I struggled between giving this 3 and 4 stars, so I'll say outright I'd settle at a 3.5/5. Although I've never read anything else by Ruth Ware, I've heard of her in recent years as a big fan of the mystery/thriller genre. The It Girl is a story with two timelines - before and after the death of a popular Oxford student named April, through the eyes of her admiring roommate Hannah. Although the format and plot details are not groundbreaking, Ware crafts some interesting characters and several red herrings that left me ultimately surprised by the ending. This was not my favorite book of the year so far by any means, but I enjoyed the adventure and playing whodunnit.

This book just kind of fell flat for me. The story should have been interesting, but there was very little sense of tension, suspense, or even mystery. Told in dual timelines, this is the story of Hannah and the defining event of her life--the murder of her roommate and de facto best friend, April. The two bond in their first weeks at Oxford, along with a small group of other classmates. When April is discovered dead several months later, Hannah believes she knows who killed her, but all of April's "friends" seem to be affected by the murder in one way or another. Many years later, the man convicted of April's murder dies in prison, and Hannah begins to wonder if she pointed the finger at the wrong person.
This book just felt disjointed and a bit uninteresting. In the "Before" timeline, I just really got bored: we know that April will end up dead, but there was absolutely no feeling of suspense or doom. It just seemed full of anecdotes about how terrible of a person April was--were we supposed to think she deserved to die? The creepiest part of that timeline was John Neville, the man in jail for April's murder. I didn't have any sympathy for him, either, and so Hannah's quest in the "present" timeline to find out if he was really guilty seemed weird because John was so unsettling.
And then in the "After" timeline Hannah seemed like a completely different person than "past" Hannah. Not to mention the fact that she seemed to be dealing with debilitating PTSD-like symptoms. I really wondered how she had survived this far in life without having some sort of complete break-down.
When the tension finally picked up towards the very end of the book, it was too little, too late. I really didn't care what happened to Hannah, and was really only interested in who had actually murdered April and how they did it.
I don't think I would recommend this book. The pacing needed to be tighter and the book suffered from a lack of tension.

I've enjoyed all of Ruth Ware's books so far and this one was no exception.

Oxford is one my favorite book settings, and this story goes back and forth from the present to the main character's time as a freshman at Oxford. The 'whodunit' theme was a familiar one, but this story had an interesting spin that made it feel fresh.

My only complaint is that it may be a little drawn out, but the ending was perfect and definitely made up for any slow parts along the way.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.75) rounded up to 4

Keeping this short and sweet because it was the last of my vacation/plane reads!

I loved the Oxford setting of this! It was a bit of a slower pace but kept my interest. I had a feeling who the killer was but there was a surprising/interesting motive and means.

This wasn’t my favorite of hers (I preferred IN A DARK DARK WOOD but liked it more than THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10) but it was entertaining! It’s not the most original plot but I think fans of her other books and of Lisa Jewell will enjoy this. I’d describe it as ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL meets IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE (without the frat/sorority stuff).

⚠️: eating disorder, stalking, murder, pregnancy, kidnapping, bullying, toxic relationship

Ruth Ware is a favorite thriller author and The It Girl didn’t disappoint. I thought I had it figured out quickly, and then at some point I thought every other character could’ve done it through the twists thrown our way. I’d say it’s more of a “who done it” than thriller, but I’m quite alright with that. The ending had my heart racing. Slow build up for the majority of the book, but over all incredibly done.

Not my favorite Ruth Ware, but pretty darn close! I loved all the twists and turns that keep you guessing, even though you are expecting them. I'm so glad I was able to read the ARC so I can handsell it to my customers from Publishing Day on!

Another great mystery/suspense from Ruth Ware. The It Girl keeps you guessing and questioning the veracity of the narrator and her group of friends. While there are some flaws with development, it is an edge of your seat quick read.

"The It Girl" was not my most favorite of Ruth Ware's novels, I still prefer her earlier ones. This was a quick read, but found myself skimming a lot as I really didn't get all that invested into the characters or the story line.

The It Girl was a very fast paced read. The book takes place at university. Hannah is just a regular girl that comes from a family with no money. Her new roommate is April, a well to do girl who has it all. Through April, Hannah meets Ryan, Will, Emily and Hugh. They become fast friends in such a short time. Even though Hannah has a crush on Will she keeps it to herself since April and him are dating. Hannah has her suspicions that April is not being totally honest with Will and is seeing someone else behind his back. Hannah is also having run in’s with the creepy porter John Neville. He has reported it to the higher ups with Emily’s help but nothing happens because Hannah doesn’t want to cause trouble. When Hannah sees Neville running from their dorm room she is in a panic. Upon entering the room Hannah finds April dead. Hugh is with her and performs CPR to no avail. Neville is the only suspect besides Will, who was out of town when the murder happened. Fast forward 10 years, Neville has died in prison still claiming he is innocent. Hannah’s world has been turner upside down from the shock of it. Now it’s time for Hannah to revisit the past with the help of November Rain, April’s younger sister Just like Hannah all the possible suspects came and gone. It was down to the final 2 that could be the possible killer. Will, Hannah’s husband or Hugh, Will’s boyhood best friend. You’ll have to read it to find out who the real killer is and why? Do you really know your spouse?

I wanted to love this book because I love Ruth Ware, but I just couldn't. The book was not captivating and the overused euphemisms of Will making Hannah's heart clench, or stopping her heart were too much. I understand that Ware was using Hannah's pregnancy as a descriptive piece of her writing, referring to the unborn child shivering with a chill or trembling with fear, but that was also too much. Still, I am looking forward to Ruth Ware's next novel and hoping that it will once again be a five star read.

-Thriller
-Multiple Timeline
Did they really have April's killer in jail?
Did they arrest the wrong person?
Did one of the groups have something to do with her murder?

Grippy and compelling twisty thriller!
Ruth Ware does it again!

This was an entertaining read although I wouldn’t say it was the best I’ve read by the author. I don’t always like alternating chapters from different points in time but it worked here. Hannah is roommates with the rich, privileged and deeply unlikable (at least to me) April and they become part of a tight circle of friends. After April is tragically murdered Hannah abandons her degree and later marries Will, who was part of the group and April’s ex-boyfriend. Their attempt to lead a quiet life in Edinburgh is shattered when the man who was found guilty of April’s murder dies himself and there are claims that he was innocent all along. There are a lot of twists and turns in the story but for me the ending wasn’t a complete shocker. Parts of the story dragged on too long and others were unbelievable but even so it was still enjoyable.

Ruth Ware’s The It Girl is one of her best psychological thrillers yet due to its strong setting, long list of suspects and many twists. Hannah Jones meets her roommate, “it” girl April Clarke-Cliveden at Oxford. The two become best friends and have a group of friends that include Will, Hugh, Ryan and Emily. April winds up dead by the end of the first school year. Ten years later, Hannah and Will are married and expecting their first child together. John Neville, the former Oxford porter convicted of killing April, dies in prison, and a journalist presents Hannah with new evidence that suggests Neville may have been innocent all along, leaving April’s killer still on the loose. Hannah begins to doubt, too, that Neville killed April and she feels horrible that she may have wronged an innocent man. She begins to do some digging of her own by reconnecting with her old friends and believes that one of them may have killed April instead.

I enjoyed how this book was told in alternating chapters of the past and present. April really was an “it” girl with her sophistication, beauty, charisma and intelligence, but she made a few enemies and Hannah discovers some of April’s secrets in the present. There were a lot of red herrings in the novel. Once I thought I knew who the killer was, there was another twist and another suspect presented him or herself. I felt like any of the characters could have killed April; each one had a plausible motive. I was really satisfied with who the murderer was finally revealed to be. I was also surprised by the reason this character killed April and by how the murder was executed. I also enjoyed the college setting and the descriptions of Oxford. I could imagine myself there, based on how Ware set the atmosphere in this book. I felt like I was in college again, reliving some of my friendships, my studies and extracurricular activities. Ware really does an excellent job of making the reader feel like he or she is right there on campus alongside April, Hannah and their group of friends. The only complaint I had with this novel was how weak or just plain stupid Hannah was at times; her character felt like such a victim.

I like Ruth Ware's books, but this one just did not work for me. I came back to it 4 times before I could get into it enough to finish it. It was entertaining, but it just dragged on too long. The blood pressure parts of her pregnancy added nothing to the story but took up a lot of space. By the last 15%, I was skimming to get to the end.

My library will buy it, but I cannot recommend to anyone.

THE IT GIRL (2021)
By Ruth Ware
Scout Press (Simon & Schuster) 389 pages.
★★★★

Do you prefer drama or melodrama? If you don’t care, The It Girl is a murder mystery you will enjoy. Few modern authors can spin a tale as well as Ruth Ware. At her best, readers scarcely notice when Ware transgresses the drama/melodrama border; when the storyline is weak—think The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016)—we do. Luckily, The It Girl falls into the first category.

The term “It Girl” originated in the film industry. Evelyn Nesbit (1885-1967) is considered the first Hollywood It Girl, though the most famous was 1920s starlet Clara Bow. It Girl conjures an ingénue who is sexually alluring and draws a crowd. That’s April Clarke-Cliveden in a nutshell in this 21st century story set at Oxford University’s Pelham College. April seemingly has it all going on; she’s filthy rich, smart, beautiful, and a good actress. Never mind that she’s also pampered, privileged, vain, drinks too much, and is occasionally cruel.

Against usual odds, her assigned first-year roomie at Pelham College is Hannah Jones, a rare working-class Oxfordian whose background necessitated working at a supermarket before coming to university. Against even greater odds, April becomes Hannah’s best friend and Hannah need not worry about pocket change any more; April thinks nothing of lending or giving Hannah designer frocks and shoes worth a small fortune. April becomes Hannah’s entrée into social circles she’d never crack on her own. Not surprisingly, many of them are men, especially medical student Hugh Bland, economy undergrad Ryan Coates, and hunky Will de Chastaigne, allegedly April’s boyfriend, though she’s so flirtatious that her sexual mores are hazy.

Ware applies a “Before” and “After” structure for much of the book, the “Before” largely confined to a single year at Oxford (2012) and “After” a decade later. The Oxford sections are light on serious studies and heavy on pub-crawls, pushing boundaries, and Hannah’s transformation from a mousy frump to a vivacious wit and intellect. It is also fraught with encounters with an older porter, John Neville, who is too familiar and has a creepy tendency of appearing in inappropriate places. But the only known strain in Hannah and April’s friendship is frisson between Hannah and Will. The Oxford experience collapses when April is strangled in her room and Neville is arrested for her murder, partly on Hannah’s testimony that he was the only person leaving the building after she discovered April’s body.

In the “After” sections, Hannah and Will are married, living in Edinburgh, and expecting a baby. Will is a reluctant accountant; Hannah works in a bookstore, having left Oxford without her degree after April’s death. (She was too shattered by April’s death.) A big reason for moving to Scotland was to escape the endless hounding of journalists seeking her take on the death of the It Girl. Hannah’s been working on trauma recovery and is doing okay—though she occasionally thinks she has “seen” April¬¬-–until the cycle starts anew upon Neville’s death in prison. To his dying day, Neville proclaimed his innocence and Ryan, who had been a journalist before he had a stroke, thinks Neville might have been wronged. Ryan’s newshound friend Geraint discovered that none of Neville’s DNA was found on April’s body and there were other inconsistencies that cast doubt on the verdict.

A heavily pregnant Hannah travels back to Oxford to reopen a sealed can of worms, not that raging hormones, high blood pressure, and old wounds make for logical thinking. At around this juncture, Ware switches to a “Before” and “Before” format in which hours and days are in play, not a decade. Hannah discovers many things about her old friends, a mentor, and April that further muddle her perceptions. The novel concludes with a beat-the-clock chase and confrontation. If you ponder the latter too much, you might perceive that Ware careens into melodrama. Ditto the introduction of one of April’s family members who is more convenient than believable.

And yet… The It Girl is a classic page-turner that most readers will zip through in a sitting or two. Even when the plot turns obvious, Ware twists matters just enough to keep those pages turning. This novel is too new to have “Soon to be a Motion Picture” emblazoned on its cover, but I suspect it’s just a matter of time.

Rob Weir

I have had trouble recently losing interest in slow burn thrillers, but this one pulled me out of that slump. The It Girl was paced well and had enough red herrings to keep my attention. I would definitely recommend to fans of the genre and author.

Hannah Jones is a student at Oxford University's Pelham College. She is assigned to room with April Clarke-Cliveden, a spoiled upper-crust deb type who loves pulling pranks on those she's upset with. We find out at the start that April was killed at school.

The "Before" and "After" chapters moved the storyline along - Before started us out with the growth of the friendship, development of relationships along the way, and the struggle Hannah had with John Neville, a porter at the college who came off a bit creepy. "After", we find Hannah several years later, happily expecting, and married to April's boyfriend, Will.

The clues that were laid out along the way heavily indicated that the end may end up predictable - it's always the husband, right? In the changing timeline, however, the issue that came up most was the struggle to adjust and survive beyond the tragedy of finding one's best friend dead, enduring the trials and the constant meddling of journalists, paparazzi, and random people. The affects this stress had on Hannah's physical and mental state seemed to be the worst parts of it all.

The It Girl was entertaining and a page-turner but it doesn't touch In A Dark, Dark Wood or The Turn of The Key. I liked the structure of the novel - alternating chapters from before and after the murder. I also found the ending clever but I think this will be a book I will struggle to remember in a few months. This is a great book to bring on a trip and then leave at your destination because you will never re-read it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ruth Ware did it again! This book was amazing. I have read all of her novels, but this one knocks it out of the park. Hannah's best friend was murdered while they were in college. She thought she knew who did it, but does she really? Pick up this book when it comes out! You won't regret it.

Ruth Ware does it again!! She does not disappoint with her latest novel! This story will keep you on the edge of your seat and you'll find it hard to put it down once you pick it up! Highly recommend!!