ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY BOOK REVIEW

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

I have always been drawn to books set on a college campus, so was excited to dive into Margot’s world as she heads to Rutledge College for her freshman year. Still dealing with the recent loss of her lifelong friend, Eliza, Margot gets in with a group of girls and ends up moving off campus with them in an apartment attached to a frat house. Typical college shenanigans ensue but things turn dangerous when someone else winds up dead and another person missing…

I’ve heard great things about this author and this was the first book of hers that I’ve read! I found the characters to be pretty much all unlikable but enjoyed the drama between the girls that unfolded throughout the book. I think I would have liked this one better if it were faster paced…by the time I got to the main action and twists I had lost a bit of interest. There were also some components of the setting that seemed misplaced (Ex: mentions of alligators in OBX…?)

Overall, I’d recommend this if you like slow burns and if you liked the book The Girls Are All So Nice Here.

Only If You're Lucky - Stacy Willingham
Margot spends her first year of college just going through the motions. While she gets along well with her roommate, there will always be a constant ache for best friend Eliza who passed away months prior.
Eliza was supposed to come to college with her. Be her roommate. Share all these experiences with her.
When Sloane takes notice of Margot and invites her to be the fourth roommate, she can't resist. Sloane has a dangerous appeal and Margot can't get enough of the attention from her.
Margot fights to fit in with the girls, letting herself experience things she never thought she would have. But when one of the fraternity boys from next door is brutally murdered, and Slone becomes the prime suspect, Margot wonders what she has gotten herself into.
When Sloane goes missing, Margot and the other girls must get their stories straight before the truth comes out.
I must say this book really threw me for a loop and everything that happened was definitely unexpected. Stacy Willingham does a fantastic job of baiting you with tidbits of information to keep you hooked and wanting more. The characters all appealed to you in different ways, and you wanted poor Margot to have a happy ending. The twists though, just wow. If you want your brain to hurt while trying to piece together an incredible murder mystery, this one is it guys! It comes out in January 2024, so make sure you save those Christmas gift cards up! ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Book Title: Only If You’re Lucky
Author: Stacy Willingham
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: January 16, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 384

Comment from Stacy Willingham ~ This is my book again. It's about a bunch of college girls getting into
mischief (to put it mildly). I hope you enjoy it!

Margot and her best friend Eliza were looking forward to going away to college and being roommate ~ however Eliza dies shortly after graduation. Since they both wanted to get away from the Outer Banks – South Carolina seems to be perfect~(Okay I did laugh at this a we vacation and totally love the Outer Banks but UNC as well as NC State are awesome and certainly different than the Outer Banks.)
Margot reluctantly heads off to college in South Carolina Eliza choice.

Margot is quiet and ends up with Maggie a roommate who is okay but certainly not an exciting new friend. The situation reminds Margo of the college experience she should be having with Eliza.
.Margot is envious of a group of girls who have bonded and are having a great time!

At the end of the school year Lucy Sharpe a super popular girl and part of the group that Margot envies asks Margot if she is staying for summer school and if would like to stay with her Sloane and Nicole. Margot isn’t staying for summer school. Lucy states that’s okay how about the fall? Margo is flattered and agrees. They are living in a house off campus owned by the fraternity next door.
(Excuse the mom in me but a fraternity next door!!!!)

When Levi a young man who lives in Kappa Nu the fraternity next door and someone Margot remembers from her hometown ends up dead Margot fears perhaps his death is related to Eliza.
Yikes! now Miss Popular Lucy is missing. Story totally kept me curious.

I love author, Stacy Willingham! This is her third novel and my third as well.
I read both : "A Flicker in the Dark" -] loved it as well as : All the Dangerous Things" which earned 5 stars from stingy star me.
I think she is awesome and was excited to read this!

I never skip the Acknowledgments nor the ‘Author’s Notes.
In this case- Ms. Willingham tells us that her junior and senior years at the University of Georgia, she and her roommates lived off-campus in a house owned by a fraternity.
So yes this story was inspired by a real place but everything else is fictional including the characters. However did admit that the one character she kept was the house itself – as the house had character.
(Aww I love this as I also believe houses do indeed have character as well as history!)

Certainly looking forward to the next Stacy Willingham story!

Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press ~ Minotaur Press for granted me the pleased of reading this WOW early uncorrected proof.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 16, 2024.

Wow! What a great book! I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. I wasn’t expecting the twists at all! It was the perfect thriller! Highly entertaining!! 5 stars!

Stacy Willingham has a knack for making me think that I've figured everything out, and then taking about three left turns in the last 20%. Dual timeline from "before" the incident and "after" the incident, you're slowly gaining background information about the narrator, Margot, and what happened with her childhood best friend Eliza and her budding friendships in college with Lucy, Sloane, and Nicole.

Comes a little behind A Flicker in the Dark for me and I haven't read Willingham's second novel yet to compare.
 
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow. Just wow.

Stacy Willingham has done it again with Only If You’re Lucky. This one is very different from her other two but her writing is very much the same, fast paced and intriguing. Only If You’re Lucky very much reminded me of Ruth Wares It Girl and Ashley Winsteads In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, two of my favorite dark academia/thriller books. If you were looking for a more thrilling version of the It Girl this is it.

The books follows a group of four college girls renting out a frat house when suddenly Lucy, the groups popular girl on campus goes missing. It has two timelines the before and the after which keeps you wanting more from each perspective. The book immediately pulls you in and doesn’t let go until the last page. It was hard for me to put this one down because I needed to know how it was going to unfold. I love following group dynamics especially female friendships and how intricate, vulnerable, and messy they can be. Definitely check this one out in January thank you St. Martins Press and Stacy Willingham for the advanced ebook😊

Y’all I love Stacy Willingham’s books. A Flicker in the Dark? AMAZING! All the Dangerous Things? A masterpiece! But unfortunately, Only If You’re Lucky didn’t hit quite the same for me…

This book is a sloooow burn, and I just could not get into it until about 75%. While I enjoy the author’s writing style, the actual story didn’t hook me. To me, the first half of the book spent far too long establishing a background that was pretty basic IMO- it felt repetitive and unnecessary at times. And while I enjoy an unreliable narrator, the characters themselves were insufferable, and I found it hard to be inside the main character’s head. I spent most of the time being annoyed with her, and her actions made it hard to empathize with her. The pace definitely picked up in the last 100 or so pages, but the ending fell flat for me and wasn’t satisfying.

If you’re a dark academia fan and don’t mind a slow burn thriller, this book might be for you! If you liked the author’s previous novels, I would caution that this one definitely has a different vibe.

Ahhhhh College…the perfect time to reinvent yourself and make lifelong friends. For Margot though, she’s remained quiet and shy - not really sure of who she is or wants to be.

Until she is singled out by Lucy Sharpe. The “it” girl who is the life of the party and is infamous on campus. Suddenly she’s living off campus with Lucy and her two best pals Nicole and Sloane. Nights are filled with partying with the fraternity boys next door and recovering the next day.

Until someone from Margot’s past shows up and disturbs her newfound utopia…and then all bets are off. And then we see what everyone is truly capable of becoming.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Willingham’s precious books so I was excited to get a copy of this one. The book is very good but it’s different from her other works. I found that the story wasn’t as fast paced as her other books were (although the chapters were quick) and it seemed more “drama” than “thriller” until the very end of the book.

I still enjoyed the book but of all her works I think this one is my least favorite.

I have really enjoyed other books that I have read by this author, but unfortunately this one fell short for me. It is very slow paced and took awhile for me to get into it. It is listed as a thriller, but felt more like a college level fiction full of drama and little thrill. Everyone has secrets and you’re trying to learn what those secrets are, but for me, the characters were irritating, which made it hard for me to even care what they were hiding. I gave it three stars because the premise was good and I did like the ending, but the pace was too slow for me & I thought that I was going to read a thriller and it was not that.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advance reader edition of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Stacy Willingham and she will continue to be an auto read author for me, but this book didn’t feel like her style to me. It felt very YA/teen thriller compared to her other 2 novels. The twist was good, but as for the rest of the book.. I really should have DNF. It was not for me. (It gave me Cruel Summer season 2 vibes if you’ve seen it.) Lots of lies, secrets and drama, but not enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

This was my third read from Willingham and this one is right on par with the others! This story tackles the nature of friendship and the loyalty, envy, and betrayal that can accompany it. I was wrapped up into the drama from the very beginning. There was a constant feeling of unease while reading and I was anxiously waiting for that twist to drop! That, along with short chapters, made it near impossible to put down. I felt like so many of the characters were unreliable and I never fully knew what was actually going on! So when the twists finally came, I was blown away… and also relieved to have the puzzle pieces falling into place! An easy and very entertaining read!

*Instagram post will be posted and linked soon!

Only If You’re Lucky is a very addictive thriller following our main character, Margot, as she navigates her second year of university. She’s found herself pulled into the circle of Lucy, Sloane, and Nicole, and she even moves into their off campus house with them. After that, sh*t gets wild #

Lucy is INTENSE with everything she does and says. She’s a big mystery throughout the whole book, like who even is she?? She does make everything much more exciting and I can see how being around her would make you feel special.

I really loved how this one unfolded! If you liked Stacy Willingham’s other novels (A Flicker In The Dark & All The Dangerous Things) then I think you’d probably love this!

Incredible! I have devoured every single book from Stacy Willingham. She is so amazing at plot twists. She is by far one of my favorite thriller authors.

This book did not disappoint, I was not expecting the ending! The characters were well developed and the story line was great!

If you enjoy Ruth Ware, Alice Feeney, Paula Hawkins, Rachel Hawkins you will love this!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St Martins Press for the arc

I am a huge fan of anything Stacey Willingham writes; she is one of my must-read authors. Only If You're Lucky is a book that will grab you immediately and keep you hooked until the end. I loved the short chapters that maintained a quick pace of the book, and I always enjoy books that switch between timelines. I didn't guess the twist at the end which is always a plus. However, I did find this geared towards a younger audience, as it follows freshmen in college. If that doesn't bother you, this is definitely a must-read for people who love slow-burn thrillers. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Incredibly entertaining, even if the pacing suffered at times. I liked the characters. I found their relationships to be utterly gripping and a highlight of the entire book. Highly recommended.

This book was seriously entertaining. The author did a great job tapping into the interpersonal relationships among teenagers and early adults. Especially the women. I originally read it for possible comp research for a future project, but I pretty much forgot I was supposed to be researching. About halfway through, I couldn’t put it down. I read the second half in a single sitting. I did have the vast majority of the story figured out about a third of the way through, but I figured it was so off the wall that I couldn’t possibly be right. I was right about everything but one event toward the end. Be prepared to be spun in circles because this one is a doozy!

Huge thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

“𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷. 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓮 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓦𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓭𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓐𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰.”

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Lucy Sharpe is the mysterious girl with the bold, magnetic, and dangerous aura that draws people straight in. Margot is shy and careful and never the center of attention. Lucy befriends Margot at the end of their Freshman year of college and persuades her to live off campus with two other girls. When Lucy goes missing and a boy from the fraternity house next door is discovered being brutally murdered, Margot begins to see that Lucy had ulterior motives and she wasn’t who she claimed to be.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I loved this dark academia psychological thriller. It brought me straight back to the bubble of being in college and the thought of being able to remake yourself because no one really knows who you were in your pre college life. This is a dark twist on the new friendships that are made in those beginning stages of college and the fact that you can instantly become friends with someone without truly knowing them. I’m thankful that the friends I made in college were nothing like some of the girls in this book 🤣. It was a fun nostalgic ride to remembering bits and pieces of the college life, with the addition of lots of deep dark and haunting twists that hook your right from the start and gets even better as the ride goes along. I’m a huge fan of Stacy Willinghams writing and loved both her previous books as well.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Dark academia mystery thriller 🧐
💫Small town college vibes 🏫
💫Frat parties 🍻
💫Dual timeline ✌🏽
💫Multiple twists 🔀
💫College female friendships 👯‍♀️
💫Lies and secrets 🤐
💫Good vs. Bad ☯️
💫Character driven reads 📖
💫Slow burn 🔥

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: death, abuse, hazing, mention of rape.⚠️

🔥𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🔥
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: “𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈: 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹, 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝑜𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓂, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝒽𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓏𝑒. 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑜𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓇𝒾𝓅𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒.”


🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

A huge thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for the ARC.

This is easily my favorite of Stacy’s novels, all of which have been fantastic works. They all stand so well on their own, but in “Only If You’re Lucky”, she ventured into a subgenre I’m very well known to be obsessed with. Morally grey, rage filled, college girls.

You could maybe consider this dark academia if you squint just right, but to me, it’s just a classic mystery. I loved the back and forth between before and after, learning how all the events unfolded to get you to the final conclusion. Stacy is fantastic at leaving you guessing the entire time, while avoiding obvious red herrings and dropping subtle clues you missed earlier in the novel.

The final conclusion was staggering, in the best way possible! I loved and hated every single character - which I love. I loved the atmosphere of their run down college house.

This book makes you remember your high school friendships, maybe even your college ones, and how they possibly fell apart. Every time you felt jealous, every time you felt like you weren’t good enough or were second best. Every time you wondered if your friends really even like you, or if they pity you, or if you’re the one who loves them but they don’t love you back. I felt so seen in every inner monologue told by Margot, and for that, this book gets 5 stars from me.

This was an ARC I couldn’t wait to get my hands on! After reading it, I definitely have mixed thoughts.

“A Flicker in the Dark” sits at a 3-star read, for me. It’s a very basic thriller in terms of plot and execution. “All the Dangerous Things,” on the other hand, was an easy 5-star read, and one of my favorite thrillers to date. With “Only If You’re Lucky” I go back and forth on whether I liked it or not. I’d say it fits right between its two predecessors. Definitely not my favorite Willingham novel, but better than her debut.

Let me start off by saying, I absolutely love the dark academia tone this novel takes on. It’s so unique from Willingham’s other work. I’m such a sucker for a college setting, and this book perfectly encapsulated the freshman experience. It felt as if I was right back on campus for the very first time. From the first few pages, I was so invested in our main character and the story as a whole.

However, this book lost a lot of momentum about 30% of the way through and didn’t pick up again until the 70% mark. There was a serious lag that had me skimming pages through multiple chapters. The main character got less and less likable, the supporting characters were never likable, and the repetition was hard to power through at times.

It’s so unfortunate because I really like the writing, the concept has a lot of potential, and the ending is solid (although, quite predictable). There were just a few missteps that had me disappointed.

For now I’d rate this a 3.5