Ware continues to impress readers with her cleverly plotted mysteries. This latest is set on the hallowed grounds of Oxford. Hannah is a new student of modest means paired up with April, a roommate who is rich, beautiful and mesmerizing. When April is murdered, Hannah's eyewitness testimony convicts a creepy porter at the college, but after many years he has always maintained his innocence. Could Hannah really have been mistaken? What would be the harm in investigating to settle her doubts. The clues are all present but Ware keeps us guessing and then in the spirit of Agatha Christie reveals what we have missed.

Another awesome read by Ruth Ware! Her books keep getting better and better. I was expecting suspense, mystery and a good storyline and Ware delivered on all three.

Ruth Ware does it again! Every book of hers satisfies my criteria for a satisfying mystery! The It Girl is just another example—suspense (check), interesting setting (check--especially as I wasn’t aware of the different colleges within Oxford), twists and turns (check), and fast paced storyline (check). In this book, Ware uses a dual timeline flipping between Oxford and Edinburgh to move the story along. Numerous instances in the earlier timeline at Oxford made me feel like I was right back in college myself—the camaraderie of friends, pursuit of study, and wild times exploring identity. The exception to my college experience was the magical Pelham/Oxford setting in this book. This educational institute, with its porters and pristine grasses, provides the perfect setting for a heinous crime to be committed—murder by strangulation. A group of six friends is suddenly now five and they will never be the same again.

In the “After” timeline in Edinburgh, the murder is brought to the forefront of life once again when the alleged murderer dies in prison. An investigative journalist, who was recently interviewing the murderer, follows up on the allegations that he was innocent. And suddenly all five friends are reacquainted under unwelcome circumstances. We come to see the effects that the murder has had on all of them through the years, but the story really centers on Hannah. Hannah’s testimony was the clutch evidence that put the murderer behind bars. Unwilling to have a guilty conscience knowing that she possibly put an innocent man in jail, Hannah becomes the driving force in trying to find out the truth…what really occurred that one fateful night at Pelham?!?!

4 stars for a great read! Special thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Back when I first started reviewing books online in 2016, I landed a copy of what unbeknownst to me was going to be one of my all-time favorite thrillers, In A Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. Ruth Ware quickly became one of my favorite authors and I have loved every book she has written. Needless to say, The It Girl is one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and I found myself jumping for joy when I was approved for a review copy!

On her first day at Oxford Hannah Jones meets her new roommate April Coutts-Cliveden the ultimate ‘it girl’. Hannah who comes from a humble working-class background meets April who comes from a very wealthy family. April pulls Hannah into her world and introduces her to her group of friends, Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily. But by the second term at Oxford, April was dead.

A decade later Hannah and Will are expecting their first child together when the man convicted of killing April, John Neville a former porter at Oxford, is found dead. A journalist investigating the case discovers new evidence in April’s murder that indicates Neville may be innocent.

Told from Hannah’s point of view alternating between the past and present.

I'm going to be brief with my review because this is one of those that's very hard to discuss without giving too much away!
First I want to discuss the things I liked about this one. I loved the cleverly planted red herrings in this one. Guessing the whodunit was the fun part of this one. At one point or another, I had the crime pinned on every single character. When the perp was revealed, I was very surprised, my guesses were way off. I also enjoyed the suspense and tension-building parts of this story towards the end.

Even though I did enjoy this one, I felt as if it was too long and drawn out. At a few points it felt too repetitious, about half of it could be removed and it would make a much more exciting and interesting story. I just know that mystery fans and fans of Ruth Ware will love this one! I cannot wait to recommend this one to my fellow readers!

The It Girl will be available on July 12! Many thanks to Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tale of April, a university student at Oxford, dubbed "The It Girl" because she seemed to have everything - beauty, wealth, social success, academic success, who was killed in her second term and whose accused killer was convicted and eventually died in prison. Her roommate and best friend at uni, Hannah, discovered the body, and the notoriety of the case has marked her in the decade since. Now married and expecting her first child, Hannah is confronted with the possibility, raised by a thoughtful journalist, that the convicted man, one of the porters in her hall of residence, may not in reality have been the killer. Hannah decides, after years of trying to block out the entire episode and its aftermath, to attempt to discover the truth of the crime.

The book alternates chapters between After (the present time) and Before (two terms at Oxford's Pelham College 10 years previous). Other students, tutors, professors are introduced and described in detail. The events of the time at Oxford are followed up to the fateful night when April is found dead. The reader's job is to analyze the people and events, Before and After, and try to figure out what really happened and who might be responsible.

Ruth Ware writes well, and she provides a few clues in the course of the narrative, but unless the reader is very astute (and I wasn't), the truth will not become clear until the final chapters in the book. The various characters are well-drawn, and we feel for these young people, all bright, most away from home for the first time, all striving to succeed at their studies and in their lives. It's interesting to see them 10 years later, the "After" time of the book. The reader may be left with a range of feelings towards the "It Girl" and the others in the tale. It's a thought-provoking and interesting book.

This was so good! Easily my favorite Ruth ware book of all time! I loved that none of these characters were perfect; everyone including the victim was flawed. I figured out pretty early on who the murderer was but couldn’t figure out how at all. Well written and kept me thoroughly invested into the story. Great read!

📖: The It Girl
✍🏼: Ruth Ware
💁🏻‍♀️: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️// 5
🗓: July 12, 2022

🤔💭: First off thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press Books for my eARC and I am voluntarily leaving my review! Ok so for fans of Ruth Ware, this is a must read; I think this one was my favorite one by her so far! This had the perfect blend of mystery and suspense and I was hooked from beginning to end. This book shifts timelines from the past during when Hannah was in college until present day. When Hannah first arrived at Oxford, April was the first person she met and they soon became great friends along with their inseparable group; Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily. By the end of their second term, April is dead and now a decade later her murder still haunts Hannah. Her convicted killer just died in prison so she thinks she can finally put the past behind her, until a journalist reaches out to her presenting new evidence that he may have been innocent. Hannah starts to reconnect with her college friends to delve deeper into April’s death, but she starts to realize they all have something to hide and everything just starts spiraling from this point. This one definitely kept me intrigued and guessing until the end; loved it!

✅: I would definitely recommend checking this one out when it’s released in July! 👍🏼

Eh <shrug>. That's basically how I feel about "The It Girl" after finishing it.

There were plenty of misdirects that weren't too out-of-left-field that kept me guessing and rethinking who the culprit would actually be in the end, so that was fun. Can't really go into detail about the slightly annoying/less-good parts of the book without spoilers. It started out fine, and I didn't really have many complaints for lots of the book. One non-spoilery thing that got a bit irritating: there was an awful lot of (generally unnecessary) focus on Hannah's pregnancy, despite the book ending before she ever gives birth. Another fairly minor complaint: lots of the book (characters AND situations) came across like an over-dramatized screen adaption of a book.

This book was sooooooo slow, but a good read. It was complex and interesting, but for me it was overwhelmed by the lag.

Ruth Ware is an automatic read author for me. I have LOVED several of her books, even though I think I am a bit hard to please as far as thrillers go. There was a lot I liked about "The It Girl". Although it seems that the "friends from college 10 years later" thing is getting VERY popular in the genre (Friends Like These, The Hunting Party), I liked the way this crew was portrayed.. I liked the main character, and the back and forth timeline did make the book a quick and easy read.
But.. the timing of the plot and the ending just didn't do it for me. I felt that the book was pointing in a very obvious direction for the entirety. It didn't really build anywhere, other than ruling other people out for a long time. There (finally) comes a twist but it doesn't come until the 90% mark. It is very dramatic, but rushed, and to me, it doesn't fit with the characters that had been built up throughout the book. and the "why" seems pretty unbelievable. There are also some subplots that seem to vanish into nowhere with no resolution.

A decent mystery that pulls the reader along at a pretty good clip. The story alternates between 10 years ago, when the characters were college students at Oxford and a murder occurred, to the present day. The present day storyline felt very much "already done a million times," where the people question how the case was resolved in the past, begin a new investigation, learn things that maybe they wish they didn't, etc. This might be my least favorite Ruth Ware mystery so far, just because it really didn't impress me in the end. But it gets the mystery job done, so it's still a good mystery read.

When you get your hands on the new Ruth Ware novel, you do not wait to read it! Loved it!

Hannah's friend April was murdered back when they were in Oxford. Hannah was a key witness in the trial of a porter at the school. Years later, someone is making a podcast to prove his innocence when the porter, john Neville, dies. Hannah has lived with a fear for a long time that maybe she was wrong and he was innocent. She sets out to find the truth.

The story goes back and forth between then and now. Hannah is married to April's ex-boyfriend Will and are expecting their first child. She now has to look at all her college gang with new eyes and that could even mean her husband.

I loved the back and forth with the story. You could be suspecting one person and then another one pops in. You are praying it's not that one person. Ruth Ware takes you right to the ledge to get to the truth. (I think I had it figured out at that point.) Just another outstanding mystery/thriller from one of the masters.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for an advance copy of this book for review. It publishes on July 12. Get your copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free preview of this book.

I was very excited about the premise and the setup- half of it takes place before the murder and the alternate chapters take place after, in the present. I thought it moved a bit too slowly at parts and dragged at times.

However I was constantly questioning and second-guessing what I thought the outcome would be. I cycled through many possible suspects- sometimes more than once, and was somewhat surprised by the ending.

(3.5 stars) This was an engaging murder mystery with a dark academia background. It follows two timelines: the past, leading up to the murder of a popular college student, and the present, showing the victim's roommate and her life now. Ten years have passed between the murder and the present day, and the murderer is in prison. But one day, evidence begins to suggest that the man in jail did not actually commit the crime. In present day, the surviving friends and family of the victim investigate the crime and try to determine the truth.
I thought I had this one figured out early on, but I was wrong, which was a pleasant surprise! While the book did feel slow at times, and the middle dragged a bit, there were enough twists and changes to keep me interested. I think fans of this genre will enjoy this book. It's also less scary than other Ruth Ware books I've read.
A weak spot in this book for me was the character development. I never really grew to care about the individuals themselves-I just wanted to know the plot and the answer to the mystery. I could still enjoy the book, but it's something to keep in mind if you primarily read books because of characters over plot.
Overall, I liked the vibes of this book and it felt like a pretty classic murder mystery. Some parts felt generic and familiar, but I was still surprised by some things. I wanted more from the characters, but had enough to enjoy following along with the mystery.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Excellent as usual! All of Ruth Ware's books are set in a different location - you don't feel like you are reading the same book over again. This one is set on the campus in Oxford. Believable characters and a great ending.

Well. WELL. I have a new favorite Ruth Ware book! DANG. I wasn't gripped by the first couple chapters, but then I was riveted and stayed up waaaaay past my usual "one more chapter" mindset and went straight into my "must.finish.this." mentality. Ware does a fantastic job of weaving between two timelines, the before and after, as she leads the reader through Hannah's journey to discover what truly happened the night her roommate April was murdered. So many clues and distractions and twists to keep you guessing, and keep you flipping pages to see how it all wraps up--a solid mystery, and the best I've read in some time.

HUGE thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview and review this title!

TLDR: I loved the twist and didn’t see it coming but it took way too long to get there.

This book follows Hannah, a woman whose roommate was murdered in their dorm room years ago. The killer, who was caught and put behind bars, dies of a heart attack. A reporter asks Hannah if she believes the right person was imprisoned and Hannah begins to question if her testimony was accurate.

I was really considering DNFing through the first 60%. I felt like there were too many scenes of both background and of the current timeline that dragged.

As soon as the “before” scenes stopped, the book picked up quickly and I was hooked.

This is definitely squarely a mystery, not really a thriller, so temper your expectations accordingly.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher of this novel for the E-Arc copy. I am rating this book based on my own personal opinion and was not given anything in return. I am not leaving a entire review because I read so many at a time that I physically cannot right now. #TheItGirl #NetGalley

Ahhhh, Ruth. I have read Ruth for years. Every single year. I'm there. Reading her newest. I completely understood the need to take a year off from releasing a title. I get it. All that to say....anticipation was the name of the game.

For this title we are in two of my favorite places to read about. Academia and Scotland. Although, I personally think this was a solid read. It was not my favorite of hers. I can't put my finger on why exactly....basically...I wanted to finish so I could move on. (I know, I know. Awful)

The characters were meh and the atmosphere was not there for me.

I think I will be in the minority here.

The It Girl was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and it did not disappoint!

I'm a HUGE Ruth Ware fan, have read all of her books and dropped EVERYTHING as soon as I was approved for her upcoming release.

I enjoyed the alternating timelines so much! Sometimes this can detract from the main story and confuse the reader, but this wasn’t the case. It's always so satisfying when everything starts clicking into place.

The characters were fantastic, the plot was intriguing, it was twisty and kept me guessing the entire way though the story! I didn't see that ending coming at all!!

So happy to have read an advance galley! Huge thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada!!