Ruth Ware. Everyone has been telling me to read her books and I’ve finally gotten to experience it! The It Girl was an intense story about a beautiful rich girl April who is found murdered in her dorm room. The story is told from her roommate Hannah’s perspective. April is the first person Hannah meets at Oxford. She’s drawn to her personality and lifestyle because it’s so different from her own. April introduces her to a group of people whom become their inner circle. Hannah loves April what is your best friend but April is also mean and callous and everybody knows it. Then one day at the end of their first year at Oxford April is found dead in their dorm room by Hannah. Aprils murder case hinges on Hannah’s testimony.
The story is told from before and after, two different timelines, the murder. We see what it has done to all those involved back in those days at Oxford. Wonderful case of who done it and who do we trust but also is my memory correct? Highly recommend the suspenseful tale.

I've enjoyed Ware's books in the past, but this one missed the mark for me. To start with, the pace was too slow for the genre. I was able to guess the culprit early on, which made it hard to care about what happened. The tension I've found in earlier books was lacking in this one. There was a lot of repetition, and it could've benefitted from a tighter edit. I did enjoy the setting and dual timeline, and the character development was solid. While this was a miss, I'm still likely to check out future books.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this early read!

I was excited to read the new book by Ruth Ware, due in July. This one is told in a Before and After format, alternating between the two time periods.

Before: Hannah Jones arrives at college, nervous and excited to start a new life. The first person she meets is her glamorous roommate April Clarke-Cliveden. She is quickly pulled into April’s circle of friends – Will, Hugh, Emily and Ryan – and she soon doesn’t remember a time they weren’t all friends. And while she may have a huge crush on Will, he is off-limits as April’s on again-off again boyfriend. By the end of the year, though, April will be dead – murdered in their room – and Hannah will leave Oxford behind forever.

After: Ten years later, Hannah and Will are married and expecting their first child. They have put the past behind them, or so they thought. John Neville, the man convicted of killing April has died in prison and a reporter reaches out to Hannah with new information, convinced that he was actually innocent. Hannah is drawn in, as she feels like Neville was in jail based on her testimony of seeing him leave their building just moments before they discovered April. She sets out to find the truth, despite Will’s reluctance. What if one of their group has been hiding something all these years?

I like that Ruth Ware keeps taking a genre and making it her own. She did it with the gothic (The Death of Mrs. Westaway) and the locked room mystery (One By One) and now she’s done it again with the campus lit. The tale is well-told and there is lots of suspense. The plot is well-done – I figured it about two sentences before Hannah did. If you like campus lit, if you liked The Maidens by Alex Michaelides or The Secret Place by Tana French, then get on the list for The It Girl today.

This suspenseful twisty tale takes place on an old, historic academic campus, and Oxford, at that. Steeped in tradition and full of dark stairways and corners, it is the perfect atmospheric locale for a murder mystery. The story unfolds in multiple points-of-view as readers try to piece together what actually happened when Hannah's roommate, April, the It Girl, was murdered in their dorm room 10 years ago. Now, Hannah is married to her college crush, Will, and has a child on the way. It soon becomes apparent to Hannah, however, that the man she thought she saw leaving her dorm room that night and who she blamed for the murder, may not be the one who committed the crime. And, even worse for Hannah, she has no idea who she can trust now. Can she even trust her own husband, Will, who dated April until she was murdered? Great writing and very suspenseful.

Not my favorite Ruth Ware story, unfortunately. Very similar to another campus novel from a couple years ago where one of main characters is murdered and those living in the “current” timeline are keeping secrets. Writing structure was concise and the story did move along well.

Academia, murder, university nostalgia, bookstores, Ruth Ware-yes! All of these topics screamed "read me ASAP". Luckily I received an ARC and could do just that.

This has a different feel than some of Ware's other novels. It's still atmospheric, but a more modern twist that I preferred to some of her other works.

It focuses on Hannah's Oxford roommate, April, being brutally murdered right before Hannah walks in the door of their dorm room. It takes place, though, after this fact and after the court's decision on who was the murderer.

I enjoyed the characters, the red herrings, and the setting. I breezed through this book because I couldn't wait to find out what happened. When this happens, I find it hard to give it less than 5 stars because it's pretty rare for me to fully get immersed in a book.

Told in what’s become a typical Ruth Ware trope, this story takes us back and forth in the timeline of our main character whos still struggling with the long time ago Murder of her best school friend and as current events unfold, so do long hidden secrets.

This was not one of my favorites of Ware’s largely because so many of the characters were hard to root for. Even our main character left little to get behind, especially how heavily it’s played out that she listed over then married her now dead best friend’s boyfriend in college. As usual you can trust no one, and nothing is as it seems, but I just didn’t care enough about anyone to really feel catapulted through the story. Not her best.

Hannah’s dream was to attend Oxford and her acceptance heralds a brand new life away from the confines of her small town. Her roommate April is a beautiful, rich, entitled party girl-the quintessential “It Girl.” Despite their differences, they become best friends and celebrate their new-found independence.

When Hannah comes home one night to find April’s dead body, her murder changes the trajectory of Hannah’s life. She abandons Oxford and tries to cope with the PTSD and the ensuing fall-out from the courtroom trial.

A decade later, Hannah is still haunted by the events of her college years-and the persistent suspicion that she may have got it all wrong in her evidence that convicted the socially awkward college porter of April’s murder.

As Hannah begins to look into the past, she begins to find clues that point towards their close-knot circle of college friends…could one of them truly be a murderer, responsible for April’s death?

This is my first Ruth Ware book and I thought it was an overall twisty and engaging thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. I definitely recommend this title and look forward to exploring this author’s backlist of books.

Mysteries set in academia are always enticing, and Rith Ware's THE IT GIRL is no exception. Teasingly suspenseful and twisty, this is a read-long-after-the-light-should-be-turned out treat. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Scout Press and to Netgalley for the opportunity and pleasure of an early read.

Readers looking for a page-turning thriller will love the latest from Ruth Ware. Hannah Jones meets April Clarke-Cliveden on their first day at Oxford. By September, April is dead, and former Oxford porter John Neville is convicted of the grizzly crime. Fast-forward 10 years and John dies in prison. Hannah, now pregnant and married, discovers that John may not have been guilty after all, but trying to discover the truth puts everything at risk. This one kept me guessing until the end, and couldn't put it down!

My rating is somewhere at 3.5, I enjoyed the book but did not love it as much as others by Ruth Ware.
The settings were great, dark academia, and not too much drama, but it still felt like we were dealing with teenagers. Throughout the story, the reader was led in multiple directions and the twist was there, but not clear. I was able to figure it out, so it took my rating slightly down because I like thrillers that are unpredictable. However, the twist was very smart and if you weren't paying attention, it is very easy to miss it and be surprised at the end.
The pacing was slower than usual, so be aware that the build-up takes time in this book.

If you are looking for a not too creepy thriller with academic settings, this will be perfect.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC.

Ruth Ware has done it again with "The It Girl"! There's a reason why she's at the top of her genre!!! Great read!!

"The It Girl" is the second book by Ruth Ware that I've read. I know she has a loyal following, so I figured this book would be a good choice. The book picked up after a slow start, and I couldn't put it down.

There are two alternating timelines, "Before" and "After," and it is told from the perspective of Hannah Jones, whose Oxford roommate was murdered. While I found the book's first third, or so, to move slowly, it layed an excellent foundation and helped me get acquainted with all the characters. By the time I finished the book, I had a thorough understanding of what happened without any lingering questions.

Based on this book, I will go back and read some of the author's older works and wait for future releases.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

When Hannah's roommate is murdered in her university dorm room, it rocks their group of friends. All go their separate ways, but years later, Hannah and Will reconnect and end up getting married. When we meet them, Hannah is pregnant with their first child, and the man convicted of April's murder has died in prison. But his death brings up old worries for Hannah--it was her testimony that put the killer away, and questions have always swirled about his potential innocence. Her questions bring her back to campus for the first time in ten years, and back into contact with several members of her old crew. Did the right man go down for the crime, or was it one of their own?

Definitely one of Ware's better efforts! Lots of twists and turns and great character development. Really enjoyed this one.

This was a pretty solid, entertaining book. As others have mentioned, the pregnancy details tended to slow the pace at times, and I was much more interested in the “before” chapters, setting up the relationships between this group of friends, than I was with the “after” chapters dealing with solving the mystery. Still, overall I enjoyed it, and will recommend it to mystery fans. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

April is the IT girl. She has it all. Money, looks, the hot boyfriend.

She ends up murdered and her roommate, Hannah spends the next 10 years wondering if who she saw leaving the crime scene was the actual killer.

The book itself goes back in time and to the present day as this event spirals around the people affected.

Ruth Ware’s best book after Turn of the Key by far. The characters and plot are quite reminiscent of The Lying Game with a little less atmosphere.

I wanted to know if Neville really killed April or if it was one of the people around Hannah. The book had great twists and turns and things I saw coming and other things I didn’t expect.

My main beef: Hannah was a boring character that I just didn’t care for. I never understood why even April herself liked her. She was kind of a wallflower. Maybe that was the point of her character, but that is what had this book dragging in parts for me.

Overall, this book is a 3.75 and I enjoyed it. A solid thriller and if you’re a fan of Ruth Ware’s books, this one is definitely not one to skip. It’s her at her finest and I will definitely continue to read her future books.

Thank you Netgalley and Scout Press for this ARC e-book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm so bummed I didn't enjoy this one more! I LOVE Ruth Ware but her latest, The It Girl, is my least favorite of all of her books. I was engaged enough to want to finish but I found this one kind of lackluster. I was 70% in before it really picked up the pace and felt like a thriller. It reminded me a lot of The Maidens but with less red herrings and much better writing.

The It Girl is another winner from Ruth Ware. This psychological thriller about a group of first-year students at Oxford University covers a ten-year period and is told in two timeframes, "Before" and "After". The book's twists and turns had me eagerly along for the ride. Since the story revolves around the murder of one of the group, you find yourself picking out and dismissing the villain as the story moves along. A thrilling read!

This is the second book I've read by this author, and I have not been disappointed so far. Hannah is an incoming student at Pelham college, and she shares a dorm with April. April's family has money and privilege and she wants for nothing. People are drawn to April's beauty, charm and charisma, making her the quintessential It Girl.

Hannah finds April murdered in their common room after her play performance and all the evidence points to the porter, John Neville. Hannah testifies against Neville and he is put away. A decade later, Neville dies in prison still swearing he was innocent up until his death. This makes Hannah question if she put the right person behind bars for April's murder.

Hannah begins digging deeper, trying to remember the series of events that happened the night of April's murder and investigating the whereabouts of everyone that could have had a motive to kill April, which turns out is a lot of people. April was a bit of a prankster, and not a nice one at that.

This book was slow until 60% in and then it started to pick up the pace. The best part of the book was the last 20%. For this reason alone is why I knocked off a star. It took me much longer than normal to get through this book. Obviously the author wanted to give the reader as much background information as possible, which much of it was necessary and lent important information to the story and plot, but dang it was slow.

I was second guessing right until the very end, which is very much this author's style. I liked the ending and I thought it wrapped up nicely without any major loose ends. I would recommend this book to my thriller-loving friends.

Special thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one! This is my new favorite from this author. I loved the multiple timelines, and the settings at Oxford and in Edinburgh. I loved the characters. I did figure out the WHO but the rest kept me guessing. I was very pleased with the outcome. Cannot wait to read more from this author!