What a unique and twisty ride!!

Stacy Willingham has quickly become an auto-read author for me with Only If You're Lucky becoming my newest favourite. Her writing quickly grabbed my attention and did not let go until the end. The short chapters kept the pacing fast and I did not see any of the twists coming!

Highly recommend to all fans of quick twisty thrillers where you don't know what's real and who is telling the truth.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this title and I cannot explain how excited I was. I have read all of Stacy Willingham's books and loved every one. This one did not disappoint.

It follows a college student through some life changes in the course of a couple of years. A change did this character get! I felt as though I was right beside this character through a crazy point of college and trying to find a new identity and not be the boring girl. When the girl she admires from afar asks her to move into a rental beside a frat house, what could go wrong? Oh the adventure, the parties...

I was concerned over the stories being told in a before and after point of view but I did not once get lost (other than into the story) nor was I confused at all. This story was brilliantly woven together. I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter to see what happened. But, the plot twists, oh my. More than one. That is what I love in a book.

This book was excellent and will definitely be on my recommended list.

Stacy Willingham's writing is truly one of a kind. Her metaphorical prose is so captivating and makes for such a great read. The combination of stunning writing, a twisty story, and a dark academia vibe made this a perfect mystery for me.

The character development is what stood out to me most, with our protagonist really coming into her own as we learned how the truth really unfolded. She was easy to root for, although I did keep wishing Willingham took it a bit further and made it so that her obsession/enchantment with both Eliza and Lucy were more sinister or possessive. I kept waiting for it to cross that line rather than it just being your typical, "I'm so captivated by the way she can capture everyone's attention and stand out in a crowd while I'm over here like woo is me." But, regardless, I was here for it.

The way the story unfolded was so unique in the sense that it could be classified as a slow burn if it weren't for the way the mystery was layered and kept me hooked. Slow burn isn't usually my cup of tea, so I'm really glad the before/after POVs element added to the mystery and kept me wanting to turn the page.

Overall, I will be HIGHLY recommending this one on Bookstagram and Goodreads and can't wait for more from Willingham!

Fantastic! I really enjoyed this one.
This book kept me guessing the whole time. While I guessed at one of the twists, I was surprised by many more. We hear the story from Margot 's point of view. It's set in the time before and after the incident. I thought that the author did a great job making the story believable and keeping the pressure way up. I'm so thankful to have been given the opportunity to check this one out, and I will definitely automatically add any further books by this author to my tbr stack.
Thanks to Net Galley for the book to review.

I loved the slow burn thriller. Once you think you have it figured out, think again and then again.
4.5⭐️

A twisty and dark exploration of female friendship. Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own.

Lucy Sharpe is mysterious, addictive and maybe even dangerous. At the end of their freshman year at college, shy Margot is drawn into her orbit after arriving at college alone after her best friend Eliza dies over the summer. Lucy reminds Margot of her in ways. Margot ends up moving n with Lucy and her two best friends Sloane and Nicole.
Half way through their sophomore year a boy pledging the frat next door is brutally murdered and Lucy has disappeared.

This is my third Stacy Willingham novel and she is quickly becoming an auto buy author for me. This novel, like her others, kept me guessing till the very end.

This is an expertly weaved tale of grief, deception, friendship and manipulation. I couldn’t put this down for the entire last half.

This was a good story about a girl, Margot, that gets invited to room with a group of girls after her first mundane college year. Margo meets Lucy and gets invited to room with her and two other girls, Sloane and Nicole. This is a thriller about friendships, betrayal, envy, and about belonging to a group which is so important for young girls. I enjoyed the twists in the story, but felt like it was a constant drinking and partying college atmosphere the whole book. It developed very slowly. This might appeal more to a younger crowd.


Thank so much for the ARC copy for my honest review.

Only If You're Lucky is Stacy Willingham's newest novel and it will undoubtedly secure her spot as one of the best writers of suspense today. Every one of her novels is intense, the characters intricately crafted to make the story both shocking and believable.

Margot leaves for college still reeling from the unexpected death of her best friend Eliza at a party that summer. After a year of living with a sweet but boring roommate, Margot is taken in by the magnetic Lucy Sharpe and her two friends, Nicole and Sloane. Being invited to live with them sophomore year seems like a dream come true until Levi, Eliza's old boyfriend who everyone suspects of causing her "accidental" death, moves into the fraternity house next door. As true colors are revealed and secrets are uncovered, Margot is caught up in one heart stopping situation after another.

I'm so grateful to NetGalley for this ARC of Only If You're Lucky.

Book: Only If You’re Lucky
Author: Stacy Willingham
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: January 16, 2024

First of all let’s start this with Stacy Willingham wrote two of my most favorite books that I read in 2022. A Flickr In The Dark and All The Dangerous Things are definite must reads and two my of all time favorite books. So clearly I love this author but this book just hit different. It almost felt like a YA book but I don’t think it was meant to be. It may have felt that way because we are dealing with college students. It was also a slow burn and I felt it was a little repetitive at times but despite all of that I wouldn’t miss the chance at reading this. The book opens with Lucy is missing and Detective Frank is asking when the girls when they last seen her. He also hints that Lucy is being looked at for the death of Levi. The books switches between now and then. More “than” than “now.” Margot blames Eliza’s death on Levi and she can’t believe he has followed her to college. She wants nothing to do with him. Margo is completely taken with Lucy…she knows Lucy picked her because she is “vanilla” but she doesn’t care. She wants to be molded and shaped into something else. That’s what Eliza did for her and she’s looking for someone else to fill those shoes. You quickly learn Lucy is the catalyst here and she isn’t who she seems. And all these girls are hiding a ton of secrets and a ton of guilt. Fun fact about this book: There are some aspects of this book that are real. The author lived in a house like this during her junior and senior years at the University of Georgia. The crawl space and the fraternity owning it was all real. The people thankfully were not.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is January 16, 2024.

I recently joined NetGalley after seeing it posted by both authors and readers. I read a lot and wanted to join to be able to read books in exchange for my feedback, feedback I am not always great at putting into words. This book was the first one I was given the opportunity to read.

Our narrator is Margot. Margot is headed off to college, reeling from the loss of her best friend. She finds a girl, Lucy, who expresses an interesting in being her friend, one Margot can't understand.

As Margot moves in with Lucy and her two other roommates, Sloane and Nicole, their lives become more and more intertwined both with each other and the fraternity boys next door.

As the seasons change, things only get more and more complicated until something happens that results in a need for everyone to decide what they must do in order to survive.

This book was definitely a slow burn without a ton of fast-paced action. It kept me engaged, switch from past to present, as I tried to piece together what was happening. I enjoyed the college setting and the study in the lengths at which someone will go, good and bad, to feel like they belong. I did feel that the plot twists were a little underwhelming and not entirely surprising, though they did lend to character motivation. Although this wasn't my favorite book by Willingham, it certainly was a good read, especially if you enjoy dark academia.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and the author for allowing me to delve into NetGalley with the ARC, which I had the pleasure of reading.

A few chapters into this novel I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it. I was having a hard time connecting to the main character, Margot, and the somewhat immature group of friends she finds herself living with in college. We know something happened to Margot's friend, Eliza, that resulted in her death but it isn't revealed for a good part of the novel. Instead, we find Margot with a new group of friends led by the charismatic Lucy Sharpe. As more is revealed about Eliza and Lucy's background, the suspense finally started to engage me. I am glad that I stuck with it because the last 25% of the novel really kicks the story into high gear. There were multiple, shocking reveals that really changed the tone of the story and the way you view multiple characters. Only If You're Lucky is a good, twisty suspense novel whose ending really pays off.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel.

This was my first advanced reading copy of a book to review, and I loved it! I’ve read “A Flicker in the Dark” and really enjoyed it so I requested “Only If You’re Lucky” and was thrilled to get approved.

It is told in a Before and After format, which is my absolute favorite for thrillers. I love the foreshadowing. I love trying to guess all the twists. I have read so many thrillers that I sometimes feel like books are too easy to guess. This was NOT the case with this one.

I did not see hardly any of this coming, the way everything and everyone came together. I had several theories and would make mental note of them at certain parts of the story so I could be like, “AHA! I guessed this one early on.” Nope. None of them came to fruition.

The beginning of the book was a fairly slow burn so you do have to be patient and pay close attention to the little nuances. But in the second half it was like hit after hit after hit as the twists were revealed. And the big twists had me SHOOK!

Based on all these other reviews, I would say that I am in the minority when it comes to Stacy Willingham's most recent novel....I didn't like her other book either though so...

The twists were so lame, one after the other...and the whole book was basically the same sentence repeated in different ways for 300 pages.

Sorry!!! Sorry.

I do appreciate the publishers and netgalley for the arc.

(Sorry)

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC! I just simply adore Stacy Willingham and was so excited to read this early. This story was a slow burn in my opinion, having no idea where it was going. But like her other books, this ending was INTENSE. I loved this story and all the secrets and turns it had. Loved learning that the story was based on her home in college, what a cool detail!!! I seriously could imagine every single scene with so much clarity - amazing!!

Once again, Stacy Willingham has written a mystery that is an all~nighter. The characters are well developed, with an expertly crafted plot. Beginning as a slow burn, the book quickly develops as layers of the truth are revealed.
Margot is mourning the loss of her childhood best friend when she goes to live with a group of girls at college. The house that she lives in is so well described , I felt like I could envision it in my mind. Twists and turns accompany the secrets and betrayals in this Southern novel.
I was very lucky to receive an ARC from Net Galley and the publisher.

3.5/5 ⭐️

I am a HUGE fan of Stacy Willingham and her first two books so I was super excited to get an ARC of her newest book “Only If You’re Lucky” that is set to release January 2024. Her first two books felt fast paced and addicting, whereas this one was a slow burn for me.

The story of 4 college girls living adjacent to a frat house led by ring leader Lucy- the mysterious manipulative one. The chapters are from the perspective of Margot- the girl who went to college to “get away” from her life back home after the death of her best friend. But then her late best friends boyfriend shows up to rush the fraternity house that she lives at. The chapters switch between present day where Lucy has gone missing and Margot and the other roommates (Sloane and Nicole) are being questioned about where Lucy could be- seeing as she was just questioned for the death of a fraternity member it seems suspicious that she disappears suddenly. The other chapters are from “before”- giving details to Margot and her best friends relationship, how the Outer Banks fraternity rush member entered their life, insight into how the 4 girls became roommates, the lead up of the death- each with so many secrets.

I thought that character development was good and a lot of the book has you wondering what really happened the night Margot’s best friend died and how the fraternity brother died and where did Lucy go? This book doesn’t have many “high thrill” moments like her others, but the lingering questions will get you to the end. Ending has some good twists- a few predictable for me but there was one shock at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed Stacy's latest book, much like her previous works. One standout aspect of her storytelling was her skillful portrayal of the setting; her vivid descriptions of the house and the neighboring fraternity painted a clear and immersive picture for me. Stacy once again excelled in crafting characters who were just flawed enough to make any plot twist believable.

What I particularly appreciate about Stacy's writing is her ability to seamlessly weave all the narrative threads together. However, it would have been even more satisfying if she had included an epilogue set during the start of the new school year or with the house inhabited by new occupants.

First, I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham releases on January 16th, 2024.


Let me start out by saying how excited I was to be approved for this ARC. I have read the author’s two previous releases and loved them, this book was no different.

Only If You’re Lucky explores the deepest kinds of friendships, it explores the dynamics of best friends who couldn’t be more different. The book is filled with tension and suspense and it keeps you guessing up until the very end. From the very first sentence you will want to know more, you will want to learn more about these characters and the secrets they hide.

This book is a slow burn mystery in the best possible way - it keeps you intrigued but it doesn’t rush the story. The author provides every opportunity to allow the reader to connect to these characters and try to figure out what has happened on your own and it works well. I found myself wanting to get back to the book whenever I had a free moment, anxious to find out what the secrets were and what really happened.

All in all, Only If You’re Lucky was a solid story that I would recommend to others.

A great suspenseful book with quite a few twists and turns. Characters Lucy and Margot kept my interest as their roles intertwined.

Margot meets Lucy at the end of her freshman year of college at a small college in South Carolina. Lucy asks Margot to be one of her roommates and they become deeply intertwined. A fraternity boy who lives next door has been murdered and Lucy is missing. This story begins to unwind with us finding out more secrets about Lucy and Margot. This is a thrilling story about friendship and belonging. I couldn't put it down. This author is amazing and I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.