stacy Willingham and was honoured to be an early reader for her new novel coming out January 16.

Although this wasn’t my favourite of her novels, it was a nice quirky mystery. The college setting has never interested me in novels along with all the characters being very hard to find anything in common with. Their morals were questionable on all fronts. It reads more like a young adult novel I found and I guess it just wasn’t what I was expecting from her previous work. Many people will enjoy this but the college part made it not as interesting for me. I could see this being made into a mini series for Netflix though! Margot really needs to learn how to be a friend!

All of this is my own opinion so please take a chance and try it. Everybody has different tastes and I am still very honored to be picked to read another of her novels and hope I am picked for the next one again. I loved All the Dangerous Things and A Flicker in the Dark.
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A big thanks to @netgalley @stmartinspress and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
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I loved Stacy Willinghams first book, liked her second and found this one to be okay . I’ve come to realize that dark academia such isn’t for me.

Just like her first two books this was incredibly bingeable with some excellent twists I didn’t see coming! It was a wild ride from the very start with secrets and drama galore. I started it one morning and finished it by that night.I couldn’t pull myself away! This is officially my favorite the three she’s written and I can’t wait for whatever she writes next.

I actually did a combo of audio and digital and the audio, with Karissa Vacker, is excellent! You can’t go wrong with either option!

Thank you Minotaur Books for the arc and Macmillan Audio for the alc!

Star rating - 3.5

This mystery is an atmospheric, twisty ride that kept me guessing in many ways right up until the end. I like the progression of Willingham's writing. Each book has a similar feel but with a fresh storyline, which I appreciate.

In Only If You're Lucky, Margot is a college coed who has decided to move in with a new group of girls for her Sophomore year. One of which, Lucy, she is especially enamored with. Lucy has an aura about her that attracts and influences those around her, Margot included. Lucy is so much like Margot's deceased best friend, Eliza, that Margo feels guilty at times, as if she is replacing Eliza. However, when a detested acquaintance from the past shows up, Margo finds that history seems to be repeating itself with Lucy.

I had a lot of thoughts while reading this one. It's told in dual timelines, which is one of my favorite structures for a thriller. However, I think my biggest takeaway was that the pacing just was not working for me. While the plot was interesting, I found the first 60-70% to be slow and at times, even a slog to get through. I think there is too much time spent in the "Before", but not enough time spent in the "After" to keep the intrigue. Then, all of the over-the-top reveals happen in the last 10%. I don't mind a melodramatic thriller, but I think they need to be well balanced. This was pretty even keel for the majority of the book, with soap opera level twists at the end.

I think where this one really excelled was the atmospheric setting. This has a real southern gothic feel, I can tell that this author has spent a lot of time in the south. The story felt muggy and uncomfortable. Even though they take place in different settings, I pictured this entire story with the same dreary filter that is used for the show Ozark. This felt pretty similar to A Flicker in the Dark, setting-wise.

The characters were a bit of a struggle with me, as well. These four girls were meant to be college students but Margot, Lucy, and Sloan all read like adult women in their reasoning and dialogue. However, I think the boys in the frat definitely read as typically frat boys. I'm not sure what the purpose was of making this a college setting. I suppose it did force the girls together, and the author did acknowledge that this was largely based on her own college house. However, the characterization was just off.

This was my third book by Stacy Willingham and despite my critiques, I did enjoy it overall. I think Willingham's writing is progressing in a direction that I enjoy. I will be sure to pick up her next release.

Review to be provided once posted to Instagram.

I feel like Stacy Willingham has cemented herself as one of my favorite psychological thriller authors. Once again she writes a twisty story that’s full of secrets, deception, questioning everyone’s motives and turning the pages to see how things will pan out. While this story line wasn’t as engaging and fast paced as her previous two, I really liked the dual timelines and dark academia. This is my least favorite of hers but still eager to try her writing again.

‘If you knew you could away with murder, would you do it?’

Best friends, Eliza and Margot, had planned to attend Rutledge College together until Eliza unexpectedly dies the summer after they graduate high school. Margo spends the first year of college in mourning, barely leaving her room, until she meets Lucy. Charismatic and mysterious, Lucy is everything that Margot is not.

Margot finds herself living in off-campus housing with Lucy and her two friends, Sloane and Nicole. The group of girls find themselves deeply intertwined, becoming quick, inseparable friends as they navigate the school year and their friendships with the boys in the fraternity house next door.

Things take a turn for the worst when one of the fraternity boys is found brutally murdered, and Lucy Sharpe is gone without a trace.

Stacy Willingham writes a great thriller, but this book didn’t stand out as much to me as compared to her first two novels. Slow to start, but a great, well wrapped-up ending. I wish the pacing would’ve been a little quicker, but I did like the ‘before’ and ‘after’ snippets throughout leading up to the climax. I liked the creepy vibes of the house (with it’s shed) as it’s own sort of character. The friendships are eerie on their own level - almost a sense of deja vu. A lot of small twists and turns will keep you guessing up until the very end.

This one leaves you pondering the duality of good versus evil and if a person is truly capable of being both.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free digital copy of this book. This is my honest review. Publication date: January 16, 2024.

I did not really care for this. Is Margot shy and timid? You are supposed to think so at the beginning. Not sure what happens along the way but that is not at all how she winds up being. All of the characters are unlikable with few, if any, redeeming qualities and I found the twists more confusing than exciting.

2.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one was okay for me. It may have been bad timing on my part, but I felt like I had to reread parts of this book to fully understand what was going on.

I really wanted to like this book since I had enjoyed Stacy Willingham's other books. I felt like with this one the story just lost me towards the middle. It slowed down significantly and felt like it dragged on a bit. The premise of the story was good but I did connect well with the characters. The main character felt a bit whiny and the twist was a bit predictable.

I quite enjoyed Willinghams previous two books, but this one has failen short for me.

I think I'm past the point in my life where I care about reading about drunk, rich, university students who have a dark secret. I feel like this plot point has been overdone and overworked. It doesn't feel fresh.

I mean, the story and the writing itself is fine. But for me, I'm over it. If anything it also felt too YA for me. The plot itself continued to jump back and forth in time which is always a disrupter to me as a reader as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Press for the advance e-copy of this book.

This was such a great read to start the new year! Starting off with a bang and rating this one five stars! It's official, Stacy Willingham has solidified herself as an autobuy author for me!

Read and loved her other books as well and this one was highly anticipated for me, based on that. It definitely lived up to my expectations. It has a few trigger warnings and at time, got deep and dark, but I'm a fan of that. The story was great, the writing was superb as usual and I'm a fan!

If you're looking for something gritty and dark to read, make this book it. It took a look at relationships, both romantic and friendship, and the lengths at which people will go. An excellent read!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Minotaur Books for my #gifted copy of Only If You’re Lucky!

Wow! What a masterpiece! I enjoyed this book so much and I had no clue how it was going to end! This book is truly about friendship, secrets, and lies and I just found it to be flawless! I love how this book is told in dual timelines, and felt like it added so much to the storyline.

Margot, she and yet to come out of her shell, meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year. Lucy and Margot are complete opposites, with Lucy always being the center of attention and so bold. When Lucy asks Margot to room with her over the summer, she can’t say no. Together, Lucy and Margot live with Sloane and Nicole at an off-campus house next to a fraternity. On top of her new living situation, and trying to fit in, Lucy is grieving the loss of her best friend, who died shortly after graduating from high school. As Lucy and Margot start to become closer, it doesn’t take long for tragedy to strike. Levi, who lives next door, is murdered and Lucy is missing without a trace. Who killed Levi? And what happened to Lucy?

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲
🔥Dual Timeline
🔥Psychological Thriller
🔥Dark Academia
🔥Slow Burn
🔥Twists and Turns

Posted on Goodreads on January 2, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around January 16, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on January 16, 2024
**-will post on designated date

I really liked Stacy Willingham's other books, but this one was just okay. I felt like the ending was predictable. A few twists before the ending I didn't see coming.

SPEAK UP on the r*cist employee SMP and I’d be happy to rave about your books. SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU GUYS. Booooooo

Stacy, you surprise me with every book you write. This was a fast paced novel of college students behaving badly. I could not get enough.

As Willingham's third novel in the mystery/thriller genre, readers can expect drama, twists and surprises as the story unfolds. In this book, young Margot leaves her hometown for college without her lifelong friend Eliza, who met a tragic death, leaving Margot to follow through with their plans on her own. Margot is a "lost soul" on campus without Eliza's more gregarious character pulling her along, but she is soon befriended by Lucy, Nicole and Sloane. And she questions why would these popular girls pull Margot into their clique? Margot soon discovers a dark side to Lucy that she both fears and clings to. The story winds through college life of booze, boys, drugs, dares and deaths as Margot's past with Eliza seems to take center stage in Lucy's actions. The surprise elements to the story mesh into acts that cannot be undone, and secrets that destroy. This book did not grab my attention as much as Willingham's previous books, and the characters did not pull me into their story as they should have. The book is sure to be another big seller and loved by many, but was a bit flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #OnlyIfYou'reLucky