Only If You're Lucky, the latest thriller from author Stacy Willingham isn't set to be published until January 16, 2024. But guess who's lucky? This guy -- I was able to snag an ARC from NetGalley, so here is your spoiler-free preview of Willingham's 3rd novel, which also happens to be her best yet.

The novel's narrator is Margot, who is just finishing her freshman year at Rutledge College in South Carolina in the novel's primary timeline. Going off to college is supposed to be a special time of new experiences, but nothing about Year 1 was magical for Margot. For starters, she was supposed to be there with her best friend, Eliza. But a tragic accident near the end of high school left Eliza dead and Margot forced to be randomly paired with a roommate. She spent the year grieving and trying to fill the hole left by Eliza's death, zombie-walking through her college experience. As she's preparing to head home for the summer after what feels like a lost year, she's approached by Lucy Sharpe.

Lucy is the "it" girl on campus -- stunning, confident, the one who commands the attention of everyone in a room the moment she walks in. She drops by Margot's dorm room and out-of-the-blue proposes Margot come live with her and her two best friends, Sloane and Nicole. After Margot gets over the shock that Lucy even knows her name, she accepts the offer, and a very new chapter for her begins at Rutledge.

The room being offered is in an off-campus house next to the Kappa Nu fraternity. The frat owns the house, and while it's separated by a fence, there is a shed in the back corner of the property you can pass through to easily access either property. That means that the girls can wander over to the frat any time they'd like; it also means the boys have unfettered access to the girls' house. That setting, culled from Willingham's own personal experiences living in a similar situation at the University of Georgia, presents a host of interesting scenarios and possibilities as the novel unfolds and almost acts as a character itself. Margot decides to stay the summer rather than returning home and facing the memories of Eliza, and the four girls begin to forge a fierce friendship.

There are clear parallels to Mean Girls, if you want to get a sense for the character dynamic among the young women. Margot is Lindsay Lohan's Cady Heron, thrust into a group she never thought she'd be part of but who help her start to fit in and provide her a social life she had yet to have at Rutledge. Lucy is clearly Rachel McAdams' Regina George, the leader of the pack who both commands attention and demands things are done her way. Nicole is super sweet and friendly, and most closely parallels Amanda Seyfried's Karen Smith. Sloane might be considered a Gretchen Wieners, but she's stronger and more independent. And for the record, no, I don't have all of the Mean Girls characters memorized -- thank you, internet, for the assist.

This is a Stacy Willingham book, and so of course there is mystery, deception, and in this case a suspicious death (and possible murder) to solve. We know by the end of Chapter 1 that Levi Butler is dead, and that Lucy Sharpe is missing. While that is the central mystery and the climactic event to which the novel gradually builds, there are also unknowns with the specifics of Eliza's death and how Levi might have been involved. In addition, there is a lingering mysteriousness surrounding Lucy Sharpe -- for as much as the other girls feel like she is their best friend, they also come to realize there are massive pieces of information they don't know about her.

I read and enjoyed both of Willingham's previous novels, A Flicker in the Dark back in 2021 and All the Dangerous Things earlier this year. I can say with full confidence that Only If You're Lucky is Willingham's most complete and best book yet. It had me captivated from the start, and like her previous novels it kept me guessing with plot twists until reaching a satisfying conclusion. This one takes that formula to the next level, though. Willingham masterfully drops hints bout where things are going while also providing bits of misdirection to throw you off the scent. I got through most of the book and imagined several ways it could play out, and I still think I was surprised by where it went. The main characters of Margot and Lucy are nuanced and well-developed, and there is enough development of the supporting cast (Sloane, Nicole, Levi, and the primary members of the frat) that you become immersed within their world. The reader is greeted with small surprises throughout as you learn snippets about both the past and the present, and the conclusion feels complete and believable.

All-in-all, this was one of the better thrillers I read this year, and I think people are going to love it once it's released. Reserve your copy now, you won't be disappointed!

This book kept me on the edge of my toes. I was so fascinated about what happened to Margot’s best friend Eliza, what was going on with Lucy and what happened to Levi. Lucy makes a great narrator going into the past and present. I really enjoyed this v
Novel and highly recommend it

Stacy Willingham has become one of my instant buy authors.. I have LOVED her previous 2 books and this ARC had earned another high ranking from me, too! I literally squealed when I received access to this ARC and definitely felt like I was "one of the lucky ones'"
I really loved this academia thriller. The author does a great job with her descriptions of the college housing so much that I definitely could see myself placed in the exact scene.
Characters were strong throughout the book and I enjoyed the alternating time lines by the main character Margot.
The references to "good vs evil" the struggle with new and lost relationships and lies/deceit made this a great thriller which I will be happy to promote to fellow readers! The constant twists and turns made this a quick read.. couldn't wait to get all the pieces to this psychological puzzle to fit!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

Stacy Willingham is 3 for 3 in my mind. This was a slow burn that ended in a nice, big bonfire. Only If You're Lucky focuses on a college freshman, Margot, just starting out at a small liberal arts school in South Carolina, hoping to get away from a tragedy that seemingly changed her, back home over the summer. Margot, presents as quiet and shy but is extremely relatable and you just get the feeling she is hiding something. Then you're introduced to Lucy who seems to have it all. She talks the talk and walks the walk and she seems to have a similar energy to someone from Margot's past. Through what seems to be a twist of fate, Margot, Lucy and a few other girls become roommates and friends. I guess the question becomes, how well do you really know your friends?

I love the dual timelines that give you a glimpse into the past and present just a little bit at a time. Stacy Willingham can absolutely transport you into the quaint college town and create a picture that makes you seem as if you are there with these co-eds. There is fraternity drama, questionable roommates and a whole lot of questions that pop up. She writes so beautifully and creates a suspenseful thriller that does make you want to keep turning the page to see what comes next. You were able to see the evolution of the characters through Willingham's writing and it escalated slowly but built up to a decent ending.

I feel that Only If You're Lucky is targeting a slightly younger crowd than her previous thrillers, focusing on the college age co-ed and consequential drama that ensues. However, it was engaging and suspenseful to the point that I still wanted to get to the end. I had an inkling of the twist at the end, but it was a little more than I envisioned, which is what we hope for in a thriller.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Stacy Willingham for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Only If You're Lucky Pub Date 16 January 2024. Rated up for 3.75 stars

This author and her books never cease to amaze me. Just when you think you have it all figured out bam….you didn’t have anything right. She is so good at sneaky twists throughout the story. This book follows Margot who becomes friends with Lucy or so she thinks. It’s a very intriguing book filled with friendship, death, mystery, and thrills.

What a writer! Willingham captured my attention immediately and kept it through the finish line.
She writes so realistically and her portrayal of college life was riveting,
When a story remains with you long after you've finished it, that's the criteria of a great thriller. And it certainly remained with me.

ok first off this is my very first arc!! thanks netgalley

-i probably have never connected with a MC more in my life than i did with Margot. as someone grieving the loss of my best friend, esp considering the shitty boyfriend, it was like stacy wrote this story for me, even though the death circumstances differ
-an absolute slow burn, but i ate up every word
-got a little repetitive at some points, but i was in deep so i didn’t even care
-unfortunately i also connected w Nicole, except for (view spoiler)
-loved the house
-didn’t go to college but it absolutely sounded like typical college life
-didn’t see the Lucy twist coming
-didn’t see the Sloan twist either!!
-overall i really enjoyed this and most definitely recommend it when it comes out!!

This book had a good premise but really got bogged down in similes and too many details. I still enjoyed it though.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel. As a huge Stacy Willingham fan I was excited to read and was not disappointed. Stacy's writing style grabs you immediately and keeps you engaged. This story had twists and turns throughout and the ending did not disappoint.

Only if your lucky by Stacy Willingham
I was extremely happy to get this ARC to read. Stacy Willingham never disappoints.
After Margot’s best friend, Eliza dies in an accident she is left alone to go onto college (the college they were both going to go to) on her own. Eliza was the beautiful wild child and Margot her sensible and malleable sidekick. Margot is lost without her best friend and quickly settles for a quiet life with her new, equally quiet roommate at college. Eventually she notices another girl in the dorm -Lucy, and she is strangely drawn to her. Somehow she reminds her Eliza though they look nothing alike. One day Lucy spontaneously takes Margot into her fold, introducing her to her friends and inviting her to live in the extra bedroom at their house on campus. This is something Margot cannot refuse but she may be getting in over her head.
This book had some spectacular twists that I never saw coming. I knew something was up but could not figure it out. This is my third book by this author and I’ve enjoyed them all. She sets up a slow burn but the twists are like jolts of fireworks.

This was entertaining, but not my favorite. It didn’t feel super “psychological” thriller like to me. The end felt a little rushed, but the story still held my interest.

Stacy did it again!! This book was really engaging, and I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. I will say it reads a little younger than her previous works but that doesn't take away from it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and how it explored the complexity of female friendships. I can't wait to see what this author comes out with next!

I’ve never met a Stacy Willingham book I didn’t love!!! After being a fan of her previous two novels, I was so excited to read Only If You’re Lucky!! I loved the dynamic of the young female friendships in this book… The personalities of all the girls were so vastly different and intriguing and it made for such a good read. I really enjoyed the character development. The story had great twists that I didn’t see coming and I was satisfied with the ending! Stacy is an auto buy author for me and her books just keep getting better and better. Well done!!!

Love this author and the writing itself was absolutely fabulous. The characters are well developed and interesting. The setting is a delight. Unfortunately, the plot of this novel wasn’t for me. This would be a great book for infrequent psychological thriller readers. As someone that has read many, I found the first 65% of the book to be slow and obvious. Once things picked up, there were very few moments of surprise. The ending felt inevitable. While this wasn’t my cup of tea, this would be an excellent intro to psychological thrillers and will likely be well received by YA readers.

Is it really a psychological thriller if the thrilling portion of the book only exists in the last 20% of the story? I’d venture to say no, it’s not, or at least it’s a very mild psychological thriller. Psychological mystery perhaps? Honestly it was kind of giving me YA mystery vibes at times.

The first 25% of this book is spent establishing a storyline we are all familiar with. A quiet, somewhat lost girl is off to college and she is befriended by an enigma of a girl, an Alaska Young of literary fiction, if you will. The portion between 25% and 75% is a whole lot of…words. Not much happened.

I wasn’t a fan of the back and forth timeline, as if we were being given snippets of the psychological thriller element that the story was going for, when really we were just reading a story about wild college life with characters that have some trauma in their background. The back and forth really took me out of the story, because they two didn’t match up.

While I know I will be in the minority on this one, what I’ll tell you as far as recommending this book is: if you are a fan of this author, go for it. She may be a go to author for some people. But if you were on the fence with her previous two, this one won’t pull you in.

I settled on 3 stars because it is a decently written book, it just didn’t wow me or make me want to add the author to my auto buy list. I think her books get quite overhyped, so my review has to be as honest as I can make it while still trying to be respectful.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted arc.

I wanted to like this and the ending was a cool shock but it took way to long to get there. Very few of the characters were like-able by the end and it made it hard to care about the pages upon pages of their thoughts. There was a lot of past to present jumping and sometimes it was hard to follow, but maybe that’s just because I wasn’t engaged in the book. I loved her others but this one just didn’t do it for me.

It’s giving Pretty Little Liars vibes.
A good read but a little lengthy and “young adult” for me personally.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early release ARC.

I really enjoyed this book!
This was my first book by Stacy Willingham, and I thought her writing style was excellent. She uses different timelines in between before and after which I thought was really smart.
It describes friendships, lies and secrets, which starts as a slow burn, but towards the end it gets really fast paced and you basically can’t put it down.
I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Coming out 01/16/24.

First off I really appreciate NetGalley and the publisher allowing me a copy do this book to read. This was extremely hard for me to feel engaged to the characters and plot it was very much about parting/college and the characters were so unlikely and it never really picked up . It wasn’t a slow burn as I had hoped and unfortunately this was a pass for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to dive into this one because I have loved Stacy's other two books. I think she is an excellent writer, and she really sets up her stories in a way that you just have to keep reading. I read this entire book in basically one sitting (long travel day for me).

This is a different style than her other books because it was more of a slow burn and really emphasizes friend relationships as opposed to family. Every single detail was important to the story and each twist had me saying "wow." There was so much I was not expecting that came in to play and I was very impressed. Overall, this was such a solid read for me. I gave it 4.5 to 5 stars.