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!

Ruth Ware has done it again. After a well deserved break, Ware has delivered a thriller that will keep you guessing and second guessing your intuition. The split timeline is done perfectly and the final act will get your heart racing. 5 stars

April Clarke-Cliveden had it all… friends, money, charm, charisma.. until she is murdered at college. Now decades later, her best friend and roommate begins to wonder if the man convicted was actually guilty.

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite contemporary thriller authors. I have loved all her books. Unfortunately this one is at the bottom of the list for me. It’s much longer than it needed to be. I was able to predict the “bad guy” and nothing really stood out about it for me. It is still a worthy read and will keep readers entertained, but it’s just not my favorite of hers. It’s has serious In My Dreams I Hold a Knife vibes to it, so I think a lot of readers will be pleased about that.

“She has stopped running from the monsters. She has turned to face them. She wants the truth.”

The It Girl comes out 7/12.

I was so excited to get this one early. I have had this on my list to read for months. I love her writing style and character development.

OH MY GOODNESS. Easily my favorite book from Ruth Ware and I have absolutely loved every single one of her books. This was non stop from the very first page and I am obsessed with this storyline. Her writing is fantastic and literally you never know what twists and turns she will throw your way. Outstanding novel. The characters were amazing and honestly I am ready to read it again!

Hannah wanted to be just like April from the moment they met at Oxford. She was the "It Girl" with all the friends, all the flair, the good looking boyfriend and all the right connections. When April is found dead by Hannah she is devastated but at least her testimony helped put away the killer. Years pass with Hannah and her husband (April's old good looking boyfriend) expecting their first child. When told that April's killer has died in prison Hannah feels a bit of relief until the reporter suggests that maybe the man convicted was actually innocent. The chapters flip back in time to re-examine what might have happened and take a deeper look into the old friend group which proves not just unsettling for Hannah but downright dangerous. THE IT GIRL is another example of why Ruth Ware is so good at mysteries that make you think as you fall down the rabbit hole with the main character. The perfect choice for readers of killer thrillers. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Ruth Ware does it again! I enjoyed this tale, even though I had a pretty good idea where it was going. The characters are compelling and the twists are well executed.

Thank you, Ruth Ware for never letting me down! Suspense, mystery, and intriguing characters are always a guarantee, and this one is no exception.

When Hannah and April meet at Oxford, Hannah is awestruck. April is gorgeous, smart, the life of the party and somewhat mischievous. The two of them enjoy their time with their group of friends, Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily, until April ends up murdered.

Now Hannah is married to Will, and they are expecting their first child. The horror of what happened should be in the past. But she just can’t seem to shake the feeling that mistakes may have been made, the truth may not yet be known. And she can’t be at peace until she figures it out.

I truly enjoyed every bit of this book. As it alternates between the past at school and present day, the reader really gets a chance to see into Hannah’s life, feel what she is feeling, and need to know what happened just as Hannah does. There are twists in the twists. Just another satisfying mystery given to us by one of my favorite authors.

Run to pick up a copy when it’s released on 7/12!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed the mystery and I was completely surprised by the reveal at the end. The novel goes back and forth starting with After which is about 10 yrs. since the murder of April to Before which it when Hannah and April meet the first day as dorm mates at Pellham. It goes through Hannah finding Aprils body and then stays in the present while Hannah is investigating the case after John Neville the man convicted of Aprils murder dies in prison and she is approached by a reporter who makes her question if he was innocent. This was really interesting and I loved reading about the friendships between the whole group Will, Hugh, Ryan and Emily before April was murdered and during Hannahs investigation she keeps uncovering things that she didn’t know about her friends and their relationships with April. So a good read and while the pacing was a little slow at times and there was a lot of emphasis on Hannah’s pregnancy which could have been cut down without losing any of the plot.


Thanks to Gallery/Scout Press and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

A decade. That’s how long it’s taken Hannah to build a somewhat normal life after finding her roommate strangled all those years ago. April, the golden girl, so loved by everyone.

Now Hannah has a husband, job, and baby on the way. But when the man convicted of killing April dies in prison, and new evidence comes to light that he might not have committed the crime, life begins to unravel again.

This is pure, perfect Ruth Ware. I love that Ware has gone back to the single narrator format, and uses that voice to create a chilling atmosphere. The reveals led to a perfect finale. Read this novel.

Interesting plot about a girl at Oxford University whose roommate gets murdered. 10 years later all the bad memories come back when the person convicted of her murder dies unexpectedly in prison. There is a lot of talk about the wrong person being convicted. Hannah left the university after the murder, unable to return to university life. She ends up in Scotland, as far away from Oxford as possible, married to one of her friends from Oxford. But not everyone remembers things the same way Hannah does and she begins to question her memory too. A good page-turner with a big twist at the end.

Special thanks to Ruth Ware, Netgalley, and Simon & Schuster for Advanced Copy for honest review.

Ruth Ware does it again with a thriller set at the prestigious Oxford University - Pelham College. Hannah finds herself rooming with the well-to-do April Clarke-Cliveden. Hannah becomes fast friends with April and her friends from a former school. Quirky bunch, but they all get along. Even with their grueling schedule to keep up grades, they find the time to live up their college days. Lots of parties and pranks which are all fun and games until one evening, Hannah finds April dead.

10 years later, John Neville dies in prison fighting for his innocence. Hannah now questions if she had a hand in incarcerating the wrong person.

Love the boarding school genre. Love learning the history of Oxford. And love the twists! 5 Stars, highly recommend.

I love Ruth Ware and her new book, the It Girl, did not disappoint! Dark Academia, Oxford, and murder, what more could you want from a mystery?

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the reveal (no spoilers!) was satisfying. A refreshing outcome that didn't vilify the victim.

This is definitely a book I will recommend and gift to friends and family.

After all that praise, I do have a small note of abrasion. And yes, abrasion is the right word because over time it became like sandpaper across my skin any time I reached the "after" chapters. The main focus of the "after" chapters was Hannah's pregnancy (not a spoiler, we know Hannah is pregnant from the beginning). And while its great Hannah was expecting and it was interesting to see her deal with it on a daily basis, at some point it becomes too much. It wasn't a driving plot point and it didn't have anything to do with the outcome of the mystery, so why was so much time/page space/reading energy spent on this? Its like baby Freya in The Lying Game, only not as bad. Every other sentence was about Freya in The Lying Game and she had no outcome to the story so why did she take up so much real estate? Same goes for Hannah's pregnancy. I think we could have had half as much and it would have aided in our sympathy/empathy toward Hannah and her experiences without beating us over the head with the fact, in case you forgot, that she was pregnant. If it weren't for this aspect, I would have rated the book higher.

Overall, great read though and I am very glad to have read it.

Hannah, a quiet girl goes off to college where she meets popular and lovable April. When April is murdered Hannah testifies and helps put the man behind bars. After years have passed, Hannah is now married and pregnant. When word comes that the man has died in jail, Hannah starts questioning if she convicted the wrong man.

Ware.. what happened?! I was so excited for this book as Ware is one of my favorite authors, but this is a dud. Ware has always been a hit or miss author, and her writing style is what keeps everyone coming back. Hannah was not likable, was dull, and all around boring. Her narrative was monotone throughout the whole book. Side characters were more interesting than her. I did like how the story jumped from before to after in the timeline. Ware has a way of writing, that while the narrative is boring, you’re still questioning every character and situation, which helps you continue to read.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance reader copy of this new thriller by Ruth Ware. As always this book brings surprises throughout and I love the back and forth between times. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5

This may be my favorite Ruth Ware book I’ve read. What if you were told the person you sent to prison for the murder of your popular best friend ten years ago is possibly innocent? What would you do to find out the truth? Hannah is about to find out. The dual timelines kept me reading to see what happened next and made the book flow really well. It kept me guessing the whole time. While at one point I did guess who did it, I changed my mind about 5 times before I got to the end.

Good academic-setting mystery, told in flashbacks to a year at Oxford when captivating April Clarke-Cliveden is found dead in her dorm room. What REALLY happened that night? Did the wrong man spend the rest of his entire life in prison? It kept me reading and guessing right up to the end, the tension was good, just not the most memorable of Ware’s writing. It didn’t have the atmosphere of her others and most of the supporting characters were flat.

This book was fun to read. The pacing was a bit slow but very atmospheric and I didn't mind wading into the story. My only disappointment was how spineless and boring Hannah- the character was. It was hard to root for her and I mostly felt tired of the character. Overall, fun read even though I could tell who the murderer was in the early stages of the book as Hannah and November went through their process of elimination. Why did I still like it? Because of the writing, the past/present storyline, and the weird characters.