Margot, a Rutledge college student, is getting over the loss of her childhood best friend, who was supposed to be attending college with her. She had imagined their college lives together but now she needs to find herself. In doing so, she meets Lucy, who invites her to live with her and two other students, Nicole and Sloane. During Margot's sophomore year, freshman, Levi, pledges to the neighboring fraternity house but Margot and Levi have a past. While the four girls get along, Lucy causes suspicion and is elusive with her past. This story, keeps the reader on their toes. I enjoyed this book but felt like it was a little slow and drawn out. However, little bits of information dropped throughout the story made the conclusion all come together in the end. I am grateful for being lucky enough to read this advanced reader copy and would recommend this book to younger psychological thriller readers.

What to Expect:
🛼Dual timeline
🛼Slow burn
🛼Plot twist I didn’t see coming

🫶🏽What I enjoyed
I can see the pacing of this book being slow for some people, but every scene was intentional and it was fun to see how all of those moments came together to paint the full picture in the end. At about the 75% mark it got intense and I had to finish the rest in one sitting!

🤷🏻‍♀️What didn’t work for me
I’ve read and enjoyed all of Stacy’s books so far, but the writing style in this one got to me. There were a lot of descriptive details I could have done without because they didn’t necessarily move the plot forward. There were several moments I found myself skimming ahead trying to get to the point. Certain topics are talked around in both timelines and it takes a long time to find out what actually happened. It makes for a serious build up, but I know this style of writing annoys some people (if you’re a fellow romance reader, think People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and the question of “What happened in Croatia”). Despite these aspects bothering me, overall I still very much enjoyed this book and will continue to read more by Stacy!

This is a twisty suspense that takes place on the college campus of Rutledge. One of our main female characters is reeling from the tragic death of her best friend who was supposed to be with her at the same college. She carries pain and heartache with her to campus, but that’s not all that follows from her past and soon she wonders whether there is more to the story of Eliza’s death than she knows. Great plot and storyline with twisty turns and enigmatic characters.

This is a really good mystery/thriller. I thought I had it figured out and then was proved wrong by a couple of twists. It’s fun to be wrong when it’s a twist in a mystery plot! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy!

🔥 BOOK / REVIEW 🔥

It's unlike me to post reviews on a holiday, but I just #onlyifyourelucky by @stacyvwillingham by the fire this evening, and I couldn't wait to share my thoughts!

Be sure to save your #bookish giftcards or run to #preorder this novel because you do👏not👏want👏to👏miss👏it.

What an AMAZING #thriller - like I can't say enough about this book. I was immediately engrossed, and it was nearly impossible to put down. I have read all of Stacy's books, and this may be my favorite.

I loved this trip down memory lane to my college days and all of the intricacies of female friendships and finding your place in the world. I also loved the authors note (I won't spoil it!) and how her own experiences helped shape the setting and characters in the novel. The twists, turns and secrets were fantastic!!!!!! And the ending 😰🥵😱.

Loved loved loved loved this book. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Merry Christmas all - 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 from me!

Only If You’re Lucky was good company as an audiobook for an afternoon puzzle. It was slow burn and for a while I wasn’t sure I was going to finish - it lost me a bit in the slow middle. The ending sped up a lot and I’m glad I finished but not sure I would recommend this one. Thank you Netgalley for the free audiobook to review - narration by Karissa Vacker was excellent.

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC! I’ve become a fan of Stacy’s after enjoying her last two books, so I was excited to read her newest thriller.

I enjoyed the Southern college setting and how Stacy based the girls house off her real life house when she went to college! I found this to be a bingeable read with the short chapters. I thought the ending was very clever and although I’m not the biggest fan of slow burns, I think this one was done well.

I’ll be looking forward to Willingham’s next book!

I enjoyed the concept of this book. I am still so closely knit with my college friends and we graduated in 2008. We didn’t live next to a frat house, but we always went to the boys lax house…this book reminded me so much of that time in my life. We didn’t commit murder or have anything scandalous but just the friendships and memories I’ll never forget.

Margot was a great lead character, and the authors ability to build that character throughout the book was great. I enjoyed the books progression and the lead up to bigger moments, I love the small Easter eggs placed throughout the book too. There were several times when I had to go back to reread to see if I had skimmed over a detail that was super important.

This book was...good-ish but the slowest of slow burns. Like it's not until about like 83% in that there are really big revelations. Ultimately satisfying in the end, but it sure did take its time.

Margot has been craving a close friendship that she has with her best friend who died. The magnetic Lucy Sharpe takes her under her wing at her new college but she is wild and sometimes dangerous.

This was my favorite of Willingham’s so far. I loved the college atmosphere. A lot of it reminded me of my experience.. thankfully without the deaths! I also liked how I didn’t know what was going on until the end but it did a great job of building the suspense.

“This little group of us that was once so solid now warped and bending beneath the preserve of it all; little hairline fractures traveling slowly, threatening to burst.”

Only If You’re Lucky comes out 1/16.

4.25/5

A story about a loner in college who gets absorbed into the cool girl group, but the aloof leader is a bit more than she seems and as people begin to die the ties start to unwind.

Honestly, I enjoyed the ride and it kept me guessing enough till the end. I pieced parts together but didn’t see the final twist coming.

Super fast and bingable story about one girl trying to move on with her life after a recent tragedy only to be swept up into a new all consuming friendship that isn’t what it appears to be.

Margot lost her best friend right after high school graduation and she struggles to enjoy her freshman year of college until one day a popular girl invites her to be the fourth roommate in an off campus house. There she meets her two other roommates and starts to experience college life and forms new friendships. But when tragedy strikes again at the house next story, her roommate and new best friend, disappears leaving Margot with more questions than answers.

I really enjoyed the short chapters, the setting and the alternating timeline throughout giving you glimpses of the past tragedy as well as the events that led up to the recent one. @stacyvwillingham is making quite a name for herself with quick, bingable thrillers and I look forward to reading more of her books.


Thank you @minotaur_books and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book started off really strong! I loved the short chapters and the sense of mystery. I didn't love the ending. I hate when the main character is morally gray and unlikable. I also became less attached to the story as it continued, and found myself wishing for it to end. Overall, I thought it was worth the read due to the captivating storyline in the beginning and how quickly I flew through the first half of the book.

4.5 rounded up!

I only knocked off the .5 for the slightly slow build up to the core of the suspense part of this whip smart story. Willingham truly seems to get better and better with every novel!

I found this to be even more truly a novel about the complexities and nuances of female friendship, as well as an exploration of morality and its shades of grey. I found the symbolism evoked by the mentioning of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to be a spot on reference for multiple characters, not just the ones that most readily come to mind at first.

Some fabulous twists, an unpredictable plot, and phenomenal character development. A great thriller to end the year on!

Stacy Willingham is one of my newer favorite psychological thriller writers. She tends to pull me in slowly, but then keeps me there with tiny morsels being dropped along the way.

With Only If You're Lucky we are dropped into a college story about a group of women that seem highly unlikely to be friends. They are all so different, but one common thread is Lucy. Someone that shines brighter than others and always seems to be the life of the party. But this isn't Lucy's story. It's Margot's. And she is someone that tends to stay in the background. Someone that is the voice of reason.

Margot had a lackluster first year at college. She was supposed to attend with her BFF Eliza, but when she tragically passes away, Margot thinks she still needs to get out of her hometown and do what she planned on doing. Her first year is spent hiding in her all girls dorm until the enigmatic Lucy notices her and she is asked to be roommates at an offsite home with 2 other girls. Lucy reminds Margot so much of her friend that she can't so no.

Margot tells her POV of this whole story of good and evil. Of past and present. Of living the college life and partying and noticing changes in the people around you. Of being all caught up in Lucy and how much she brings to other people's lives. But there is so much to each girl's story and we are only getting the surface until things unfold and we better understand the question of "If you could get away with murder, would you do it?".

While I have really loved Willingham's previous two books, this one didn't hit the same. Perhaps because I didn't listen to the audiobook (which the previous ones were performed flawlessly). But I liked the way this was centered around a group of women and them coming to terms with friendship and what you would do when put in certain situations. I also liked the way the author brought in Margot's past and pieced everything together oh so slowly. By giving us an unreliable narrator and by setting up connections with each and every character, this book came together really well.

Overall, a good thriller that gives you the Jekyll and Hyde feels, but did not go overboard. It almost reminded me a little bit of How To Get Away With Murder with the group of "friends/roommates" and trying to connect all the pieces by taking us back from the present and showing us a past that connected all the characters and their actions. If you liked that show, I can see you enjoying this story. College, partying, friendships, murder, accidents, good vs evil, scheming,.....you get it all in this next thriller from Stacy Willingham.

We meet Margot as she is ending her freshman year at Rutledge College, a liberal arts school in South Carolina. She and her longtime best friend Eliza had planned to attend together but soon after they graduated from high school, Eliza died in a mysterious accident. Margot spent the year in deep grief. As everyone was planning their housing for the next year, Margot is surprised when she is approached by popular Lucy Sharpe to join her and two other friends Sloane and Nicole in their off-campus house starting in the summer. The house is next to a popular fraternity and Margot may have the chance she's always wanted to break out of her shell. Eliza was the outgoing and adventurous one in their relationship and Lucy becomes somewhat of a substitute for her departed friend. But Lucy may not be all that she seems. What is clear to all is that she is manipulative and has a dark side. But Margot is happy to have her as a friend. When Levi Butler shows up at the frat next door as a pledge, Margot is shocked. Levi had been dating Eliza and was the last one to see her alive. Margot tells her friends that she holds Levi responsible for Eliza's death. Early on in this mystery thriller, the story shifts to the present as Margot, Sloane and Nicole are being questioned by the police about the murder of Levi and the disappearance of Lucy, who only a few months before had asked her friends in a game of Truth or Dare, “If you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?”

Stacy Willingham has delivered three provocative thrillers in a row, all releasing in January. In Only If You're Lucky, the author has entered the genre of dark academia and has done a good job with the setting. Both the off-campus house of the four friends and the fraternity next door set the perfect stage for this story of friendship, jealousy and the lengths people go to fit in. Since I enjoyed Willingham's first two books, I was happy to read her latest. This one is more of a slow burn than the others, but it was twisty and suspenseful enough to hold my interest. It's a satisfying read worth checking out to start the new year, especially if you are drawn to chilling, college settings.

When Margot moved away for college, she hoped to find friendship and a new path forward. Struggling to overcome the death of her best friend, Margot finds herself befriended by Lucy an in an off campus apartment. As Margot finally starts to come out of her shell, she is surrounded by reminders of her best friend. By the middle of the year, everything starts to full apart with one person dead and one person missing,
Good read. I couldn’t put it down! Highly recommended.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books in exchange for my honest review

Wow! This was so different than her previous books and I loved it! A dark academia story with a wonderful twist. Margot was a perfect and unreliable narrator, her story was so compelling and I couldn’t put it down. Sloane and Nicole were equally compelling and I almost wish we had more of their own backstories. Lucy was fascinating and it was interesting to explore her psyche as we learned more and more about her. All rolled into one made this so good. It definitely explored the world of female friendships and where we can be lead astray.

I enjoyed this book much more than I was anticipating. I try to not let opinions of previous books by an author taint my reading experience but considering I was not a big fan of her two previous book my hopes were conservative. However, I was quickly drawn into this slow burn psychological thriller about female friendship and obsession. Taking place on a small college campus in South Carolina, the setting of this story feels like just as much of a character as any of the people. Willingham’s use of descriptive language painted such a vivid picture in my mind, which is quite a feat as my imagination is greatly lacking.

This story is not very plot heavy. In fact, very actually little happens for how much time passes but with the deep dive into the characters and a handful of juicy moments it was a compelling read that kept me on my toes up until the very end. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. Margot had very little personality outside of her friendships with Eliza and Lucy, but that is absolutely on purpose and not a flaw in character development. Lucy was a wily one and I could never quite figure out what was going on with her but it was a fun mystery working through her motives and figuring out what her end game was.

I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a moody and broody thriller with a killer atmosphere and group of friends holding onto more secrets than you can count.

Thanks so much Netgalley and Minotaur for the opportunity to read this one early!

This book was just ok. It sort of read like a ya read bc of the college theme & all of the drinking involved. All of the characters weren’t particularly likable, ESPECIALLY Margot. She drove me absolutely nuts & could’ve used a helluva a lot of therapy to solve her strange, obsessive attachment issues. The plot also seemed really far fetched & it felt like there was no real character or story development. Overall, it’s a very different vibe from Willingham’s other reads but if you like slow burns, add this to your list.