This is the first Ruth Ware book I've read, and one of the best books I've read in a long time. It goes back and forth between two timelines, "before" and "after". Ware does a great job of setting everyone up to seem suspicious, and the truth truly shocked me. I felt kind of smug while reading thinking I knew what happened, but I did not, and I loved being wrong! Thanks, Net Galley, for the chance to read this book.

absolutely loved this book! ruth ware always leaves me on the edge of my seat and this thriller was no exception. I know many patrons that i can recommend this book to

As always, Ruth Ware writes a thrilling twisty story, this time with a background of dark academia that is the perfect autumn read. I found the ending to be slightly predictable by the time I got there, but that honestly did not take away from how much I enjoyed the book.

The story focuses on Hannah, whose evidence convicted a porter at her Oxford University college of the murder of ‘It Girl’ April. Now a decade later that evidence is cast into doubt, meaning the real killer could still be out there

The man convicted of killing April claimed his innocence up until his recent death in prison, and now a journalist is digging into the past to find the truth. As more information resurfaces, Hannah realizes she doesn't really know her close circle of college friends including one of them who is now her husband.

The story goes back and forth between the present day and when Hannah and April were at University. The book is well written and I really enjoyed the twist in it!!

Another winner Fire Ruth Ware!!!

🔎 I have only read one other Ruth Ware book (The Turn of the Key) and I found it to just be okay. The main character in that story did some really strange/unreasonable things and I just didn’t find the story to be compelling. While I felt that the MC in The It Girl also did some ridiculous things (particularly with a potentially high-risk pregnancy), overall I enjoyed this book much more.

🔎 I love novels with university settings. They really appeal to me for some reason. Maybe because it reminds me of my time in college – although my college experience definitely didn’t involve murder!

🔎 There are a lot of curve balls thrown into this story and I found them all to be reasonable! I hate red herrings that don’t make sense! This story took you all over the place with rational possibilities and I appreciated that.

🔎 I was 100% positive I knew the killer. But I was wrong!! I really love it when an author can keep a secret from me until the very end!

🔎 My only issue with the book is that it was a bit too long IMO. There was a lot of repetitive info in the middle and it plodded along a bit too much for me.

🔎 If you love academia-related thrillers, past/present narratives, and a solid murder mystery, then I’m confident you’d enjoy this book.

Thank you @netgalley, @gallerybooks, and @scoutpressbooks for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Unfortunately this one was a letdown for me. I loved the premise, and the flashback chapters that took place on the college campus, but I found overall that the story dragged on.This is a book that could have been improved if it was 100 pages shorter. There just seemed to be a lot of time where nothing was really happening, and I got very bored. Even at the reveal, I was neither surprised or invested in it. I really like a lot of Ruth Ware's books, but this one was a miss for me.

Loved it. Another great thriller by Ruth Ware. I can't gobble up her books fast enough, and they are so much fun to read. This one was no exception!

Ruth Ware is always a little hit or miss for me -- sometimes I absolutely LOVE her books, but other times they fall a little flat. I'm very happy to say that this one was a hit for me, I really loved it. It's got that sort of dark academia, scholarly-spooky vibe that I've come to really enjoy in recent books - especially ones where the plot involves a dead character, and whodunnit situations.

I loved the way the backstory and current present day time were revealed here, sometimes a book can do them in a weird order, making it feel a little confusing or convoluted -- like the stuff is being revealed intentionally for shock value rather than to deliver the story. The author did an excellent job with the reveals here, and her writing is SO engaging (even when I don't like her books, I love her writing).

Definitely a win I'll recommend!

I definitely still look forward to every new Ruth Ware title. Great writing, and she always delivers.

Ruth Ware is an automatic read author for me. She never misses with her books.
The It Girl is a dark academic mystery. Hannah meets April in college and April is a bright, outgoing it girl who has everything going for her. However, when April ends up dead during her second term, all her friends are sent reeling. Ten years later, Hannah is married and expecting a baby. When the man convicted of killing April dies in prison, she is thrust back into the middle of the story again.
This kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. I loved the characters and the dark academic vibe.

I received a free copy for a fair and impartial review.

The It Girl was okay.
I was very sure that would become one of my favorites, but the story didn't draw me in. had true potential, but the telling left much to be desired. started and ended strong, but the middle was hazy. The narrative jumped around, leaving me confused. The writing was occasionally good, with a few genuinely humourous moments and some highly quotable lines. had so much potential but ultimately let me down.

The It Girl was another great book by UK author Ruth Ware. The suspense was slow building and the author took plenty of time on character development. I really felt like I was at school alongside Hannah, Will, and April. The book does take a bit to get exciting, but it's worth the wait. I thought I had April's murder figured out, but I was definitely surprised by the reveals. Can't wait to read more thrillers from Ware. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

A very solid mystery that kept me guessing! Seriously, I thought I had the ending figured out about five different times and was wrong each time… that is my idea of a great mystery. I will say, it could have been about 100 pages shorter.

4.5/5

Well Ruth Ware has gone and done it again and fully redeemed herself! While I wasn't a huge fan of One by One, I had high hopes that the next book would be better and of course, it was. I loved that not only is a lot of The It Girl set at Oxford but there is plenty going on in both timelines to really keep things interesting. I loved the way Ware blended the past and the present together until everything ultimately comes to a head, and there was exceptionally amazing suspense built by constantly switching between the two. April was the epitome of an it girl, and I could easily see why Hannah was drawn to her. The school setting is one of my favorites and I especially loved the way Ware brought Oxford to life despite being nervous about it.

I was also completely blown away by how the story ended and despite sensing something a little fishy, I couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly where that would lead. There was one aspect that just killed me and I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but the rest was perfection and totally shocking. As if you need another audiobook recommendation from me, but if you do, I will say that The It Girl is a great one! Imogen Church quickly became one of my favorite narrators and I have listened to so many books now that she has voiced. She did an amazing job with this story, and I found her very fitting to voice Hannah. Church is incredibly talented, and I promise you that you can’t go wrong with the audio. It is about 17 hours long as the book is a little chunky, and I swear Church literally made it speed by. This is a crazy ride and if you enjoy Ware’s novels you will not be disappointed!

I’ve enjoyed so many of Ruth Ware’s books, and can always count on her to bring the atmospheric settings and gothic mysteries and couldn’t wait to read her newest release, THE IT GIRL.

The book switches between Hannah’s arrival at Oxford and leading up to April’s murder and present day. Overall the plot was entertaining and I thought the pacing was done well too.

*many thanks to Gallery Books for the gifted copy for review

You know that one person that has everything and everyone as friends, the It Girl. April Clarke-Cliveden was just such a person and the first person that Hannah Jones met at Oxford. April is the center of a tight group of friends and includes Hannah. When April is murdered the group shatters and each makes their own separate ways.

Ten years later, the person who was convicted of murder, a night porter at the college, dies and a journalist contacts Hannah to say that he was innocent. Who else would want to murder the popular April? Can it possibly be a member of their group of friends who all have secrets?

I’m a huge Ruth Ware fan. Her books atmospheric, claustrophobic in the best way, and tend to veer towards modern gothic. She excels at a locked-room mystery. I’d be hard pressed to think of a current author who builds settings quite the way she does (the opening chapters at the desolate carnival strip in The Death of Mrs. Westaway are more vivid than a motion picture in my mind). Her latest book The It Girl felt a bit different from her others stylistically and while I really enjoyed this insightful and spine-tingling story, I definitely missed that extra gothic magic that Ruth Ware typically has in her books.

Ruth Ware’s settings usually steal the show for me in her books. The places she creates tend to take great stories to next level. In The It Girl, we got a touch of that in the flashbacks to college at Oxford and the suite where Hannah and April meet and live together. When our narrator Hannah Jones first arrives at Oxford, she meets the titular “it girl” April Coutts-Clivedon. April is a rich society girl, an early influencer when it was considered elite (before every reality tv contestant became one), and an actress. Her beauty is only outmatched by her charisma—April is one of those people who you want to be around and have like you.

Hannah couldn’t be more different—quiet, shy, and unsure of herself on her first day at Oxford, Hannah feels lucky to befriend someone like April. They quickly form a tightknit group of friends and Hannah finds herself nursing a secret crush on their friend (and April’s boyfriend) Will. But Hannah has other worries—namely a porter named John Neville, who she continues to have unsettling interactions with. When April is murdered towards the end of their second year and Hannah spots Neville coming down the stairs the very same night, her testimony puts him in prison for April’s murder.

In present day, April is married to Will and expecting their first child. She hasn’t ever totally processed what happened in university. In fact, she dropped out after April’s murder and never returned. When Neville dies in prison and a reporter reaches out to Hannah to talk to her about her testimony, he talks to Hannah about his theory that Neville was innocent all along.

The novel switches back and forth between Hannah’s arrival at Oxford and the months leading up to April’s murder and the present day, when Hannah reluctantly considers whether she could have helped put the wrong person away ten years earlier. The plot is cleverly crafted, and the scenes are compelling. I found myself a bit more interested in the past storyline, but that was in part because April was such a dynamic character and I was fascinated by the friend group and their secrets. I particularly liked the exploration of the trauma survivors go through and I enjoyed how detailed the stories of even the side characters were. Truly the characters alone make this book worth the read!

Ultimately, this is a great drama and story, but the mystery itself lacked a bit of Ware’s unique style. I really enjoyed the book and I only noticed the difference from my expectations because I am such a huge fan of Ware’s work. The ending is satisfying if not entirely unsurprising. This is a book that isn’t great because of the twists, but because of how much everything that happens fits together when the final reveal is complete.

I recommend this book for those who love a book with a compelling cast of characters and a delicate but compelling plot!

I was so excited to receive an early copy of The It Girl!! I love Ruth Ware’s work and this book was no exception.
Our story is about a group of college friends and the disappearance of one of their group members, the most popular one. A man was convicted of her murder and he died in prison. However, new evidence has come to light that he may not have committed the crime.
The friends struggle to come to terms with this information. They felt things were settled and resolved, and now there are new suspects. Can anybody be trusted? What really happened to April?
Ruth Ware doesn’t disappoint. Thrilling, edge of your seat writing. April is the stereotypical “rich girl,” so at first I struggled to identify with her as a character. However, the friend group was varied, and I felt connected to other characters in the group, which worked since April was deceased and her friend Hannah was asking questions 10 years later.
Another brilliant mystery by Ruth Ware!!

Bought this book for the library and it is takennn by out often. Another winner by Ruth Ware. Thank you, NetGalley!

I usually am in awe of everything Ruth Ware writes, but this one wasn’t my favorite. It felt so slow and dragged out. The end was the only remotely good part. I didn’t love any of it. The characters were mostly annoying, and the plot felt so slow. I wouldn’t recommend this one.