Welcome back Ruth Ware! I've read every single one of her books, and in the beginning, I loved them so much. As she released more and more books, they all felt too similar and stale. This is her first book that really deviated from her typical plot line of "being stuck somewhere mystery killer". First, I have to say it was so refreshing for her to write a murder mystery with a fresh new plot line. Second, I had no idea who the killer was until the bitter end. Thank you for going back to the days of In a Dark, Dark Wood!

The It Girl is a murder mystery that takes place in Oxford where two freshman with very different backgrounds become roommates and ultimately, best friends. April is the "It Girl" who is beautiful, exciting, and wealthy and Hannah is a quiet girl from a different socioeconomic sphere. The girls and their friends form a tight circle that is sometimes disrupted by April's love for practical, and sometimes vicious, jokes. It is all fun and games until Hannah finds April dead in her dorm room. April was believed to be murdered by one of the college porters who was stalking Hannah and was seen exiting the dorms before her body was found.

Years go by and Hannah is contacted by a reporter who's information chances everything. Was the porter really the killer? Or was it someone closer than she thinks?

April had it all and her Oxford roommate, Hannah, and their group of friends were pulled in by April and her looks and money. 10 years after April’s murder, questions are coming up again about whether or not they arrested the correct man and Hannah is forced to revisit a horrible time in her life.

Written in a way that is different from the other Ruth Ware books that I’ve read, this one is looking at something in the past rather than at the current time. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t one of my favorites of hers. I would still recommend this to anyone who likes dark, psychological thrillers.

Thank you @netgalley and @gallerybooks for selecting me to read this ARC of “The It Girl”.

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Synopsis: When April Coutts-Cliveden, The IT girl, is paired up to be roommates with Hannah Jones at Oxford, the pair quickly become friends. The two develop a group with four other friends, Will, Ryan, Hugh, and Emily, who do most things together. April is clearly the ringleader of the group, the one everyone is expected to follow until she ends up dead in her and Hannah's dorm room. Ten years later, Hannah and Will are married, they are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, John Neville, has died in prison. When a journalist comes knocking following the death of Neville, he starts raising points that Neville may have been innocent and has everyone questioning who the real killer may be.

Thoughts: I was highly looking forward to reading Ruth Ware's newest novel. It did fall a little flat for me. I had a hard time getting through the book and it could've been about 50 pages shorter. A lot of Hannah's inner dialogue was repetitive. The story was told between the Before and After, neither of which had me completely enthralled in the story. I did enjoy how Ware was able to get me to raise suspicion about each character. The killer wasn't overtly obvious. I do recommend this book to fellow thriller readers and look forward to reading future Ruth Ware novels.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for a copy of the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Hannah meets April her first day of college at Oxford, she's immediately taken by her magnetic personality and beauty. Hannah joins April's group of friends and it doesn't take long for her to notice that some of them may not love April as much as she thinks. One night, Hannah goes back to her room to find April dead.

Ten years later, Hannah still thinks about April every day and questions all of the decisions that were made after Aprils death. When the man who was charged with killing April dies, Hannah decides that she needs to find out exactly what happened that night.

The It Girl had great pacing and I got sucked in immediately. You know that April has been murdered from the start, so it's fun to take note of each characters actions throughout the book to try to guess how it happened. The ending was just a bit too dramatic to me, but that didn't take away from how much fun I had reading it. This is the perfect thriller if you want to devour a book in one sitting.

This might be my new favorite Ruth Ware. I love a book set at a university and I love a mystery involving a group of friends so this one ticked all the boxes for me. April is a magnetic "it" girl and immediately pulls her roommate Hannah into her orbit. When April is tragically murdered, an employee of the school is convicted based on Hannah's testimony of what she saw that day. In the aftermath of the employee's death in jail questions start arising about his guilt. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns and was never quite sure who to believe was innocent. This is such an atmospheric and fun read, I loved it.

Thank you to Ruth Ware, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware is classic RW—fully-fleshed characters, chilling plot, twists you don't see coming, and an ending that blows you away. Love the cover, love the premise, love the story! From beginning to end, this book is amazing! Highly recommend!!!

April is the “it” girl at Pelham College, Oxford. She is wealthy, smart, attractive, talented. Hannah, her roommate, and she quickly become close friends. When April is found murdered in her room, Hannah’s statement to police helps put someone behind bars. Ten years later, that person dies in prison, still claiming his innocence. When a journalist reaches out to Hannah, now married to April’s college boyfriend, she questions whether someone else was the guilty party and sets out to answer some nagging questions.

Told in two timelines, before (the first year at Pelham for April, Hannah and a close group of friends) and after, 10 years later, it is cleverly plotted with good character development. However, it took too long to develop the after story. The before story where all the characters are introduced was well crafted. However, the after dragged on, especially all of Hannah’s ruminations.

Still, it was an engrossing, worthwhile read for those who enjoy psychological thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallerybooks for the DRC.

This was one of my highly anticipated novels of 2022!

I’ve seen lots of polarizing reviews for this one so I was eager to job in and see where I fell with my thoughts. As per usual Ware fashion, we are hit with the tense atmosphere she is so good at building for her readers. Pretty much everyone is a suspect. At one point I even thought our narrator was?! All of the backstories are there for everyone and the way the characters were introduced really gave a fleshed out feel.

The novel is told in Before/After format, which helped keep the suspense and the mystery afloat. I felt the big “twist” was believable and realistic although I did guess it. I still enjoyed the journey and the reasoning’s behind everyone’s motives. I will say this is a chunkier Ware novel at 432 pages, but I was never bored and I did read it quite quickly. I enjoyed it!

Ruth Ware’s intricately plotted whodunnit is marvelous and breathtaking in its goal to present an ultra-realistic narrative that will keep you up nights as you unsuccessfully try to wrench yourself away from this gem for a modicum of sleep.
The It Girl follows the story of Hannah Jones in two timelines, one before the horrific murder of her Oxford roommate, and the other years later. When a journalist ambushes Hannah with the possibility that the supposed murderer Hannah helped convict may have been innocent, her life unravels as she sets off on a mission to uncover the truth while wrestling with heart-shattering guilt of possibly condemning an innocent man to death.
As a first-time reader of Ruth Ware’s works, I was thoroughly impressed by her ability to craft such a riveting slow burn that navigated brilliantly through the chapters alternating between past and present in a manner that enchanted me in the pleasant but dangerous “just one more chapter” frame of mind.
Spending the perfect amount of time on setting up an emotional investment in each of the involved characters, Ware compels you to feel for Hannah’s predicament and join her, heart and soul, in her search for the truth while planting seeds through ingenious parallels between the two timelines for a satisfying denouement to the mystery.
The It Girl requires you to keep your game faces on from the very beginning and undeniably till the last sentence, lest you miss out on subtle nuances that Ruth Ware excels at projecting in dialogues and situations throughout the narrative. Masterfully crafted storytelling laid bare for thriller fans to enjoy deeply.

Full review on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

One of my most anticipated books of 2022! Unfortunately I was disappointed by the really really slow burn and lack of action. Appreciated the before and after timelines, but overall, I felt this was lacking an edge-of-your-seat feel that this author typically provides.

This book is about the murder of April, an "It Girl", that happened at Oxford. Several years after the murder, the death of the man convicted of the murder sets April's roommate on a path to reexamine what happened the night of the murder. Could someone she's close to actually have been the murderer? I liked the "Before" parts - the Oxford setting and the young friendships - better than the "After" parts. Overall the pace of the book was slow until the very end.

I absolutely loved the dark academia feel as the author takes us on a dual timeline tale of a close knit group of friends 10 years after tragedy strikes. Everything they thought they knew is now being questioned. The characters were well developed and unique, the back story plausible and the final reveal intense! I loved how expertly woven this story is.

It’s all fun and games until.. well you know how it goes. When you have an It Girl, someone who seemingly has everything and everyone in her orbit, things aren’t always as they appear. In true Ware fashion, the characters were enthralling, the plot lucrative with details and scheming, suspects and motives and I would have bet money that I had it figured out, but certainly would have lost. Ware is the winner of 6 NYTimes bestsellers for a reason with her psychological crime thrillers, and she continues to prove it with The It Girl. Go pick it up, turn on all the lights, lock your doors, and dig in!

I received an arc for this book in exchange for my honest review. Ruth Ware has done it again! I read this book over the course of two days and only put it down so I could cook dinner for the family. The main character is rich, beautiful, smart, charismatic. She is literally the “it“ girl. It seems that she has it all. Unfortunately, she gets murdered and here in lies the mystery. Who did it? Red herrings abound. Not to give anything away but when the actual killer was revealed it was somebody literally not really on my radar. This book is set in the prestigious Oxford campus. The rich girls roommate is her complete opposite. A smart struggling student who is attending the school on a scholarship. They become quick friends. I really don’t wanna give any spoilers just go out and get this book for yourself and see how fantastic it is.

Started off a little slow but then eventually picked up, did not expect the twist of the ending but ending throughly enjoyed the book and learning about Oxford.

I love a dark academia thriller and this was just wonderful. The Oxford setting was fantastic. I found Hannah to be likable and relatable if not a bit reckless but I think I would also need to know the truth. You had many potential suspects and I had a hard time figuring out who had the real motive. This reminded me a lot of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife which is high praise as that was my favorite book from last year. I predict Ware has another hit on her hands!

The It Girl - Ruth Ware
Length: 432 Pages
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

When Hannah Jones arrives at Oxford she has no idea that the journey she's about to begin is going to change her life. At least, not in the way she'd imagined.

April is everything Hannah is not, but the two quickly become the best of friends. April shows Hannah what it's like to live the lush life, and introduces her to a group of new friends. But when Hannah finds April murdered in their dorm room, Hannah is left completely shaken. It is what Hannah sees that sends a campus porter, John Neville, to prison for the crime.

Ten years later, Hannah's world is once again catapulted into a frenzy when the man convicted of April's murder dies in prison. But murmurs of the man's possible innocence have the media circling Hannah, and now she can't shake the feeling that maybe she got it all wrong. Could John have been innocent all this time? Who else could it have been? Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of it all, for April.

This is my second Ruth Ware novel, and I can't believe I haven't read more! While this book started off a bit slow for me, it certainly picks up in the best way. Told in a "before and after" format, it's not only a murder mystery, it's a story about friendship and betrayal. It's a creepy, cautionary tale about learning who you can and can't trust. It's also about love and what lengths you will go to to save it.

Overall, this was a wonderful whirlwind story for anyone who appreciates a delicious murder mystery. I can't wait to add it to my library!

Thanks to Netgalley, Gallery Books, Gallery/Scout Press and Ruth Ware for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a bummer. It was too long, a snooze fest and where was the normal RW magic? There was no creep factor, no chill factor, at no point was I on the edge of my seat and didn’t feel any type of spark from this. If anything I must’ve said “omg this is so long” about 10385 times while reading it.

Liked:
🧐Academia setting, Oxford.
🧐The book is set up with present and past alternating POV.
🧐 Reads like the Lying Game, IMO. (…Well, if you added 150 DULL pages to that…)
🧐Gave me true crime podcast vibes.

Disliked:
💤This one was too long. A mystery has no business being almost 450 pages.
💤 A poor excuse for a whodunnit.
💤 Predictable.
💤 Super slow pace.
💤 Uneventful.

Maybe the next one will be better!

Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books, Gallery/Scout Press, and Ruth Ware for allowing me to read the ARC of The It Girl in exchange for an honest review.

The students are excited and proud to start their first year at Oxford. Hannah was not rich and privileged like most of the students, but when her roommate turns out to be the rich, outgoing April Clarke-Cliveden, her first year becomes a whirlwind of friendships, social experiences, and even a death of one of their group.
Years later, Hannah is married to Will and they are expecting a baby, when a reporter contacts her and says the man she identified as the killer may have been innocent. Wrecked with guilt, Hannah can’t let it go, and despite Will’s insistence she stay away from all of this, she sets out to find who the real killer might be.
There are so many suspects, you will be kept guessing until the end. This fast-paced mystery is an exciting read!

I’m not sure how Ware what she does. However, her writing is so compelling and each novel I pick up by this author quickly becomes devoured. Page turning! If thrillers as a genre, aren’t your jam, may I suggest this novel by Ware/ it may just change your mind. Worth it!