Another home run by Ruth Ware. The Before and After telling of events of the storyline made for a compelling read. I continually felt there were viable suspects throughout the storyline but was caught off guard by the ending. At times it was hard to believe that the protagonist would put so much at risk, but this may very well be the case of those who have suffered trauma and are trying to come to terms with the aftermath.

I was excited for The It Girl since I have read all of Ruth Ware's previous books, I wasn't disappointed. I especially liked the last few chapters when the suspense level ramped up, but the beginning could have less background. April is definitely the rich girl that everyone wanted to be like and the guys wanted to be with, even playing mean jokes on her "friends". Hannah, her naïve roommate falls into her clutches even playing strip poker on the first night at college. When Hannah finds April dead in their room she gives testimony at the trail which she believes to be accurate until 10 years later when John Neville dies in prison. When an inquisitive journalist contacts her, she starts to question everything she saw that night. It is a great storyline, shoddy police investigating and many twists and turns kept me guessing incorrectly as to who the real murderer was.

This wasn’t my favorite Ruth Ware, but I enjoyed it. It was a tad too long though, and the middle seemed to drag so it felt like it took me way too long to get through it. I did figure out who the killer was pretty early, but that didn’t take away ahh enjoyment for me.

I liked the “before” scenes best. April was such an interesting character. She was actually kind of a terrible person but people couldn’t help being drawn to her. I loved reading about all the interactions with the friend group.

I did think that the reveal/ending was pretty out there. I wasn’t really a fan of how it all played out, especially the reason for April being murdered. It could have gone so many other, better ways. So that probably brought my rating down a little from a four. I’m still a big fan of Ware and will likely read anything she writes.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Longer than most, it starts a little slow, then; college days, and now; married, pregnant, and with a death having thrown her life for a loop. Once it takes off the pages keep turning as the mystery builds and you start to think all of them could have done it, maybe even her.

This book was just so BORING. I almost had to DNF it, it just dragged and dragged on. A lot of the chapters were extremely long, and I felt like they were filled with background information that wasn’t even important. It took me forever to finish this book and the ending wasn’t even that surprising.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This was disappointing. It was about 100 pages too long and slow. I love dark academic but this just didn’t quite get there. The twists at the end when it finally picked up were just ok. I also felt like I didn’t get a sense of each friend in the group. I love Ruth Ware and do look forward to future works.

3.5 stars.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There's a lot going on in this newest Ware offering and I can't really claim to the ability to summarize better or more succinctly that the derth of other reviewers, so I won't bother. What I will say is that the transition between before and after chapters was seemless and exceptionally done. Although just a tad too long, the pacing was good, and I was definitely immersed throughout. Mystery enganging, characters dynamic, and blissfully, while I had narrowed the suspect list down to two by conclusion's end, I wasn't sure which until the big reveal. Always nice. Me thinks it would make a great movie - at least one that I would watch. The author has been high hit and medicre miss, and this is one of my favorites.

Ruth Ware will always be an auto-buy author for me! The It Girl felt slower=paced that her other thrillers, but even at 400+ pages, I was always excited to pick it up and I enjoyed the slow burn from start to finish!

The It Girl tells the story of two college roommates, April and Hannah, and the days leading up to April's death. Alternate chapters flash forward a decade when Hannah finds out that the man convicted of April's murder has died in prison and new evidence shows that he may be innocent. The chapters and alternating timelines were well-written and connected in a way that had me suspicious of every single character at one time or another!

If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller to binge in a day, this isn't it, but if you're in the mood for a murder mystery with a creepy academia setting that will keep you guessing, definitely get your hands on this one!

The characters in this book are so life like that I would count them as friends.
The story is twisty, turney, but somewhat predictable. However, this doesn't detract from the
enjoyment. Highly recommended read

Paranoia, paranoia, paranoia. What do you do if your testimony sent a man to jail and now you're having second thoughts? Soon to be new mom, Hannah, is dealing with that very question. When Hannah was attending the college of her dreams, her eccentric and popular roommate, April, was murdered. Being one of the ones too find April's body, Hannah found herself jumping to the conclusion that the porter who creeped her out must be the one responsible. Now Hannah, married to April's old boyfriend, Will gets the news that the porter has died in prison. When a podcaster contacts her with his doubts, Hannah starts a paranoid investigation of her own to find out if she truly did send an innocent man to jail. The book does a great job of keeping the plot line moving and the questions coming. Even with a somewhat predictable ending I enjoyed this mystery and would recommend it! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy of the book for an honest review.

Another gripping suspense novel by Ruth Ware; she does twists and turns better than anyone! This one started off a bit slow for me and is not as scary as some of her others, but by the end I couldn't put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Twists and turns galore in 'The It Girl'
By Sandy Mahaffey For The Free Lance–Star
My first encounter with Ruth Ware’s work was “The Woman in Cabin 10,” which made me anticipate every following release. She is the master of the edge-of-your-seat thriller, and “The It Girl” did not disappoint. Many chores went undone until I had finished it.

April is the “it girl” who quickly establishes her tightly knit group of friends after they arrive for their first term at Oxford—suite mate Hannah, Will, Hugh, Ryan and Emily are devoted to her.

By the end of their first year, April is dead and Hannah has been instrumental in the conviction of her killer. It was Hannah who discovered the body. Ten years later, following the convicted man’s death, a young reporter with new evidence is convinced the imprisoned man was innocent, shaking a now-pregnant Hannah’s confidence in what she believed she saw.
The tension grows slowly, the red herrings, skillfully placed, keep the suspense twisting and turning. Hannah learns that everyone is hiding something, but is it enough to reveal the killer?


As the friends reconnect and Hannah digs deeper, lives are in danger.

The plot is brilliantly constructed, with chapters titled only “Before” and “After” and clues doled out in bits and pieces. Set aside some time for “The It Girl” and be prepared to read until you are done. It’s that good.
Sandy Mahaffey is the former Books editor with The Free Lance–Star.

Normally I enjoy Ruth Ware’s slow burn mysteries but I found that “The It Girl” was far too slow for my liking. We don’t get to the crux of the night in question until more than halfway and even then it doesn’t reveal anything new.

I found that while I enjoyed the Dark Academia aspect of the plot, a lot of it just didn’t need to be there. I found myself skimming through a lot of the fodder in the middle to get to the parts that contained the actual plot.

While I can normally do a slow burn, this was more of a match than a flame and I found my interest flaming out by the end. That being said, the twist is work getting to the end for!

Thanks to Netgalley and Ruth Ware for the copy of “The It Girl” in exchange for an honest review.

The latest by Ruth Ware follows students from Oxford University who were connected through the murder of a classmate ten years ago. The questions surface quickly as to whether the convicted killer is the actual killer and readers feel forced to switch loyalties as evidence makes them question even seemingly innocent classmates. Kept guessing till nearly the end makes this a hard book to put down. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC of The It Girl. This book definitely took me on a wild ride. Hannah Jones finally feels like she is truly becoming herself at college and finding friends that she will have for life. April, her roomate is one of those friends. However, April does what she wants and doesn't ever worry about the consequences. When April turns up dead in their shared common room, Hannah is sure she knows who did it. Ten years later, everything is stirred up again when the convicted killer, who always claimed his innocence passes away. Hannah just can't let it go when new information is offered up and follows the clues to some very scary possibilities. Her actions will forever change the lives of many people but will it be too late for her and her baby?

I've come to realize that Ruth Ware really enjoys writing slow burn thrillers, The mystery is usually there early on, but it takes at least half the book for it to start ramping up. The It Girl is no different; it follows Hannah, a pregnant bookstore clerk, as she delves into the murder of her college roommate April ten years earlier. Hannah testified against a porter at their college, John Neville, who went to prison and died there after ten years. His death spurs a journalist to dig further into the case, approaching Hannah for her firsthand account of events. For the first time, Hannah begins to wonder if she fingered the wrong man. Slowly, very slowly, we learn that April was pregnant at the time of her death and her infamous pranks may have earned her a few enemies at school. I enjoyed quite a bit of The It Girl. I thought the twist was unexpected and enjoyed the final reveal. However, I'm tired of "she was pregnant!" being used for its shock factor, particularly in thrillers like these. It seems such a cheap way to cast a victim in an even more vulnerable light. I also wished the pace would pick up.

I was a fan of some of Ruth Ware's books so I was excited to get the chance to read her latest. This book follows Hannah as the murder of her college roommate becomes front and center in her life years after it happened.

While I liked Hannah well enough I would have enjoyed reading from the other characters point of views as well. I did enjoy the switching between the present day and past. In regards to what actually happened in the past I do have to say that I figured out the who not that far in but couldn't really figure out the how or the why. The ending was okay but I kind of expected maybe some more turns or action. This was a great beach read for me and I look forward to reading more from Ruth Ware.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.

Many characters lives intertwined. With Ruth Ware, it is never the obvious guess. It kept me interested until the end. If you enjoy a book that keeps you wondering, try out It Girl. A strong 4 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for the DRC.

Told in alternating timelines of Before and After, the story of a murder on a college campus unfolds. The luminous and magnetic “ it “ girl of their friend group, it seems like a few people had reasons to want her out of the picture.

This book is classic Ruth Ware, and was a decent thriller. I felt it was about a hundred pages too long and that manifested in too slow of a slow burn. The conclusion was a bit iffy for me, for reasons that would be a spoiler to include here.

Overall, this was an ok time, but nothing extraordinary. I’ve enjoyed other Ruth Ware thrillers much more.

This is not my typical genre of book but I found it to be engaging and exciting. Lots of twists and turns leading to an exciting conclusion. Would definitely make a good beach or vacation read!