I read the whole entire book in the 6 hour car ride back from The Outer Banks today (fitting as that was where the main character was from). This was such a page turner and I highly recommend it for thriller fans!

Yes absolutely yes so good! Female friendship can be a scary thing I think we all know that, the secrets we keep the lies we will say to even those the closest to us. This book is satisfying. It kept me guessing right up to about the last quarter of the book when it slowly started to piece together.

3 stars might be generous, but I think the ending saved it a little for me. It was just so repetitive and really read like a YA novel, which I usually do not mind at all but this was sooooo frat party-esque. I was disappointed after loving Stacy Willingham’s first two books so much. The storyline, need to fit in, etc, all could have been written in another setting and been more of a thriller than this. Thank you Net Galley for the eARC of this book.

Stacy Willingham is back at it again with another page turner. This book made me feel so nostalgic about college and female friendships. I was intrigued from the beginning, but as much as I hate to admit it, I did pretty much guess the twist at the end .I loved the homage to The Beatles with the Lucy in the sky with diamonds reference. I will forever read anything Stacy Willingham writes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my early copy of this book!
This is the third book I have read by Stacy Willingham, and as expected it did not disappoint. Much like A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things, I was left a bit stunned by the end as secret after secret was unveiled.
The pace of the book started a bit on the slower side, but built as you worked through Margot’s past as it led to her present.
As a former college girlie, the setting of this story felt familiar for me; Rutledge being a small university much like my alma mater. Over time, however, the setting dawned this eerie haze that was utterly brilliant as events the events continued to unfold. The day I finished this book, I had a reading goal of getting 3/4 of the way through the book but could not stop reading when I got to that point and ended up finishing it that same day.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
4 ⭐️ of out 5

Wow, what a book! A chilling look into just how cruel female friendships can be, especially at a young age. The story is set in present day within a college sorority, with peeks into Margot's past. Lucy is the other main character, the type of person whose very presence draws people in, the exact opposite of Margot's reserved personality. Everyone is living it up, complete with drinking, parties and boys, until someone ends up dead. Lies start to unravel and the truth slowly reveals itself. A twisty dark thriller that I HIGHLY recommend.

LOVED this one!! Thank you NetGalley for this arc, opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for a ln ARC of Only If You’re Lucky, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Stacy Willingham is fantastic at keeping you guessing. When you think you know what happened, she adds in a twist that has you rethinking everything. Nobody is completely innocent. But just how guilty are they?

Set in a dual timeline, you catch glimpses of Margot’s life during high school and college. Levi is the one constant denominator in her life and all of the problems that she has. The death of her childhood best friend, Eliza, and the disappearance of her new friend/roommate in college, Lucy.

I thought this book was well written and kept me hooked.

Stacy Willingham did it again! Margot is beginning life away at college following the tragic death of her best friend. Margot finds herself becoming very close with a well known girl on campus named Lucy. So close that Margot moves in with Lucy and two other female roommates in a house off campus owned by the fraternity brothers who live next store. This story is a thriller that keep you guessing and wondering what everyone's real motive it. I enjoyed the way the author wrote the story in the "before" and "after" timelines and kept me interested and guessing until the end!

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. This book has a publication date of January 16, 2024 and I do recommend you pick it up!

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham follows Margot, a young adult still haunted by the death of her best friend, Eliza, the summer before they are supposed to start college. She spends her whole freshman year closed off from everything, until Lucy Sharpe stands in her dorm room asking her to take the fourth empty room in their off campus house. Margot, a girl with nothing to lose and everything to gain, agrees and finds herself living next to Kappa Nu with two other girls. Her new arrangement seems to be perfect until Levi appears. The boy she hates. The boy who was obsessed with Eliza and was with her the night she died. Margot finds herself pulled in different directions by Lucy, Levi, and her new acquaintances of Kappa Nu as she navigates her Sophomore year in the midst of a murder investigation.

This story was enjoyable, keeping me guessing up until the very end. Stacy Willingham did a fantastic job with setting Margot as an unreliable narrator, twisting and shaping the story to her own perspective and fantasies. We switch between timelines from before Eliza's death and after, following her relationships with both Eliza and Lucy, and how similar they are to each other in Margot's eyes. I enjoyed being able to piece together the story at the same time she was. The pacing was on the slower end, taking some chapters to really get into the story and involvement of the characters or even introducing some of them. Looking back, some of the events were predictable, like shoving Lucy in the cave once we got to know her character and how she would never run or leave for weeks due to her controlling nature or that Nicole was to blame for Levi's death based on their weird behaviors after Halloween. While this is the case, in the moment it was less predictable as I was shocked at how it all unfolded. This story had me questioning a lot of things, such as Sloane's whole involvement with Lucy, was she just a consequence of trying to get Nicole close so her plan could work to get the house?

Overall, this story was well written and thought out. It kept me on my toes and turning the page. Would I have liked to see more? Yes. Am I questioning half of everything I read now that I am done? Also, yes. Will I be waiting for her next release? Impatiently, yes.

I really enjoyed the other book I read by Stacy Willingham and this one was no different. These books have a different quality about them that makes them very easy to read and make you think about them after you put them down. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

I loved Stacy Willingham’s last two books. However, this one didn’t have the mystery feel to it until the book got to sixty percent. It was an interesting book, just not as fast paced as I like my books to be. I loved the ending, and I’m still looking forward to her next book.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Eliza and Margot were best friends. The kind of friends that make life long plans. Then, Levi moves into their orbit and 3 is a crowd. Levi and Eliza have no room for Margot, but Margot is not willing to give up. As fate would have it, Eliza dies unexpectedly leaving Margot broken and alone and ready to start college. Margot is shy and broken and easily led. Once on campus she sees a young woman I. Her dorm named Lucky who is flanked by Sloane and Nicole. According to Margot, those three have everything she has ever wanted. As the spring semester ends, Lucy approaches Margot with an opportunity to live with them and Margot accepts. This story of friendship, betrayal and belonging is painted to close to real life it is easy to under why this novel grabs you and holds you close. Bound by blood and lies ‘if one goes down,’ they all go down.

Overall a fantastic novel with plot twists you don’t see coming and an interesting group of strong female characters. The author truly understood the way female relationships can warp and the writing was fantastic, willingham utilizes so much imagery and does a fantastic job of painting a picture.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham • eARC Review
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: January 16, 2024
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I was so excited when I got the email from NetGalley saying my request was approved! I LOVED both of Stacy’s other novels and had this at the TOP of my TBR for 2024.

A thrilling story about friendship, belonging and betrayal. I got strong Jawbreaker vibes from the characters and plot and although the main character, Margot, was a bit obsessive, I didn’t want to stop reading about her. I will auto buy any of Stacy’s books.
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Huge fan of Willingham's previous two books, so I went into this one with very high expectations. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. Certainly my least favorite release by her.

Strong writing, but the story was just a bit dull and not very original. At least for a seasoned reader of thrillers and mysteries. The before/after timelines could have been done better. It was a bit jarring at times and hard to follow. Little clues are littered throughout the story but it's a slow burn until the last 30%. This book is about female friendships, but I feel we never see that in action. We're told these people are friends, but I never actually feel the bonds holding them together to make me emotionally invested. Too much telling instead of showing. Overall, a decent read for mystery fans but not a must read like her other two.

3.5 stars

Loved this book. Lots twists and little mysteries to figure out. This is my second book by this author and I’ll definitely read more.

What a RIDE! A gaslighty, dark, college thriller that kept me guessing throughout was exactly what I needed this week. Between the time swaps, the flashbacks, and the questionable motives, there's so much going on. And as always with Stacy Willingham, you can't trust anyone. The paranoia grows throughout the book, as we try to figure out who killed Eliza and Levi and what actually happened to Lucy Sharpe. While I guessed some things correctly, others were gasp moments for me. I would absolutely warn readers about rape and disordered eating triggers, as these were a bit graphic. But overall, this would be perfect for fans of Ashley Winstead or Ruth Ware.

*Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This book was a very slow burn. There were many chapters devoted to the roommates' lives leading up to the mystery that was alluded to occasionally. Lucy was the mysterious center around which everything revolved, but she didn't really interest me much. There were enough hints of a good mystery that I kept going, but I'm not sure the destination was worth the voyage.

I love Willingham’s books so much…but this one wasn’t my favorite…it was good and the story was so fresh, but the repetitiveness is where it lost me. I think this could have been edited to ditch about 50 pages and it wouldn’t have changed the story at all.

Again, story wise? Loved. The twist was fantastic, but I didn’t like how repetitive it was.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham, published by St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books.
I just love Stacy's novels, she has a great writing style, she adds suspense, mystery, twists and turns to this novel, her characters are awesome in this novel, really well done, you can picture them as you read. I was on the edge of my seat throughout this novel, every time I thought I knew what had happened, it changed.
The novel is narrated by Margot's character, she is away at college and is invited to move out of the dorms and into a frat house. This is just what she needed after the death of her best friend a year ago. She enjoys making new girl friends, Lucy, Sloane and Nicole, and meeting the boys that live in the house next door. Until Levi shows up, the cause of Eliza's death.
Sit back and enjoy this riveting, detailed novel of friendship, betrayal, revenge to name a few. Stacy Willingham does not disappoint with this novel, this novel was so well done!