Although predictable, an interesting dark academia mystery reminiscent of works like In My Dreams I Hold A Knife.

While I enjoyed the characters and the back and forth between timelines, I found this one to be a true, frustratingly so, slow burn. It truly doesn't pick up until the 70% mark and by then, the revelations feel obvious and underwhelming.

Overall, a quick read with a solid ending despite a slow execution.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. If you are in your early 20s or just want to reminisce your college days this book may be for you. Unfortunately this book was not for me. The book is focused on 4 friends that move into a creepy house next to a frat house. The book is mainly about these college kids partying. I couldn’t relate because I’m 37 and my partying years are long gone. There is a lot of peer pressure to take white pills at the main character does it without even asking what she is taking. (Gasp) The book moves very slow. If you are looking to relive your party days then this might be for you.

I enjoyed this compelling dark academia novel that delves into the intricate lives of college students, entwined with murder, mysteries, and dark secrets. If you enjoy dark sorority/fraternity dramatic reads, add this to your TBR! It’s told in multiple timelines, which I enjoyed especially because it never got confusing like this approach sometimes can. I do wish a bit more time had been spent in the “now” timeline. I was definitely constantly trying to guess when a twist would happen and what it would be. While I enjoyed the book, in comparison to Willingham's previous works, I found myself more captivated by her earlier novels. Nonetheless, this is a solid addition to her repertoire, offering a suspenseful journey into the lives of college students.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Only If You're Lucky follows a mysterious group of friends who have a lot of secrets, some more than others ...a theme that instantly reminded of Pretty Little Liars. Throughout the book, it proved difficult to trust anything any of the characters said. I knew something was amiss, but I couldn't figure out exactly what I was trying to uncover. This book is full of mystery and suspense, however, it is definitely a slow build and I found myself getting a little impatient for some answers.
Thank you so much NetGalley, St.Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for giving me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this author’s second book, All the Dangerous Things, earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to pick up her third book. Unfortunately, I was let down by it.

First off, the pacing was incredibly slow. Most of the book seemed to be the girls getting drunk or stoned at college parties. The twists and turns didn’t come into the story until the last third of the book. Literally two thirds of the book was about drinking and partying, and a very toxic friendship.

The characters were the WORST. I literally hated every single one of them, especially the main character Margot who was a horrible friend and a horrible person all around. The only character I thought was okay was maggie, and she was barely in the story.

I did not like this book. It was way too dark and depressing and I hate the whole trope of mean college girls. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, “I’m so glad my college experience was literally NOTHING like this!”

1.5 stars

So, I've read both of author Stacy Willingham's previous books, and they were just okay, and I skimmed a lot of her second just to get through it. But the description of her latest, "Only if You're Lucky" really appealed to me & I decided to give her one more try. I'm so very glad that I did as I really, really enjoyed this one! It's quite different than her others & for me that was a plus - I liked the "Dark Academia" trope meets "Mean Girls" vibe. Often felt surprised with the story here & that's also good! Found MC Margot, her new college & friends and her old & dead BFF to be both a slow-burner and yet well-written. Liked the Jeykll & Hyde fore-shadowing too! My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, my pleasure to review & happy I tried this author again!

5 enthusiastic starts for this one. The characters are so well developed they feel like people you really know.
The setting was amazing and I love that the author used her life to create this setting.
It oozed suspense and fear. Absolutely spine chilling moments and so many plot twists and turns it kept me guessing until the very last page. Breakneck speed and edge of your seat moments without compromising the character development or genuine feelings this invokes. This was a fantastic read and I was sad when I read the last page because it was over.
One of those rare books you can fully immerse yourself in!

Still mourning the loss of her best friend, Margot is off to freshmen year of college. This was not the plan. Margot floats thru her first year in a haze. Margot is invited to live with a trio of girls, including Lucy, in a house that is owned by the fraternity. Yard attached! What occurs next starts an interesting story that takes some very twisty turns! Hold on to your hat. The ending did shock me.
This book kept me turning the pages and I just want to read it again to look for any clues I missed! Oh so good!!!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story fully captures all the feelings of being young - feeling invincible, some self-absorbed and some so insecure they have a hard time functioning. Typical college life here - but with a twist! Do you trust those you live with? Are some secrets to big to keep?

It took me a chapter or two to really get into it but once I did, I was hooked. I really liked this slow paced thriller. There were so many twists and turns that I never saw coming.
I love books that alternate between timelines such as before and after throughout the story. I also really enjoyed the friendships in the book.
If you enjoy secrets, lies, and huge twists- I highly recommend this book.

Stacy Willingham captured my heart and intrigue in her first debut novel, and her second story didn’t let me down!

I like books that give you the ending (1 character is dead and another one missing) and then work backward, slowly unraveling the mystery of what happened. This creates a slower paced mystery but still a satisfying one as everything comes together in the end. The ending wasn't exactly tied up with a neat little bow but I enjoyed that as well--sometimes that's how life goes.

3.5🌟 I was excited to read Stacy Willingham’s newest novel “Only If You’re Lucky”. I really enjoy her writing. I was all in one this one for the first 50 pages the set up was great. I love a good university thriller. Then add BFFs who live in a creepy house, fraternity house next door, and the new shy girl who has a dead bestie. Then it kind of dragged in the middle for me and got a little repetitive. The time frame of this story is present day but it felt like the late 80s-early 90s to me. Which I think I would have actually preferred that. The characters are unlikeable and a little predictable. However, the last 100 pages sucked me back in and even though I had figured some of the main twist out, there were one or two I did not. All in all I would recommend if you want a fast university thriller with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibes, Agatha Christie twist, and a coming of age feel.


Thank you so much for the gifted copy from NetGalley, St.Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham. It was an honor to read this book. “Only if You’re Lucky” will be published January 16,2024.

I love everything Stacy Willingham writes. She has a way of really setting up her stories with enough information, but also plenty of misdirection. She really took her time painting a picture in this book. And when it all came together, the reveals were brilliant.

It did however, take awhile for it to come together, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it at first. The college setting and the fact that all of the characters were college aged, didn’t appeal to me as much. But the last quarter of this book truly redeemed any doubts that I had.

So while the journey to get there was long and full of questions, I ultimately did love it once we found out the answers. And her acknowledgment section was really great!

4.5 stars

Real talk.
Took me awhile to fully get engaged. Then I was hooked. Then about 70% I knew a plot twist was coming and as I kept reading I totally foresaw the first drop, but what I didn’t expect was the twists that kept coming. The ending was abrupt, but I feel necessary to truly end this story. Overall, it was pretty believable thinking back to my college days and how easily what Lucy did could have actually happened.

Thank you to St. Martins press for this ARC.

I was very excited to read this one and am happy to report that it surpassed my expectations. This twisty tale tells the story of Margot and Lucy. Margot is a senior in high school when her best friend dies tragically. Starting her freshman year without her best friend (Eliza) when they should be dorming together, Margot does virtually nothing hardly leaves her room. That’s until she meets Lucy. Lucy is everything Margot is not and a lot like Eliza. Margot is drawn to her, they move in together with two other friends, life feels good but everything is not as it seems, nothing feels true and what really happened the night Eliza died? And who is Lucy?

I guessed two of the three big twists but I didn’t mind at all. I loved reading this, I loved the characters and I couldn’t wait to see if I was right. Not put downable this book is a solid 4 stars.

I couldn't put this down - loved the twists, the dark characters, the friendships. Will be recommending this to others that like dark suspense.

At the end of her freshman year of college, Margot rashly agrees to become roommates with Lucy Sharpe, a larger-than-life girl in her freshman dorm. Having spent the last year reeling from the death of her best friend, Margot is desperate to have someone to bring her back to life. Living in a cheap house next to a fraternity, Lucy quickly becomes the ringleader of Margot, Sloane, and Nicole. But by midyear, a boy from next door will be dead, Lucy will be missing, and Margot and her roommates will be hiding secrets of their own.

Having loved Willingham's previous two thrillers, I was completely disappointed in Only If You're Lucky. Most of the novel is a mind-numbingly slow tale of drunk college girls. So much so that I ended up skimming the middle portion of the book. At about 70% through, the story picked up with a few good twists. But by then I really didn't care anymore.

I was so honored to be chosen to get an ARC of this book from NetGalley! It was slow at first but needed to set the stage! And then the twists came not long after! The characters were wonderfully created, and the story was so gripping it kept me up late reading! But, that ending I did NOT see coming! This was my first book by this author and I will be reading her others! Thank you again to NetGalley for the book! This was such a fun experience!