I loved Stacy Willingham’s last two books. So when I saw she had a new book coming out, I knew I had to request it and read it right away. I devoured this audiobook. It was so brilliant, well written, and different from her last two books. It was a slower burn in the beginning but I loved getting to know Margot and Lucy and her other roommates and the house they lived in. The book really looks into the darker sides of friendships and what you are willing to do for your friends. Good and evil are not so clearly defined, the lines are very blurred in this book. It really picks up towards the end with so many twists and turns and everything falls into place perfectly. Stacy Willingham writes so beautifully. I highly recommend this book ! The narrator is does a great job telling this story. I always listen to anything Karissa Vacker narrates. Pick this audiobook up and you will not be able to stop listening.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books for the digital ARC copy in exchange for my honest review

Give me a university setting, roommates with secrets, lies that are exposed and a creepy house any day! This was slightly a slow-burn mystery in the beginning, but it picked up about 2/3rds in and I ended up enjoying it. Margot’s best friend, Eliza passes away and she spends her early years in college trying to get over it. Lucy becomes friends and roommates with Margot in an old house and something about Lucy felt off to Margot. The story is told in before and after, and it wasn’t too hard to follow. I did not guess most of the twists at the end. Kudos to Willingham! I did not like any of the characters, but still enjoyed the storyline. I was worried this would have a YA feel, but it wasn’t the case. I enjoyed the writing style as it kept me engaged.

I absolutely loved All the Dangerous Things so I was so excited about listening to this one. This was a slow burn that took me awhile before I started getting into it. There are a lot of twists in this book that was very entertaining the closer you get to the end. I didn't see any of the twists coming which was so exciting. Even though this was not my favorite book I still enjoyed this book. I really loved the cover of this book. I also enjoyed Karissa Vacker who narrated this book. I would recommend this book because the twists makes the ride worth it.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

Stacy Willingham is an autobuy author for me! I loved the college party vibes but also they the learning about grief. There’s a lot you think you know and it just keeps surprising you! I liked the mix of characters, some you like, some you’re not sure of, and some you get annoyed. I thought I thought I had it figured out and then boom the end got me! I loved the audiobook and narration!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy!

This book is a campus thriller that emphasizes the power of friendships to build up a life and to tear it down. Only If You're Lucky follows Margot as she starts fresh at college after her best friend in high school dies tragically. Still reeling from this devastation, and already a natural follower, Margot is immediately drawn to the bold and magnetic Lucy. The question is what draws Margot to Lucy? Is it her sense of confidence, the promise of new friendship, or the sense of danger Lucy embodies? When the pair decide to room together, along with two other girls, what unfolds is a series of mysterious events with unclear motives. When a fraternity boy from next door is found murdered and Lucy has gone missing, the three girls must piece together the past in order to understand what has happened in the present. Filled with a sense of envy, protection, and deception, this listen is both a fast-paced and slow-unraveling of fraught friendships. The narrator of this book did a great job, she was not overly dramatic, but emphasized the different moment of tension in the story well. Like many psychological thrillers, so much of the review is dependent on the element of surprise and suspense. For me, without revealing anything, this book was very suspenseful with a little bit of surprise. I wanted a bit more twist and turn, but I think given the parameters of place (being at a college), this book managed to do a lot without venturing away from the campus thriller feel. Overall, I didn't enjoy this one as much as A Flicker in the Dark, but for those who like the college setting and friendship emphasis, I think this is a solid read.

This was only 3 for me! It was just ok! I had a hard time engaging in the story! If you want to revisit the nostalgia of your college days, or enjoy twists, perhaps this will work out better for you. Expected publication date: January 16, 2024.
Margot and Eliza were best friends and planned going off to Rutledge College together. That is, until Levi moved in next door to Eliza, causing a rift in the girl's friendship. He was with Eliza when she accidentally fell to her death. Margot went off to Rutledge on her own where she spent a nondescript year until she met Lucy who invited her to room with her and two other girls in a house next to and owned by a fraternity. There's something mysteriously alluring and dangerous about Lucy who fast becomes Margot's new best friend. And then Levi turns up as a pledge at the fraternity....
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.

Stacy Willingham's Only If You're Lucky tells the story of Margot, a shy college student who finds herself drawn to the magnetic Lucy Sharpe and her group of friends. But as the plot unfolds and a murder occurs, Margot starts to realize that their friendship may not be what it seems.

Only If You're Lucky tries it's best  to hooks readers with its main character and fast-paced plot, but ultimately doesn't hook this reader. Margot is a boring protagonist. However, as she navigates her way through college and grapples with the aftermath of Eliza's death, we see her come out of her shell and become more confident.

On the other side, Willingham has created a truly fascinating character in Lucy, who is simultaneously alluring and dangerous. As Margot becomes more enmeshed in Lucy's world, we see how easy it is to get caught up in her orbit. Sloane and Nicole, the other members of their group, add further texture to the story and show just how complicated friendships can be.

As the murder mystery unfolds, readers will be transported to the past and present. Willingham's writing is taut and suspenseful, as she drops clues and red herrings. The reveal at the end is not as satisfying and surprising as we would've hope, but can see how some would like it.

Only If You're Lucky is a thrilling and well-crafted tale of friendship and betrayal, but just wasn't for us. The biggest takeaway we got, was that some of the side characters feel more interesting than Margo herself. In the end, we were glad to have read this novel.

I’m not usually a sorority thriller type of gal, but I actually really enjoyed this one. I connected with the characters pretty well, the story was easy to follow with a good amount of twists, and I never guessed the ending. All in all, this was a very fun and thrilling read for me.

Audiobook wise, the narrator was fantastic. I liked their voice and their acting so much so that I went and looked up what else they have done and added a couple to my TBR.

My rating system is funny. If I like a book, I give it 5 STARS. If I don’t like a book, I don’t rate it. This book is an easy 5 STAR for me and I’ll be posting a review to my Instagram and Goodreads very soon.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to be an early reader!

Margot meets Lucy Sharpe at the end of her freshman year. Margot is a bit of a rule follower so it is a shock when Lucy singles her out to become her friend. Lucy is charismatic and a bit dangerous and Margot is drawn to her like a bee to honey. As their friendship, if you want to call it a friendship, develops Margot realizes there is more to Lucy than meets the eye…MUCH MORE!

Margot, at first, seems to be a bit of a goody two shoes. But don’t worry, Lucy is the perfect counterpart, or is she. This is a tale full of secrets! And I mean BIG SECRETS!

I have read two of this author’s other books; All The Dangerous Things and A Flicker in the Dark . I have given both of these books 5 stars. This book fell a bit short for me. Now…this is just my opinion. This story is very slow moving. It could also have been about 100 pages shorter. That being said, I do enjoy a story with family secrets and this one has a doozy!

The narrator is one of my absolute favorites, Karissa Vacker. She is probably the reason I continued to read this tale. She is one of the bests!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥.

Stacy Willingham has such interesting concepts with her thrillers, so far I’m not sure if any will be for me. However, I know her thrillers are so beloved so take my review with a grain of salt.

I mostly did this via audio, but I also had the ebook handy. I was immediately pulled into the story with the college setting and friendship group. As the story progressed, I began to lose interest.

I did love how the story focused on friendship and the setting was super tense. I could see why this story and author would work for other readers.

While the story was well written and the characters were strongly developed, there was a lot of inner monologues I didn’t care for. The middle also began to drag and got repetitive. It also read very YA at times and I didn’t care for the ending.

Overall, I wasn’t super obsessed with this book, but it wasn’t terrible by any means. It had its fun and intense moments. I could see others enjoying this more than I did.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Mean girls extreme! And mean boys! When outgoing and popular Lucy approaches quiet and shy college freshman, Margot and asks her to move with her and two other girls into a house off-campus, Margot sees this as a chance to lessen her grief over the death of Eliza, her best friend from high school. She is enjoying her freedom and her new roommates until she learns that Levi, Eliza’s boyfriend and the last person to see her alive is moving into the fraternity house next door. Margot blames Levi for Eliza’s death and she confides this to Lucy. Soon, fraternity parties, hazing and relationships start to get out of hand and another murder occurs. Margot and two of her roommates begin to pick up on hints from Lucy that she is not who they think she is and that all her motives could possibly be sinister.
I really enjoyed this dark and twisty thriller that had surprises that I never saw coming. The narrator of the audio book was very good, especially in speaking in the voices of young college age girls. The story was definitely one that had me on the edge of my seat and I listened to it quickly and never lost interest. Highly recommend.
#NetGelley #MacmillanAudio

Wow! I did not see the last quarter of this story coming. I’ve read two other Stacy Willingham books and this one just adds to this author’s excellent collection of stories. This was a slow building, intense story about a bunch of college students and their lives. There were lots of clues dropped and the way the story went back and forth in time made it exciting. The characters were engaging and I went back and forth in my ideas about what was happening, Did Margo kill Eliza, did she make
Lucy disappear? The unveiling of what really happened was crazy and I really enjoyed it.
During the police interviews it bothered me that Margo did not have a lawyer with her. Her parents were über rich & would have gotten her the best lawyer.

The narrator was great and I enjoyed her telling of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio and Minotaur books for the chance to listen to this great audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillian Audio and the author Stacy Willingham for the opportunity to review this audiobook for an honest review. This was my first book by this author and it definitely won't be my last. Definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and I loved the twists throughout! I loved the story line and it kept me completely engaged. I definitely recommend this book and I cannot wait to read more by this author. Review also shared on Goodreads.

Thank you to @NetGalley , St. Martins Press and MacMillon Audio for this arc for my review! I listed to the audiobook version, which was flawlessly smooth and held my interest. Warning..this is a YA read.

Margot, still grieving the sudden death of her BFF Eliza, meets mesmerizing, popular, magnetic Lucy Sharpe in college. She and Lucy become fast friends and roommates, sharing secrets, smiles and laughs. Lucy is full of lies and secrets. Margot and her fellow roommates start to discover what Lucy has hidden….then Lucy disappears without a trace.

Prior to Lucy’s disappearance, Eliza’s ex boyfriend is found murdered in his fraternity next door. Always suspicious of his involvement of her BFF’s death, Margot sheds no tears, but is she guilty?

So who murdered Levi and where did Lucy go? Is Margo correct in her convictions of Levi? What secrets will be exposed?

There is a nice little twist at the end that is unexpected

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2OCDIZO__A/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Just a couple of girls. That's all they are. Dealing with a horrible experience-the death of a classmate. Which is something at least one of them knows all too well. Only if Your Lucky has so far been my favorite book by Stacy Willingham so far. I preferred to read the book instead of listening to it.

So disappointed. I really enjoy Stacy Willingham.’s books, but this one let me down. I found it to be too slow and drawn out and then at the end everything is revealed so quickly with way too many twist for my liking. The book read to young adult for me when I was expecting different beast, her other books, the main character annoyed me with her immaturity and she was just too gullible. I’m walking continue to read this author and future releases are better than this one wise.

Thank you, Netgalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook. The audiobook was narrated by Karissa Vacker who did a phenomenal job voicing the different characters.

This book was a very slow burn, especially compared to Stacy's other books, with a few twists at the end that leave you second guessing the reality of several of the main characters. It took me a while to get into it, but part of that could have been the narrator, who, at times, I had difficulty engaging with enough to keep my attention while listening to the audiobook. My opinion might be different had I read the print book.

Thank you to Stacy Willingham, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced listener copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

So many twists and turns in this book. I thought what the fuck more than once when I think I figured something out all of it to be blown into bits and pieces in the next chapter or two. I loved how this book was told and written. It never told you the full truth to the mystery until you thought you knew something then the author would toss you another clue to total throw you off on to what the ending was. Here I thought Lucy was just this crazy carefree girl that was a total trouble maker all to turn out her elaborate lie and deviance to get what she wanted and get close to who she wanted.

This book was definitely a wild ride. The questions is… was it good?

I want to start by saying that the narrator for this book was AMAZING! I am picky when it comes to audiobooks and I think they nailed it. Now let’s talk about the story. I was definitely drawn in from the beginning however I did feel a little lost for a big portion of the book. I am not a big thriller reader so maybe that’s why I was so lost. I don’t think the different timeless were executed well. I’ve read many books that jump between the past and present and they never confused me as much as this book did. Overall though I did find the story interesting and enjoyed the twist at the end. I think some people might find it a little predictable.

Thank you netgalley and to the publisher for the gifted audiobook!

Karissa Vacker is one of my very favorite audiobook narrators, so whenever she's narrating something I immediately want to listen. I read Willingham's previous novel, All the Dangerous Things (also on audio, also with Vacker as narrator) and enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away by the story. This one was so much better. I was absolutely captivated, with so many unknown answers and a narrator you couldn't trust, this kept me listening through making and eating dinner, running all my errands, and just sitting on the couch coloring so I could finish. I devoured it in 2 days. If you liked her previous novels, this one is definitely worth giving a listen.