3.5 stars

Stacy Willingham is one of my favorite newly discovered authors that I've read in 2023. Her first two books thrilled me and surprised me along the way, so I went into Only If You're Lucky with pretty high expectations. I left still entertained, but slightly disappointed- I believe this will be her most divisive book to date in terms of reader response.

This is a completely different book from A Flicker in the Dark and All The Dangerous Things. For starters, the book is set in college, with age-appropriate characters, activities, thoughts/feelings, etc., which is a departure from her older narrators. It's focused a lot on the complicated dynamics of female friendships, social acceptance, and jealousy. None of these are negative- they are just a shift from the focus of her other two books, which focus on women in their careers, engaged/divorced, having children.

The book still contains Willingham's distinct writing style and voice, which I have loved ever since I read A Flicker in the Dark; I could recognize her writing just by style alone. It's a compelling, but slower, story, with not a ton happening all the time except learning the relationships amongst the girls. It still features a past storyline set in high school, which I felt wasn't as interesting as the past storylines in the first two books.

I think the book falters with its giant twist, but if you aren't as concerned with the realism of a twist, I think you should be fine. It's an interesting wrinkle, but I don't know if it holds up to scrutiny in a way where I could suspend disbelief. It didn't ring true for my own college experience and those of my friends, which felt essential to being able to accept the twist on face value.

I think a lot of people will enjoy Only If You're Lucky if you're a fan of Willingham's first two novels, which I wholeheartedly recommend still, but I think this one is a step down from All The Dangerous Things. I am still looking forward to whatever her next novel will be, because if nothing else, Willingham knows how to write a compelling story.

I was really excited and appreciative to receive Only If You're Lucky as an ARC! I read both of Stacy Willingham's previous novels and absolutely loved them! This novel is a solid 4 stars for me. It is a little different from her previous works - it has more of a slow-burn start. However, the twist at the end caught me by surprise and I couldn't put it down at the 70% mark. I really enjoyed the setting and how it was inspired by Stacy's college experience.

Thank you NetGalley, Stacy Willingham, and St. Martin's Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have read all of Stacy Willingham’s thrillers so I was excited to dive into Only If You’re Lucky. It was a bit too slow paced for me. The plot didn’t have a lot going on for me to truly feel engaged in it. I liked how it all came together in the end, lots of secrets revealed. It was a good thriller, but not great.

Right off the bat, this story felt really familiar like something I had read before. The thing I could most closely relate it to was Pretty Little Liars. I think the ending was good, I didn't really see it coming but the beginning just felt like I was rereading the typical lonely girl gets involved with the popular crowd and it all goes south story. The timelines are a bit confusing since it flips between multiple timeframes but the chapters don't necessarily make it clear where you are.

Only if You're Lucky follows Margot who is starting college alone in a new town. Her best friend just died and she is mourning her loss but also looking for a fresh start. She finds herself gravitating towards Lucy and her group of friends. While they party it up, Margot starts noticing odd behaviors in Lucy and finds herself reliving her past when Levi, the guy who last saw her best friend alive, shows up as her new neighbor. The timeline flips between Margot and the group of friends

This is a great mystery/thriller that had me hooked from the start. I enjoyed the character connection, and family drama. Lots of twists and turns, many I did not see coming. I you enjoy female friendships, a small town vibes thriller, be sure to pick this up. Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc. 4.5 stars

what happens when you put the shy one, the sarcastic one, the nice one, and the larger-than-life one in a college house together?

the answer?

people go missing. people turn up dead. secrets come out. secrets stay buried.
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margot was suoposed to be starting at Rutledge College with her best friend by her side. but eliza isn’t here. she’s dead. and who is at Rutledge? her murderer.

will margot be able to keep running from the past? will she be able to reinvent herself the way she hopes becoming friends with lucy will allow her to? or will she be forced to face the truth? can people change or are they who they are, no matter what?
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stacy willingham is always an immediate five star read for me. only if you’re lucky is different than her previous books—more of a slow-burn suspense than thriller. but she doesn’t miss. i was hooked from the beginning and found myself saying “what the f*ck” aloud at every twist. i highly recommend this one (and both of her others!)
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thank you @minotaur_books for gifting me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review and opinion. thank you @stacywillingham for writing books good enough to make it to my top 10 reads for 2022 and 2023.

Stacy Willingham, you have yet to let me down 👏🏼
Book 3/3 that lands at 5 stars on my scale.

Margot moves to college while mourning the death of her best friend, who was supposed to be moving there with her. She’s quiet & shy, but ends up befriending and moving in with 3 of the more popular girls on campus. As she gets sucked into this new world and her social circle grows, she realizes how many secrets and lies she’s surrounded by, and how little she really knows about some of her best friends, both old and new.

I actually almost didn’t pick this one up just yet, because I wasn’t sure that I was quite in the mood for a thriller… but as usual, I was immediately hooked. The twists and turns- I thought, for certain at one point, that I had it all figured out, but at the very end, my jaw was left hanging.

Stacy has become an auto-buy-author for me, that I recommend to everyone when looking for a good thriller, and this book just solidified her even more as one of my favorites. This was one of my most anticipated upcoming reads, so I literally screamed when I was approved for an ARC. THANK YOU NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press! 📚

3.5 stars ⭐️

It was a slower start for me. It didn’t pick up until around 200 pages. It switched from present to senior year of high school to college years frequently. Sometimes to the point of which I lost track.

But, the twists I never saw coming!

Thank you for Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC.

What would you do for your true friends? This story might surprise you with what that might be. This is another amazing story by Stacy Willingham! I loved everything about the say she weaved the story together, slowly revealing everything. Even reading this story about college kids as a middle aged woman, I was thoroughly engrossed in this tale! Stacy Willingham continues to be a must read or me! Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for allowing me to read this story!

This has been advertised as a book about college students, friendship, loyalty, envy and belonging. And it definitely features every single one of those topics. The book follows Margot through her sophomore year at Rutledge College, the girls she lives with, and the frat house next door. In her acknowledgements, Willingham mentions that the house itself is based on her own living situation in college. And I think that is exactly what made this book so special. Her depiction of college life, of the shyness and earnestness, the trust and betrayals, all felt true, but the environment everything happened in is what made it completely realistic.
The thriller component of this story unfolds through two timelines, the summer and current timeline in the fall. The main distinction between the two is the insertion of a detective, who is looking for their missing roommate. The back and forth between the timelines wasn’t confusing, but the amounts of information given started to get annoying. It felt like each “Before” chapter was an information dump while each “After” chapter had nothing new to offer. Despite that, I really enjoyed the storyline, and thought the twists were handled expertly. Each reveal had been slowly teased through multiple chapters, and getting to the answers felt almost doubly rewarding.
I really enjoyed this book, and think it hits all the standard thriller criteria. It was exciting, twisty, and had exceptionally well-written teenage characters. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for an academic thriller that doesn’t feel stuffy or pretentious!
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy!

It pains me to write this review - I struggled so badly with this book. It took me months to get through. I was so displeased because typically this author is a favorite of mine.

Margot, goes to college, after suffering a pretty heavy traumatic experience. She meets a few new friends and things aren’t what they seem, yadda yadda yadda.

The end was unexpected and I so wish the first 80% of the book reflected the same type of movement within the story. I could not wrap my head around these girls and their apathetic nature, resulting in my own apathy towards them.

The cover of the book is great, the writing is great, the ending was great. The rest of the book needed something else - different character names (Levi, Lucy, Lucas, Eliza - so many L’s!), more favorable protagonists, more excitement overall…just something other than this.

I received an ARC copy of this from Netgalley.
This is a story about female friendships and the extreme lengths some would go to to protect the ones they love, and themselves.
In this story we follow Margot a college freshman, living in the dorms away from
her hometown for the first time after the sudden death of her childhood best friend.
This story had great character development, but was also fast paced. I really enjoyed it.
4.5 ⭐️

Stacy Willingham’s mysteries always keep you on the edge of your seat and her newest title, Only if You’re Lucky, is no exception.

Margot tries to move on after losing her best friend Senior year in high schoo and starts college at a small liberal arts school in South Carolinal. After spending Freshman year mourning the loss and hiding in her all girls dorm with her new roommate, shy, cautious Margot is ready for a change. When magnetic, bold Lucy asks her to be the fourth in an off-campus house Sophomore year, Margot excitedly decides to take a chance and agrees. Together with Sloane and Nicole, the four girls have very different personalities yet become very close friends.
This psychological thriller builds when a student is murdered and another goes missing. It seems that everyone has a secret.

The character’s unique personalities are so richly detailed that the reader feels each awkward interaction, the painful ramifications of peer pressure and the betrayal of trusted friends. Readers will love the fast pace of Only if You’re Lucky and just wait for the unexpected surprise at the end!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in return for my honest review.

When Margot is chosen by Lucy Sharpe to be the 4th roommate at their fraternity-owned rental, Margot is thrust into a different world of parties, drugs, and belonging. But when a member of the frat is found dead and Lucy goes missing, secrets from Margot's past are brought up and may be the key to discovering what happened to them.

I admit this read started off a bit slow and had a hard time holding my interest. But once it picked up, it was like Bam Bam Bam! One twist after another, each better than the last, and it made every slow moment worth it. The characters were all shady and I didn't know who to trust. I love the dark academia setting and the different timelines. I've read all of this author's books and will look forward to the next one!

Margot just barely survived her freshman year at her South Carolina college. Majoring in English and missing her childhood best friend she lives in an all female dorm with 24 other girls on her floor. Shy, never a leader, and never the center of attention she is a careful one.

Lucy is enigmatic and bold; the quintisential "cool" girl with an air of mystery. Usually flanked by her sidekicks Sloane and Nicole and rarely seen in any of her classes.

Lucy is very much like Margot's childhood best friend Eliza. When Lucy approaches Margot to move into an off campus house, with a bunch of frat bros as landlords, Margot decides to finally take a risk. She comes out of her shell, makes new friends, and runs into old aquintances.


Personally I did not have a live at college experience- but if i did I would have expected it to begin like Margot's A house on my own with friends, parties next door, and friendsgiving. What I wouldn't have expected was the death of a neighborhood frat bro and a missing person's case to content with.

The dual time-line of the story examines friendship, belonging, and daily college life both before and after Margot finds the body of her neighbor frat bro after a night of drinking and debuachery on a local island. The book toes the line between YA and NA with the final twist being slightly unbelievable, however I really enjoyed it. I generally like when characters on the cusp of adulthood are faced with both age appropriate & inappropriate situations and struggle to find solutions to either without the guidance of established authority. This one was a definite slow burn with lots of different threads of mystery coming together in the final reveal.

Fans of Pretty Little Liars, Mean Girls, and How to Get Away with Murder would more than likely enjoy this one!

Lucy Sharpe is the”it” girl on the college campus. Margot is rather shy. Never the center of attention, Margot is completely drawn in by Lucy’s energy. The two girls meet at the end of Freshman year and become fast friends. Moving into off campus housing they become inseparable. Margot is completely infatuated with Lucy and the two other girls she lives with. But, when Lucy suddenly disappears, it starts to feel like nothing is as it may seem.
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Sadly this one was a miss for me. Having read both Willingham’s previous books, I had high hopes for this one. To me, this story felt a bit slow for me. I wasn’t very connected to the characters or the storyline. Many times I felt myself thinking the story was over written. Too many few descriptions to get across a simple point. I absolutely LOVED All the Dangerous Things, but unfortunately this one is falling into the same category as A Flicker in the Dark. I have to say this one is a no from me.
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I can see the appeal though, and believe there is an audience for this one. I wouldn’t let my opinion turn you away.

3.75. I absolutely love this author's previous books and was so excited when I rec'd an ARC to read her latest. Her books are always a one or two day read because I cannot put them down. This was no different - it involves a girl and her best friend who are supposed to go to college together in the fall. Then one friend dies and the story follows the one who goes on to college. She is quite lonely the first year but then she is befriended by a girl on her dorm floor at the end of her first year and they move in together with two others into a house next door to a fraternity. This friend is very illusive and puzzling and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who, what and why in this book. If you like mean girls/college girls/drama/toxic relationships then you'll love this book.

Thank you so much to Stacy Willingham and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book before it publishes in January.

“You’re only young once, and only if you’re lucky."

‘Changing it up’ is risky. For some authors, it doesn’t work. For Stacy Willingham, dipping her toes into a subgenre - it definitely worked. I loved this book.

I shouldn’t have enjoyed it. I don’t care for younger characters, I never joined a fraternity, I never lived in a frat house. I never did drugs or got ‘wasted.’

BUT…as a university student..

I did know what it was like to be “vanilla, malleable. A blank slate.”
I did know what it was like to want to belong.
I did know what it was like to want to change who I am.
I did know what it was like to be a chameleon and blend in with my surroundings.

PLUS…

Willingham’s writing style is superb! I love her ability to drop a clue at just the right time. So many times I stopped reading because I had a lightbulb moment … knowing that the clue was there, I’d read it before but had missed its significance. The author’s journalism studies definitely added to her ability to tell a great story; she writes a taut plot and surprises readers with the different angles she takes and the way she can get to the meat of the story.

Piggybacking the above thought about hidden clues, I absolutely loved looking for the Easter eggs Willingham placed in this one. I was aware of the inspiration behind this novel and loved seeing clues show up in the story. I found 6 and no, I won't give them away. Being an active reader really increases my enjoyment.

Yes, this one is different from her previous two thrillers. I’ve only read All The Dangerous Things (5-star read) and can tell you that this one is also a thriller, it also has a house as a main character, it has the same wonderfully descriptive writing style and vivid setting, there are still multiple twists and it still messes with your head. What is different is the types and ages of characters and the dark academia storyline. With college-aged characters, there’s a lot of ‘college life’ packed into the story. It enhances the storyline.

You’ll read about
✔️Rejection
✔️acceptance/belonging
✔️Being a part of something bigger than oneself


Two things:

😁 I don’t think I’ll ever look at my couch cushions the same way ever again…will they cough?

😁 I won’t forget the Lord of the Flies vibes I got when I read “I suddenly remember the way the shed smelled the very first time I stepped inside; that metallic tang, like something decayed, that has since become as commonplace as the vanilla perfume…I barely notice it anymore, the smell of death.”

“It feels good, doesn’t it? To finally get what you want.”

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This managed to take my breath away. I loved every second and when I finished my jaw dropped. I can’t wait to read more by this author. She’s good. Real real good.

I'm a fan of Stacy Willingham. She's great with character development, enticing story lines and enough suspense to keep you glued to the pages. Only if You're Lucky does not disappoint. Margot is a shy college freshman who is taken in by Lucy, the popular exciting "it" girl on campus. Life is exciting and fun with the new friends but soon things take a turn for the worse. This was a definite page turner, with twisty turns and an ending you won't see coming!