I very much enjoyed this simmering slow burning look at toxic female friendships. I thought it was really well done and the mystery was one that slowly fell into place, but still caught me off guard. Margot was a really complex character. She starts off a little bland and numb (and I think that’s on purpose), but once we really get to know her, she has a really intriguing POV. I also liked the look at fraternity culture and how dangerous it can be. It is very much a character driven novel rather than plot, which I know is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly is for me. I could feel the tension and the eerie vibe that bad things were going to happen and it kept me absolutely engaged in the story. I did think it maybe needed one more POV, just for some variety and complexity, but I still enjoyed just reading from Margot’s. If you’re into character driven books with dysfunctional female friendships and a college setting, give this one a try!
TW: death, excessive drinking, drug use, sexual assault

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes it works for thriller writers to infuse tension and suspense into relatively mundane situations. For approximately 300 pages, this is what Willingham attempted to do in her latest book. Unfortunately it was just too slow and uneventful to make that work. I have read her other two books, and I loved them, so this was a huge disappointment. I expected a sharp and interesting thriller that kept me guessing but this just had me wishing for it to end. The main character, was, frankly, awful, and since we only get her pov, we are left to wonder about the motivations of all the other characters. Margot’s bff from high school dies before she starts college. Margot made us all think Levi the new neighbor who Eliza was dating did it, because she a jealous psychopath. Margot still goes to the school Eliza picked because she had to refuse to follow her mother’s plan even though she only picked it for Eliza. She then becomes obsessed with Lucy.

We get to know almost nothing about Lucy or Eliza except that Margot is a drop of a person who is obsessed and clingy with whoever happens to give her attention, so long as she deems them “cool enough.” her freshman roommate Maggie was the only decent person in her life and she threw her away like garbage as soon as she could.

50% of the book is Margot’s introspection when was quite dull. 25% of the book was college kids getting drunk and the author making frat parties seem a lot more sinister than any I ever experienced. Around 25% (yes I can math) is the actual plot of the book. It unravels really fast towards the end, and I predicted only one of the 3 big twists, but it wasn’t worth the slog to get to the “big reveal”.

The writing was nice, but just so excessive for the plot. Nothing irritates me more than full pages of thought in between short sentences of dialogue, and literal pages that accomplish nothing. I was thrilled to get this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and I really hope the next book by Willingham is more in line with All the Dangerous Things.

Only If You're Lucky has a dual timeline, set in a college house with 19 yr olds and some good pacing and twists. I feel that it should be marketed towards older YA, do they call that New Adult now? If I was solely reading this from that perspective, I would like it way more. I think that is where it's audience is. It is similar to The It Girl by Ruth Ware, if you liked that book you may like this one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5 rounded up!! I didn't love it as much as her other thrillers , and I felt like it was overly contrived for a lot of it, but by 66% I was hooked and had to know everything. Good twists I didn't see coming!!

I so enjoyed this book! I admit that I have a strange affinity for creepy stories starring college aged people making (generally) poor decisions, but this one was so well written that it was just a pleasure to read and not a guilty pleasure. I dare you to guess the end before you get there; it's pretty tricky and moves slow enough that there aren't too many fakeouts before you reach the real climax.

Overall, this book was dark and eerie, and showed that sometimes the real horrors are the most innocent looking ones.

Four teenage girls experience betrayals, secrets, and lies and I have to say that the twist at the end was one I wasn’t expecting! Although this wasn’t my favorite Stacy Willingham book, I did still enjoy it a lot. I felt that it was full of a lot of unexpectedness, and I had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. I give this book 3/5 stars, and I’m excited that I got to read this in advance. Thank you NetGalley!

I loved this story because it felt so real. The trials of friendships among women as they grow up and how men come between them. Also the secrets that teenagers harbour from eachother even when you claim to be best friends. I loved the complexity to this mystery!

Lucy is the girl everyone hates to love but why? Margot heads to college after the death of her best friend Eliza completely rocks her world. I did not see the ending coming with this one on several fronts but I have never been disappointed with a Stacy Willingham book yet! Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

I feel like this was good but also extremely slow, much didn’t happen until the end but I love stories about female friendships especially toxic ones so that was a plus. It got ramble-y at times which got annoying but the twists were good and I didn’t see some of them coming so I give the book points for that.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Stacy Willingham for allowing me to review this ARC!

Margot and Eliza are best friends, planning to go to college together when tragedy strikes and Eliza dies just after graduation. Margot goes to college without her and meets Lucy, a girl that she is drawn to in her familiarities to Eliza. Lucy brings Margot out of her shell and invites her to move in with her and her friends. A person from Margot's past, one that she'd soon forget, appears one day and makes her feel uneasy, something that she has felt for a long time. Lucy seems to be concerned but it could be for purely selfish reasons. Is Lucy a true friend? Was Eliza's death an accident or on purpose? Many storylines interconnect to form an ending that I didn't see coming. I really appreciate that I couldn't guess what would happen.

This book was interesting and kept me on my toes throughout the entire time I was reading it. It was a little bit of a slow read at times but I did enjoy the story. If you like mysteries with a plot twist this is for you!

💥 Only If You’re Lucky - Stacy Willingham

4.5 ⭐️ - Okay y’all, add this to your TBR! I am a big Stacy Willingham fan. I’ve enjoyed all 3 of her books now. The writing is addictive and I flew through this one.

This one was a bit of a slow burn, but by the end it felt so worth it. I really enjoy Willingham’s writing style with short chapters, before/after timelines, and cliffhangers. This one is full of twists, turns, hints, and surprises. I was pleasantly fooled when I got to the end. I felt the end was a bit rushed. There was a lot of build up and character development, so honestly, I wanted more. I wish I had an epilogue to see where the characters are after the events occurred. Her dark academia, character development and overlapping storylines are easy and fast to follow. If you’re a thriller, mystery, or Willingham fan, I definitely recommend this one.

Keep your eyes peeled for it to hit shelves on 1/16/24. Thank you Minotaur books, NetGalley and Stacy Willingham for the early arc copy!

Only If You're Lucky is Stacy Willingham's latest thriller. Margot barely gets through her freshman year of college, lonely and depressed after her best friend died suddenly the previous summer. She meets charismatic "It Girl" Lucy and is invited to live with Lucy and her friends Nicole and Sloane. The four become close, but their lives are upended when a frat brother from the house next door dies and Lucy is missing.
The story is told by Margot, both in the present day and the past. It's a very slow burn and there isn't a lot of action until the very end. I had a hard time liking the characters, and the friendship between the main four girls seemed very superficial. There are definitely some surprising plot twists and the ending is not at all predictable. Overall, I liked this book, but it was slow bordering on boring at times.
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Amazing!!! I would have finished this in a day if it weren’t for travel and spending time with family.
Stacy keeps you on your toes, sharing just enough to make you want to scream and read ONE MORE chapter. Finally at 70% I couldn’t put it down. I had to know!!!
The twists! Wow, all the stars!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for my first ARC! It did not disappoint.

Many thanks to @minotaur_books, @stmartinspress, and @netgalley for my #gifted copies. Pub date 1/16/24.

Margot and her childhood best friend, Eliza, are accepted into the same college and were supposed to be roommates together until Eliza died. Margot, who is very shy and keeps to herself, decides she still wants to go. At the end of her first year, she is approached by Lucy, the popular, pretty girl everyone wants to be friends with, who asks Margot to be her roommate with her and 2 other girls. Margot can not believe her luck, and she accepts. Things are going great until a fraternity brother is brutally murdered and Lucy goes missing.

This was a slow burn thriller and very different from Stacy's previous books that I absolutely loved! This one read more like a YA book. We learn early on in the book that Eliza dies, Lucy goes missing, and a fraternity brother is murdered, but we don't know why or how. The first half of the book really had me guessing what the heck actually happened, and the ending actually shocked me, I was totally way off! I absolutely love Stacy's writing style, and I will read anything she writes. Be prepared to relive your college days!

Synopsis: Margot is lost attending college without her best friend who tragically passed away. She goes through the motions and keeps to herself until she meets Lucy who ends up drawing her out of her shell and into her friend group. Suddenly Margot finds herself living in a frat house with a whole new group of friends. But do they really know each other?

My thoughts: I felt SO lucky (🤪) to get this ARC because I absolutely loved Stacy Willingham’s first two books. A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous things are two of my favorite thrillers ever but this one felt different to me. I love her writing style but for me, the slow burn story fell flat when comparing to her other books. There’s a lot of college drama and a lot of repetition in the before/after timelines. I’ll definitely still be checking out her future books but this one wasn’t my favorite.

Stacy Willingham does not disappoint!! I loved this book so much and was completely enthralled while reading it. I cannot wait for her next book!

Rounded up from 3.5. Very passable and readable, but I did not devour this like I did her other two novels, probably because this was very slow out of the gate and also read younger to me. I liked how things tied together throughout


Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

I have been a huge fan of Stacy Willingham's previous work. Does she do anything brand new? No. But her writing is captivating and draws you into the story. It was descriptive and makes you really connect with the characters which I find hard to do in a thriller book. I really enjoyed this book and the setting. We follow Margot as she enters college and becomes friends with three other girls; the "popular" ones. We watch as her world turns upside down and everything that she thought was true, might be false. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who previously enjoyed her books and writing.

**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an Advanced Review Copy. All opinions are my own.**

4 Stars.

This is an enjoyable slow burn thriller about friendships and the imbalance of power. As the story unfolds, the author reveals how in each friendship, one friend either wants or needs the other friend more. As we learn more about the characters, we begin to see who (supposedly) holds the power in the relationship- but all of that starts to crumble as secrets come to light.

I read and loved Stacy Willingham’s previous two books, and while I didn’t love this one, it was definitely a wild ride.

For me, this was one of those books where none of the characters are likable, which isn’t always a bad thing, but I had a love/hate relationship with it here. The MC Margot was so easily influenced by her friends that I was often yelling at her to grow a backbone while reading. I also had a harder time getting into the story when I didn’t feel very strongly (in a positive way) about any of the characters. I was for sure getting some Mean Girls vibes while reading this, but in a more sinister, mysterious way. This may be fun and enjoyable to other readers, but it didn’t always work for me here.

The small college setting was fun, and set up some good plot points, especially in regard to the living situation. I had a hard time figuring out who/what to trust, and the multiple timelines added a lot to this, which kept me guessing most of the book. The only downside for me was the slow pace. It wasn’t until about the 70% point where things started to pick up, which is too far along for me. However, it did make the growing unease that much more suspenseful.

There were some twists along the way that I suspected, and then others I didn’t see coming that were actually shocking (especially towards the end). The ending felt a little abrupt and I think there could’ve been more there, but I liked the point it leaves us at.

This one is a little different from Willingham’s other work, but still worth a read!