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!

I read A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham in 2022 and absolutely loved it so I was SO excited to get an advanced copy of this book.

For me it missed the mark. It felt like it was geared towards a younger audience since the setting was in a college and I found that it wasn’t very fast paced. I didn’t find myself dying to pick it up, and I didn’t particularly care for any of the characters or what happened to them, which made it hard for me to get into.

This wasn’t a bad book and if you like SW’s other books I’d definitely recommend checking it out in January when it’s released!

Thank you to NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I did not enjoy this book as much as previous books by this author. It was a little slow and I think I just didn’t enjoy the characters much or that it was set at a college. I did enjoy the ending and sll the multiple twists and turns. Some I saw coming but one or 2 I did not.

This is a always buy author for me and this did disappoint. It kept me guessing the whole time. Thanks for the ARC as always

I was excited to score an ARC of ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY because I liked Stacey Willingham’s two other books, especially All the Dangerous Things. I didn’t like this one as much, although I did appreciate the twisty story once I got to the end and everything finally came together.

The book is about a college student, and I feel like the first half of the story is gratuitous and overly nostalgic - there are a lot of pages of college partying, reminiscing and messing around with frat boys. When I read the notes at the end, it turned out my feeling was correct. Although Willingham didn’t base the characters on her college friends, the house where they live was based on a real place.

Without ruining the story, I’m also tired of unreliable narrators and there was at least one plot point at the end that I feel is unlikely.

It took me a while to get through ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY because it is such a slow burn (waaay too slow for me) but having said that, I did feel the end of the book was much stronger than the rest and I did get invested once the secrets began to unravel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Only If You're Lucky is an exploration of (female) friendships and the secrets that can either come between them or bond them for life.

Margot is mourning the death of her best friend, Eliza, when she starts her first year of college. During that year, she's lucky enough to be singled out by the mysterious Lucy, who befriends Margot and the two become roommates along with Nicole and Sloane in a fraternity-owned house during their sophomore year. When one of the fraternity pledges is killed and Lucy disappears, Margot, Nicole and Sloane try to unravel the mystery surrounding Lucy and her connection to Margot.

Told in alternating timelines, Only If Your Lucky is a slower plot, more character-driven novel. I really enjoyed the dark academia feel to this one. Anyone who has read and enjoyed Stacy Willingham's previous two novels should definitely read this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, St, Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and the author for an ARC of this book. Publication date: January 16, 2024.

This was a great read!
I love love love Stacy Willingham.

Margot and Eliza were the best of friends despite being incredibly different in demeanor . Eliza was full of life and Margot often in her shadow. For ten years, they were like inseparable and choose to go to the same college.

However, Eliza dies in a tragic accident and Margot is faced with life without Eliza. Everything reminds her of her friend. She can't bear to stay in the same town so she goes off to college escaping her grief.

Margot is befriended by an enigmatic girl on campus. She reminds her of Eliza, charismatic and full of life- all the things Margot is not.
Will Margot stay in her comfort zone or seek a friendship much like the one with Eliza?

This story has some pretty amazing Easter eggs and themes.

I recommend this for anyone that likes thrillers especially teen thrillers, although I would say it's a good read for a wider audience too

Great read.

Thanks netgalley !!!!!!

Immediate 5 stars and a must read for this author. Always the right amount of twists and turns and “keep you guessing” plots.

𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒘𝒏--𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕, 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅--𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍. 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍.

This is such a difficult review to write because the writing itself was haunting and lyrical consistently throughout. Unfortunately, the story itself just wasn't that original and had a very YA feel as the plot was centered around college students. After mulling over this review for days, I feel sure that I would have enjoyed the book much more if dual timelines were present and I was reading about the characters as more fully formed adults.

Margot is the shy one, the one who always follows the rules, but when she catches the attention of Lucy Sharpe, her life will shift to a different trajectory. I wish I could say that the author put a different spin on this trope, but it was the same as many others. I got really excited right before the final climax because I thought something big was coming, but that was a letdown as well.

I'm sticking with three stars because I did enjoy the writing, and the story itself was adequate. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for the early copy. This title will publish January 1, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers of Only If You're Lucky, I was able to read this ARC in return for an honest review. The first 2/3rds of the book was a fun dark academia story where you know something has happened, but you can't piece it together. I give that 3 stars. The ending was a wild ride to the finish, slotting all of the puzzle pieces together! It bumped the 3 stars to 4 stars. It would be interesting to read this book again someday to see the story unfold again knowing what I know now.

Margot is a quiet, homebody who goes to Rutgers. She was supposed to go with her high school best friend, who died after high school graduation. While at college, Margot meets Lucy, who draws her in just like her high school best friend. Moving in with Lucy for her sophomore year, Margot is thrust into a world of frat parties, hazing, and secrets. These secrets propel the story forward in an interesting way. If you like Stacy Willingham's other books or dark academia, this book is completely worth reading!

I do adore a book by Stacy Willingham, but I struggled to get into this one. It's a slow burn until a little past the halfway point, at which point it took off. In theory, I love two friends with a complicated relationship, and I like academia, but in this case it felt like a trope that's been overdone without anything new. Still looking forward to Stacy's next, this one just wasn't it for me.

3.5 stars. I’ve read all of Stacy Willingham’s books, she’s an auto read for me. Was super excited to get this one early on netgalley, and find a group to buddy read with! I gotta admit, this is a SLOW burn, and I had a really hard time staying engaged in the story, until about 3/4 of the way - then it took off and I flew through the back half. Definitly a few twists on twists at the end, which made it with it. It’s not my favorite of hers, but still worth a read!

This is so good. I think we have all done lot the smartest things to try to fit in. It was a tad of a slow burn for me but still very intriguing. A look into female friendships. The lies we tell and the secrets we keep.

For fans of any dark academia, or even Gossip Girl, Only If You're Lucky is the story of salacious friendships and murderous choices. What happens when the right things turn into the wrong? I love books that share complicated friendships, especially in college. Navigating that world is so hard and exciting and this book equally explored that.