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The It Girl is a psychological thriller that will keep you pondering and forever wondering who silenced the beautiful, prankster It Girl as each turn in the novel leaves you more bewildered and perplexed. Ruth Ware is at her best in this offering proving why she is one of my favorite authors.

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Provided to me from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I liked this one a lot, but not as much as previous books that Ruth Ware has written, hence only 3 stars (probably more like 3.5). The setting reminded me a lot of <em>The Maidens</em> by Alex Michaelides, which I think threw me off a little bit in this book. As I do with most mystery/thrillers, I made my guess of who the villain was, and I'm happy to say I got it wrong (I don't like books that make things too easy to forget). I didn't mind the differing timelines, and I think it enhanced the tension just a little bit.

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I’ve been up and down on Ruth Ware from one book to the next. Her catalogue has ranged from exceptionally fun to nearly unreadable. But with this one, unfortunately, we’ve hit rock bottom.

First, this is not, as it has been labeled, Dark Academia. It is set in part at Oxford University, but there is absolutely nothing academic about it. The college itself doesn’t really figure much into the narrative aside from as a setting in the most literal sense of the word.

The protagonist is a certain archtype common to domestic thrillers aimed at a female audience for whom I’ll never understand the appeal. This woman has absolutely NO self esteem. She can’t even get a sentence out in a normal social situation. It’s pitiable, certainly, but neither relatable (even for those who have some social anxiety) or likable.

She’s also a terrible friend, and a colossal idiot. Seriously, how did this dingbat get into Oxford? She can’t put two and two together until she’s been hit over the head with it, and she spends most of the book falsely accusing pretty much every character of being the murderer without any factual checks on what she’s thinking.

But it’s the one accusation that she makes that WAS right that made this a one star book and not a two-star, dumb but amusing thriller. For the entire narrative, we listen to Hannah bemoan that she has “condemned an innocent man to die in jail.” This is factually untrue (Hannah did not accuse this person, rather, her concrete evidence was used to support the police case against him). But far more importantly, this man was far from innocent.

Whether he was the murderer or not, a lot of women were safer with this man behind bars. He may not have been April’s killer, but he stalked and menaced multiple women and would have done the same to many more. And that includes the protagonist, who was rightly terrified of him. He sexually assaulted her, menaced her, and stalked her. And yet at the end of the book, Hannah talks about him by saying he was “just awkward and weird.”

Obviously we don’t want to put people in prison for crimes they didn’t commit, even if they’re guilty of something else. And some of Hannah’s thoughts are consistent with the guilty and shame that plagues sexual assault victims. But the manner in which all of this was presented is absolutely inexcusable. For a female author, it’s downright embarrassing.

I don’t love this kind of subject matter in a thriller even when it’s handled responsibly because it gives me the icks, but this martyring of a sexual predator to drive plot and characterization is gross and deeply unfair to assault survivors. Women have enough trouble with how they are treated by others and how the world tells them they should feel under circumstances like this. They don’t need that exacerbated by an author’s insensitive and irresponsible decision making.

TW: sexual assault, stalking, physical assault of a pregnant woman

Audiobook readers: Obviously I’m not recommending this book at all, but I’m particularly not recommending it in this format. The reader is exceptionally slow (I listen at 2x and still felt like I wanted to tear my hair out at the painfully drawn out overenunciation and absurdly long pauses). The exaggerated tone also didn’t help with unlikability of an already deeply loathsome protagonist.

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Let me start by saying I love Ruth Ware. I have not found a book yet that I have not liked. This is a well-written, gripping, action-packed dark thriller.

The It Girl is a psychological thriller about a murder in Oxford and the woman who may have been responsible for the conviction of the wrong man for the crime. The narrative alternates between “before” and “after” the crime. Ware creates tension and atmosphere in the brilliant way the chapters bounce from past to present, and there are certainly a number of suspects. There are not too many characters that the story gets confusing. The ending was really clever. It was a solid story that kept me guessing.

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Ruth Ware has done it again! The It Girl is actually my favorite of her novels so far. Hannah Jones was the ultimate It Girl at Oxford University. She becomes fast friends with her roommate April and they form their own clique only for April to be dead by the end of the first year. A decade has gone by and Hannah is expecting her first child with Will, a member of her clique that year. When the man accused of killing April dies in prison, Hannah thinks she can finally truly move on only for a journalist to come knocking with new evidence that would've exonerated the accused killer. Just when Hannah thought everything was truly over, old secrets and friendships come back out of the frays. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys twisty thrillers. Be sure to check out The It Girl today!

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ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! My new favorite Ruth Ware book. I've been a fan of Ruth Ware for a long time and I really enjoy her books and this one really just hit the mark for me!

I was drawn in from the very beginning and I stayed 100% captivated until the very end. I love a good campus thriller. The It Girl definitely had some In My Dreams I Hold a Knife vibes, so if you enjoyed that one, I highly recommend picking this one up.

I loved both timelines.. The past when they were all at Pelham (when IT girl April Clarke-Cliveden was murdered) and the present day where Hannah Jones tries to figure out what really happened all those years ago.

Also the ENDING! I didn't see it coming! Did I for a brief moment while reading consider it? Of course. But that's only because I briefly considered each and every person. hahaha

Such an amazing read and definitely one I will revisit over and over again! Probably going to be a Top 10 of 2022 for me!

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I have read several of Ruth Ware's books and each one is better than the last. This one hit several high notes with twists, turns and revelations. I had a hard time not reading it in one go but managed to drag it out as long as I could.

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Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A thrilling read about a group of old friends reliving a traumatic event that happened in college. The ending fell a bit flat for me - just didn’t buy the twist - but overall really enjoyed.

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The It Girl about a slain college student and her best friend’s attempt to uncover the true killer years later was an enjoyable read. The dual timelines, while essential, did slow down the story and the pace didn’t quicken until deep into the book. There were multiple potential antagonists…almost too many, though. Still, the husband and wife dealing with the murder of their friend a decade later were both likable enough to root for and the setting offered by the elite Oxford campus was interesting.

I appreciate the ARC provided by NetGalley and Scout Press.

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I received this book as an ARC. I feel it started off slow but not slow enough that I lost interest. It was definitely a good plot twist at the end! Turned out to be a great book.

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This might be my favorite Ruth Ware to date. The story toggles back and forth between two time periods, present day and ten years in the past when the characters are in their first year at Oxford Pelham. Our narrator and main character Hannah tells the reader about her roommate and best friend April and their friend group from college, Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily. We quickly learn that by the end of the second term, April was brutally murdered. In the present, we learn that her murderer, John Neville, a school porter, who was tried and convicted on evidence provided by Hannah, has just died in prison, still proclaiming his innocence. Hannah, now married to Will and expecting her first child, becomes obsessed with connecting with her old friends and asking what they remember about that night and slowly loses her certainty that she was right about the evidence she provided ten years ago.

Things I liked:
The atmosphere was so dark and twisty; LOVE a good British dark academia thriller. The cast of characters was fun and worked well together. I didn't guess the end immediately (though I did guess it pretty quickly).

Things I didn't like:
I felt like there was more than a whiff of victim blaming, even though April is far from a likeable character. Also, as mentioned, I did find the end fairly guessable. But really, the atmosphere was so enjoyable I'll overlook the predictability.

Would definitely recommend to any thriller fan.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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The It Girl, the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ware, comes out on July 12, 2022. Galley Books provided me an early copy in exchange for this review.

We read Ware's Turn of the Key for our book club at the library last year. I had chosen that one because it was a contemporary thriller. Having enjoyed it, seeing this upcoming release quickly garnered my interest.

Ware has a knack of putting twists in her tales, something fairly common with the thriller/mystery genre. What I like about her work in particular is that she is very good at leaving breadcrumbs throughout the story so that when the revelation finally comes it is not out of leftfield. She clearly worked to get a conclusion that is logical and satisfying.

The book is written in a flip-flopping style of before and after. The before, told in past tense, sets up the backstory; the after, told in present tense, deals with the fallout. It is an effective narrative style that works well for this kind of tale. I particularly enjoyed the before chapters as they dealt with the characters as university students at Oxford.

I can see The It Girl turning up on a lot of summer and fall reading lists.

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April Clarke-Cliveden is the “it” girl. She is beautiful, smart, charming when she wants to be, and funny. April meets Hannah Jones when they are paired up as roommates during their first year at Oxford and they become quick friends. However, before their freshman year is over, April is murdered and Hannah’s eye witness testimony puts an Oxford porter behind bars. Fast forward a decade and a report is trying to get in touch with Hannah about April’s murder. The reporter voices questions about the porter’s innocence, which plunges Hannah back into turmoil once again. Was Hannah right and the arrested the right person, or is he really innocent?

Hannah tells her story in dual timelines, reliving her first experiences at Oxford and the friend group she and April surround themselves with and the turmoil she finds herself in a decade later. This is a slow burn and I thought I knew who did it from very early on, but I was very wrong and shocked by the ending! I recommend this novel.

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I love Ruth Ware stories! When Hannah goes to college, she meets her roommate, April. Together they form a group of devoted friends…Will, Hugh, Ryan and Emily. The story goes back to school and events leading up to a murder. The creepy guy at school is seen by Hannah coming down from the room where Hannah and Hugh find April dead on the floor. Now years later the man convicted has died , professing his innocence til the end. Hannah has nagging doubts regarding the innocence and a young journalist is now looking into the case and asking questions. A very interesting path to follow as Hannah starts to suspect all her friends.

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Another great thriller from Ruth Ware! I especially loved the settings of Oxford & Edinburgh. It made me long for a trip across the pond. I loved the characters, though sometimes it was hard to relate to April. This book had me guessing who, how, & why all the way to the end. Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy!!

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Guys I'll be honest, I have wanted to read a Ware book for years, but honestly I've never gotten around to it, so thankful I finally did it! From the start this book reeled me in, so interesting with twists and turns that will.kepp you guessing. I had an idea who did it at the beginning of the book, thought it was someone else in the middle, thought I knew exactly who it was at the end and then bam she threw us for a loop again!

Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this ARC and to Ruth Ware for writing such ana amazing book. I don't usually give five stars two books but this one was just so well written and compelling.

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4.5/5 stars (rounded up to 5)

Thank you NetGalley and Scout Press Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Ruth Ware will forever be an auto buy author for me! When she came out with her rating scale of her books by how scary they were and this was was not listed as scary as some of her others ones, I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy this one.

But she proved me wrong once again. Even though it’s not as scary as some of her other books, she is still an amazing author in her own right and knows how to spin a tale that will keep you engaged throughout the entire book. I love how intense her writing is and how you get so invested in the characters. You just wanted to know what is going to happen or what did happen. There is so much suspense that while it may not be “scary” your heart is still racing the entire time because of the suspense and that atmosphere. Overall, I will always recommend a Ruth Ware book because her writing is just amazing!

This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

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The setting for this book is a character in its own right. I loved the atmosphere and the red herrings as I tried to figure out whodunnit. Another strong showing by Ms. Ware and fans won't me disappointed!

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Loved this one! Ruth Ware is a must=read author for me, and this is my favorite novel of hers I've read in quite some time. The twists and turns kept me guessing and I was genuinely surprised by the ending - which is always fun when you read a lot of thrillers! This was fast paced and well written - would definitely recommend to fellow Ruth Ware fans and anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

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I like Ruth Ware, she's usually an auto-read author for me, because I can't get enough fast-paced, twisty thrillers and she's good for them! While I liked this one fine, it didn't feel nearly fast-paced or twisty enough for my usual tastes. It felt REALLY long compared to her past works and that didn't really work in its favor.

Obviously I understand the point of a red herring in fiction, but it felt like there were just way too many of them in this one. Every time a new option was suddenly brought up and investigated it just felt like being on one of those really jerky wooden rollercoasters.

It also didn't help that I wasn't really invested in any of the characters at all. None of them felt particularly compelling, and I don't usually expect a LOT in plot-driven stories, but I just found that I didn't really care much about the characters or what happened to them.

So overall, this was fine. I liked it. It'll make a good airport or beach read!

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