BOOK: Only If You’re Lucky
AUTHOR: Stacy Willingham
PUB DATE: 1/16/24 by Minotaur Books
PAGES: 384
RATING: 2.5 stars
GENRE: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Fiction

A BIG “Thank You” to @netgalley and Minotour Books. for gifting me this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review!

SYNOPSIS: Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive, bold & dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can't say no—something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious. And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It's a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she's been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered... and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.

REVIEW: I went into this having seen a few low reviews but I kept my mind open & tried to keep hopes high. Unfortunately, this was sloooow moving, and I found it to be monotonous with overly repeated parts of the story. There is a lot of character development, but I didn’t find myself enjoying any of the characters and just kept putting this book down. In fact, there wasn’t a lot to love, and it saddened me as I enjoy books by this author. I couldn’t wrap my head around why Margot would have done anything for Lucy, as Lucy just didn’t seem like a true, genuine friend, and Margot kept questioning her. I think this is one you either love or it just falls flat, and disappointingly, it was the latter for me due to its unbelievability.

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

Longing for a new start in the aftermath of tragedy, a college freshman moves in with new roommates only to spiral into chaos once again.

Margot meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year. Margot is reserved, careful, forever fading into the background of her more spirited companions. Lucy is just that—magnetic, uninhibited, the center of attention. When Lucy asks Margot to room with her and two other girls, it feels like the perfect opportunity for Margot to become someone different, to start anew after the death of her high-school best friend.

Soon, however, the past begins to tangle with the present, and tragedy rears its ugly head once more when Levi, a friend of the group, is found dead, and Lucy disappears shortly after.

Everyone is hiding secrets, and as detectives try to ferret out the truth, they’re all at risk.

Willingham deftly weaves a knotted tale of friendship, belonging, jealousy, and obsession. The story boasts a compelling premise, but arguably moves at too slow a pace to reach that fever pitch we long for in thrillers—especially if compared to the vibe of ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS (which I loved). Echoes of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ thrum throughout, as we uncover what everyone hides. Overall, a solid psychological thriller, but not as strong as what I’ve read before from this author.

Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can’t say no—something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious.

A tantalizing thriller about the nature of friendship and belonging, about loyalty, envy, and betrayal—another gripping novel from an author quickly becoming the gold standard in psychological suspense.

Slow burn thriller that gives you bits and pieces at a time. Margot lost a best friend. She started college but was still grieving the death of her best friend, Eliza. She meets Lucy at the end of the year, and then everything changes. Lucy seems powerful and magical, she draws everyone in and makes you feel special. As the story goes on, she also seems to have some sort of plan. Why did Lucy bring Margot into her world? What happened to Eliza?

I had both ebook and audio, and found myself mostly listening on audio. Always enjoy Karissa Vacker’s narration!

I read to 69% of this book and I have to say I couldn’t finish. It was very underwhelming. I was bored. It didn’t keep me wanting answers. I really wanted to like it. I enjoyed this authors other 2 books more.

Quiet Margot is drawn to the larger than life, charismatic Lucy. Margo jumps on the opportunity when Lucy asks her to get an off-campus apartment with Sloane and Nicole for their sophomore year. Loving college life, the four roommates quickly become inseparable. Then a frat boy from next door is found dead, and Lucy is missing.

I loved this slow-burn thriller focused on secrets, friendship, belonging, envy, and betrayal. Switching between before and after the murder, you learn about this friend group and the guys living next door. I particularly enjoyed the unpredictable second half of the book. It is filled with well-timed and executed twists. I couldn’t put this book down during the final chapters.

The setting and age of the characters are different than Stacy Willingham’s prior books, and I enjoyed the change of pace. Willingham captures this phase of life so accurately that it made me nostalgic for my college days. There’s nothing like the cocoon that is college life where you spend most of your time with the same group of people during a formative period and you are linked to them thereafter.

Fans of slow burn dark academia thrillers with unreliable characters who all have secrets will enjoy Only If You’re Lucky.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for an early copy of this book.

Stacy Willingham's first book, A Flicker in the Dark, showcased the author's talent for crafting unique psychological thrillers, and her subsequent novel, All the Dangerous Things, reinforced this skill. Now, she returns with another thriller that maintains this trend while exploring new territory. Only If You're Lucky sees the author present her most personal and intricate novel to date. I had the privilege of receiving a copy of the book and its audiobook from Willingham's publisher and was excited to delve into it.

Margot, always preferring the sidelines of life, remains a reserved observer even as she enters a small liberal arts school in South Carolina. Her initial college year is marked by playing it safe—studying, earning good grades—hardly altering her introverted nature. Lucy Sharpe, her polar opposite, possesses a charismatic, attention-grabbing personality. Margot is taken aback when, at the end of the year, Lucy, with whom she has minimal interaction, proposes they room together in an off-campus house. Against her instincts, Margot agrees.

Now residing with three other girls—Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the kind one—Margot is thrust into a dynamic mix of contrasting personalities. As the year unfolds, Margot, who has long concealed herself since a tragic event at her high school graduation, gradually emerges from her protective shell. Margot and Lucy develop a close friendship, but by the midpoint of their sophomore year, a brutal murder of one of the fraternity boys from the neighboring house shakes their world, and Lucy Sharpe goes missing without a trace.

In Only If You're Lucky, Stacy Willingham crafts a psychological thriller delving into the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and betrayal. The narrative hints at the women having committed something significant and concealing secrets, creating an enticing undertone that propels the plot. The story unfolds exclusively from Margot's perspective, intertwining flashback recollections with moments of grappling with the murder's aftermath, intensifying suspense. Karissa Vacker's narration in the audiobook vividly brings Margot's voice to life.

Despite the eagerness to unravel the story's secrets, my interest waned in the protagonist, Margot, compared to the compelling supporting characters. The mysterious allure of Lucy captivated me, but the narrative confined us to Margot's viewpoint. As the novel advanced, my engagement with the entire narrative dwindled, and even the thrilling twists towards the end couldn't compensate for my growing disinterest in the central character. While Willingham's adept plotting and keen character observations persist, Only If You're Lucky marks the first disappointment for me from this otherwise talented author.

While this had the intrigue to keep you turning the pages it was slow going plot wise until the last 25%. I think it could have While this had the intrigue to keep you turning the pages it was slow going plot wise until the last 25%. I think it could have done well with a multiple POV other then just Margot's voice. I always enjoy a good before/after timeline. The college setting and wanting to feel apart of it is very true to form.


Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw that Stacy Willingham was releasing another book, I immediately knew I wanted to read it! I LOVED All the Dangerous Things.

I'd say it didn't live up to ATDT, but I did really enjoy this book!

Margot is a freshman in college. Her best friend died the summer before college started and they were supposed to attend the same school together. She's having a hard time and doesn't go out and do much. Here comes Lucy, the girl who has it all, but never goes to classes. Lucy spots Margot at the end of freshman year and asks her to move in with her and her two roommates to a house off campus. This is Margot's chance to have a life, so she obviously said yes. But... Lucy disappears and a fraternity boy is killed.. what happened?

Told in a non-linear timeline (my FAVE!!) and the past and the present, you slowly gain more details of what happened to the boy, and how Lucy may have been in on it.

Willingham gives many twists and turns, though some are predictable, others were surprising and made the story interesting. I can't wait to read more from her in the future!

TW: rape, sexual assalt, stalking

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC!

Only If You're Lucky is a dark psychological thriller with characters that are all hiding something and are not what they appear to be.

All of them have secrets that as secrets tend to be are explosive.

Margot restless after the unexplained accidental death of her best friend finds herself at college that she should have attended with her best friend.

Margot at the end of the first year is offered by another student Lucy to come and room with her and two other girls off campus.

The house (which is a character unto itself ) is next door and owned and occupied by a group of boys from a popular fraternity.

Then one of them is murdered.
One is missing.

Many suspects with twists and turns and red herrings that keep midnight oil burning.

Stacy Willingham always writes a thriller that keeps you guessing and Only If You're Lucky is no exception.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur for compelling read.

Jeez Louise, Only If You’re Lucky was one phenomenal book. An alluring tale of deep friendship, startling secrets, and uncomfortable motives, I was drawn in from the very first page. Throughout the long, slow burn of ever escalating suspense and foreboding, I felt tied to the characters and the very real setting. So real, in fact, that it was as if it was just one more persona that came alive on the page.

Like I said, the plot was anything but fast-paced. At the same time, however, its steady unwinding felt purposeful and deliberate in all of its character-driven glory. Along with the thinly veiled doubts that were hinted at here and there, small clues were scattered about that had me questioning each individual and their part in the story. Add in the climax that took me completely by surprise, and my respect for Ms. Willingham’s talent was a foregone conclusion.

As I said, the characters were where this book utterly shined, however. Thorough and believable but also requiring just a touch of suspension of disbelief, I connected with them right off the bat. Unsurprisingly, I was rooting for our narrator, Margot, most of all. Fully fleshed out and complete with awe-inspiring character development, her story was utterly spellbinding. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Lucy nearly as much. Much like an enigma, she was deliciously hard to pin down.

The one piece that rankled just a bit was the very end of the book. Somewhat rushed, in my opinion, it could have been explored a bit more, which would’ve provided a more wrapped up feel to the finale. Given everything that had happened, after all, there were still plenty of potential disasters left to the imagination. But then, I’m also the kind of reader who loves neat, tiny, little bows for a conclusion, so take my thoughts with a rather large grain of salt.

All in all, the first book that I’ve read by Willingham, I’m now determined to move her backlist to the top of my TBR. Dark and chilling but also filled with lessons about how little we may know those around us, this intricate storyline had me in knots. After all, it was a masterpiece to be sure, with perfectly timed clues that lead to one lightbulb moment after another. Plus, who can say no to tale of dark academia. Not I, that’s for sure. So despite the rather mixed reviews, I was won over hook, line, and sinker. Now the only question that remains is which Willingham novel I should try next… Any suggestions? Rating of 5 stars.

Read if you like:
🏫 College Settings
⏳ Past and Present Timelines
👯‍♀️ Stories about Friendship
🤐 Lies and Secrets
🤩 Enigmatic Characters
🔍 Investigations into Deaths

This book follows Margot in the past and present when her best friend Eliza died before they were set to go off to college and then meeting the enigma that is Lucy and becoming apart of her friend group at the end of her freshman year, to then the present of Lucy missing, and a boy from a frat at the college dead.

Margot is the overlooked girl that has clung to friends that had that thing about them so as she jumps from her close friendship with Eliza to then becoming completely enraptured with Lucy, you see the ways she clings to her friends and makes being with friends her entire personality as things start to spiral more for Margot as gets more embedded in her friendship with Lucy and we start to see the layers unfold that everything isn’t as it appeared.

If you like a lot of enigmatic characters, twists and turns, messy friendships, unreliable information steering you away from the truth, and plenty of twists and turns, I highly recommend reading Stacy’s newest release!

Thanks so much to Minotaur Books for my ARC of this one in exchange for my review!

This book was probably the SLOWEST of slowburns I've ever read. I nearly put it down 3 times as a DNF, 20%, 35%, and again at 60%. However, I enjoyed this author's other works so I decided to push through. I hit 80% and the rest of the book flew by. Am I glad I pushed through? Yes. Do I hate that I had to push through? Even more so. At the end of the day, it was well written and I liked the ending, but...I dunno that I recommend it.

Wow! This book's twists were truly surprising! I loved the pacing of this book and I think the author did a great job portraying what it is like to get swept up into a charismatic person's orbit. I was busy making theories all the while, but I was very surprised at the end. This is one of the best thrillers I have read in a while!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this copy to review.

3.5 stars

Everyone seems to be hiding something in this dark academia-style thriller. I am a big fan of thrillers that take place in college settings and this one didn't disappoint. It's a little slow-paced but we get more insights into the characters that the story is evolved around.

I enjoyed how we jump back and forth in time with this one, seeing what led the girls to the situation they are in now. Several secrets and twists are revealed along the way, some of which I didn't guess, some of which I did. But I really enjoyed Lucy's character and the way she was so calculating. I wouldn't necessarily call this one a thriller since it is so slow paced - more of a suspenseful drama.

The main twist was a bit far-fetched for me but I really enjoyed how everything was wrapped up with no plot holes. We are left with things to think about and I didn't see the main plot twist coming. If you are a fan of Willingham's other two books (which I recommend you read) then definitely give this one a read! This one was 3.5 stars for me, it was okay but I wasn't 100% invested in the plot.

Big thanks to St. Martin's Press, Stacy Willingham and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

This book definitely has twists and turns, maybe some predictable, but enough plot twists to keep you reading! I would put this book in the “quick and easy read – keeps you turning the pages”, so if you are fan of those types of books – this one is for you! The story is about several different young women just getting started in their college years with secrets to unravel and murders surrounding the main character. It’s a classic who-dun-it!

The pros and cons for the book are actually the same for me ironically! Because this book takes place in a college town, the main characters are all roommates in an off-campus house owned by a next-door fraternity with an access point to each fenced back yard via an old shed (allowing a cut through). If you read the acknowledgements at the end of the book, you’ll find the author chose this setting because she lived in a very similar house in her own college years – shed and all! The house also has a creepy crawl space underneath that was also a call out in the book.

Now you might ask – how is that a con in a mystery book? Well, the house itself isn’t, but because we have young women and young men in a fraternity living next door, it’s a party house 24/7. Lots of drinking, some drugs, parties, and general college life. Me being in my 40s and having also attended IU in Bloomington, I know how those parties go! But my current day old self doesn’t really want to read about it lol. This book would be probably best enjoyed by someone either in college or maybe late 20s with this lifestyle fresh on their mind.

Because of the side-partying and general wild lifestyle of the narrator and her friends is the reason I gave the book 3.75 stars. Surprisingly, there is very little reference to sex other than the couple of times it’s mentioned as part of a past memory or story by one of the women. So if you loved that crazy college lifestyle and also love a good mystery that’s a quick and easy read – this book is for you!

I was so excited to read this--I loved Willingham’s other books, but sadly this one was a letdown. It pains me to write this review. I wish I could recommend this book, but I just can't. Willingham's first 2 were some of my absolute favorites, but not this one. I found both storylines to be boring. The ending was exciting, but overall, this one was disappointing.

Stacy Willingham is a relatively new author in the psychological thriller genre. I read and enjoyed her first two books this year and was fortunate to receive a digital ARC of her upcoming book, Only If You’re Lucky.

I love thrillers with an academic setting. I think it’s because they often remind me of my college campus: small, intimate, and cozy, albeit without the missing people and specter of murder.

When Margot arrives at Rutledge, she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her best friend and future college roommate died under mysterious circumstances three weeks after their high school graduation. Instead of enjoying the freedom and new experiences college brings, Margot spends her first year hiding out in her dorm room, avoiding the other girls on her hall. When one of the “it” girls invites her to live off campus sophomore year, Margot casts off the heaviness and reinvents herself as someone who takes risks and embraces adventure. All that glitters is not gold, however, and Margot becomes entangled in a web of suspicion and lies that undermines her past and threatens her future.

There are three interwoven mysteries in this book, and they get twister and twister as each secret is revealed. The story spins off in unexpected directions, and when the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place, I thought I knew what the final picture would look like. I was wrong!

I read this book in three days over Christmas, snatching every moment to read that I could. Only If You’re Lucky publishes on January 16. Until then, I suggest picking up one of Stacy Willingham’s other books, A Flicker in the Dark or All the Dangerous Things.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the digital ARC!

Thanks to Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham.

I loved her first two books so was eagerly anticipating this one, especially on audio but unfortunately Only If You're Lucky was more underwhelming for me. It is kinda boring for the first half of the book and then the last quarter makes up for it and just pushes this over to a 4, but a majority of the book is barely a 3 star.

I don't want to give too much away but it feels like a generic thriller and not the magic that Stacy Willingham wrote with her first two books!

There is something about Lucy Sharpe that snags everyone’s attention, and Margot can’t help but feel drawn to her. After a freshman year centered around studying and staying in her dorm room, Margot is surprised when Lucy offers her a room in an off-campus house starting that summer, but she quickly agrees to join Lucy and Lucy's two closest friends, Nicole and Sloane.

In many ways Lucy reminds Margot of her longtime best friend, Eliza, who passed away shortly after high school graduation. With Lucy by her side, Margot starts to experience more—more laughs, more parties, more friendships.

But things aren’t picture perfect. Partway through Margot’s sophomore year, one of the frat boys next door is found dead, and Lucy is nowhere to be seen.

I loved this one. Told primarily in sections labeled before or after, with a bit of now, Only If You’re Lucky weaves together the details that led to the boy’s death and Lucy’s disappearance, dropping nuggets and clues along the way. It’s a dark, and at times intense, psychological thriller filled with a “murky combination of right and wrong”. I especially enjoyed the literary references peppered throughout the novel.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Minotaur Books, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

I requested this book because I was such a fan of the author’s first two novels. But this one fell short, not at all at the fault of the the author. I’m not a fan of most YA and this thriller was just too much college girl drama for my liking. I can see how this would be a major hit for a younger audience- just not for me.