A classic who dunit mystery brought to modern times, Ruth Ware keeps us guessing as always.

This was not my favorite from her, but it was still a solid page turner that left me guessing all the way through. Every time I thought I had it, I didn't!

April is the college student who seemingly has it all. Hannah and the other folks in the group struggle to piece together what happened to April the night she died and wondering if the wrong man was accused many years later.

Solid read, great for mystery lovers!

Ten years ago, Hannah Jones found herself sharing her freshman dorm room at Pelham College in Oxford with the quintessential “it” girl, April Clarke-Cliveden. As one character puts it, she had everything: looks, money, brains. That is until she was murdered, with Hannah finding the body, and providing key witness testimony against the man she saw fleeing the scene of the crime. That man, John Neville, was convicted, and maintained his innocence until the day he died in prison. Now Hannah is left to wonder if perhaps she got it all wrong all those years ago. You see, April was beautiful, and smart, but she also could be cruel and selfish, and there were plenty of people who had reason to be angry with her. Did Hannah send an innocent man to prison, and if she did, not only does she have to come to terms with that, but also… does that mean there is a killer still out there?

Ruth Ware’s The It Girl is told in (mostly) alternating chapters the occur either in the time at Oxford leading up to the murder, or 10 years later as Hannah processes Neville’s death and its implications. As with many novels that work in dual timelines, one is often stronger than the other. In this case, I much preferred reading the “Before” sections. I didn’t find Hannah compelling as a character at all, and while she is our POV for the whole book, the early chapters dragged much less. This took me over a week to read, which is ages for me when it comes to thrillers. I just barely felt compelled to pick it up, especially the “After” chapters. The pace did pick up a bit toward the end, but by then I knew where it was all going, so there still wasn’t the same kind of exciting page-turning feeling one wants from this kind of book.

I had a pretty good idea of the who very early on, and the why about midway through, but kept doubting myself because I couldn’t figure out the how. Once revealed I found it clever and have to give credit for that, as well as credit for some great red herrings. I think I would have enjoyed this one quite a bit more, and rated it higher, had a lot of the “After” section been edited down. Much was unnecessary (including an entire character introduced later on that added so much bulk for no reason) and/or repetitive. Also, a chapter toward the end had me rolling my eyes. We all know what you’re doing Ms. Ware. That’s not fooling anyone and I refuse to give it “twist” credit, which I have to assume was the intent.

Oxford England, college dorm, group of friends or are they.? The murder of a roommate leads to the imprisonment of a porter at the school. When he dies in prison it raises the question did he do it.
Hannah, the other roommate is pregnant and married to Will. She was the one who testified at the trial and now doubts what she said. As. She begins to investigate she accuses everyone in the small group before finally learning the truth.
Reader will suspect several as the author has a talent for hiding the truth in plain sight.
Worth the read.

Once again Ruth Ware has created a suspenseful novel that kept me on my toes and couldn't put down.
Can't wait for her next one.

I've come to count on Ruth Ware to deliver a suspenseful twisty thriller and The It Girl fulfilled every expectation.

Roommates April and Hannah became fast friends during their first term at Oxford. With Will, Ryan, Emily and Hugh, they all grew close over those weeks, until Hannah discovered April's body in their dorm room. Now a decade later, the man convicted of the murder dies in prison and a journalist reaches out to Hannah with some questions about what Hannah saw that night. Hannah and Will are expecting their first child together and should be putting the past behind them, but Hannah can't dismiss her doubts. As she begins to search for answers, the path is full of twists and turns.

The It Girl definitely kept me guessing and was the perfect suspenseful read. When I thought I had a suspect, another twist would be thrown in and I'd be left perplexed all over again.

I received this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed Ruth Ware's other works, but unfortunately The It Girl was just dreadful. I found it repetitive, dull, and illogical. I generally can guess who did it and that's fine if I enjoy the journey to get there, but The It Girl just plodded along and I finished out of principle.

In this thriller, a group of college students revisit their friend's death when they find out that the man convicted of the murder has died in prison. Hannah is contacted by a reporter that is writing another story about new evidence in the case. Hannah is reluctant at first to dig up the bad memories of her roommate, April, and the horrific death on campus. As Hannah uncovers more information by revisitng old college friends, she finds out things she never knew. The information puts stress on her pregnant body and her marriage to Will. The college friends find out things that they never knew about each other and facts the have been hidden for over a decade.

The book is written in present and past tense alternating each chapter. I found the plot very slow in the first half of the book. However, I stuck with the book and it picked up in the second half of the book.

I kept expecting more. Found the story to be a bit lackluster. It took a long time to get going and when I finally got to the interesting part it let me down. I’ve liked her other books better. Thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC. (Better late than never)

A who done it book that takes you through lots of twists and turns. At one point I wasn’t sure what really happened or if she made the whole ordeal up!

If asked to reflect on her time at Oxford, Hannah Jones would not describe a place on campus, she would not describe a favorite class, she would, instead, describe a person; April Clarke-Cliveden. April opened a new world for working-class Hannah. April was the epitome of an "It Girl." She had the posh accent, the money, the glittering wardrobe, and the group of devoted and loyal followers. As she drew Hannah into her orbit, they became inseparable. The more Hannah learned about April, however, the more she found that beneath that shining veneer of charm and class there lurked a cruel and vicious streak that could lash out at anyone or anything April deemed a threat. Still, when April was found murdered in their dorm room during their second term Hannah found it hard to believe that anyone could snuff out such a bright flame.

Ten years later Hannah is working in a bookstore, expecting her first child, and still utterly consumed by the loss of April. She is shaken to her core when she receives two pieces of startling news, first that John Neville, the man convicted of April's murder has died in prison, and second that a reputable reporter is doing a podcast on the case and believes that John Neville was innocent of the murder.

As Hannah reckons with the fact that her testimony may have put an innocent man behind bars for more than a decade, she reaches out to old friends, starts sifting through old memories, and becomes determined to get to the truth of what really happened the night of April's murder. The deeper she digs the more she realizes her old friends may not be the people she thought them to be, and one may go as far as committing a second murder to keep the secrets of the past buried there.

From the queen of the modern mystery, Ruth Ware, "The It Girl" is a must-read for fans of the thriller genre. It is cunningly crafted, well-plotted, and thoroughly enjoyable. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the novel, and although I thought I was piecing together the clues as I explored along with Hannah, I was absolutely shocked by the reveal.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books, Scout Press, for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "The It Girl" in exchange for an unbiased review!

Another excellent novel by Ruth Ware, who is becoming my queen of the Thriller!! I was immediately intrigued by this text and couldn't put it down! Can't wait for Ms. Ware's next novel

I'm not sure how Ruth Ware does it, but she is amazing at writing thrillers and mysteries. If you liked any other Ruth Ware books, I highly recommend The It Girl.

Ruth Ware has become an auto-read author for me in the last couple years and THE IT GIRL did not disappoint! The plot and characters kept me interested all the way through. I would definitely recommend this to others that enjoy being thrilled.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for access to an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Ruth Ware is one of my auto buy authors, and I think I’ve read all her books, but one! So naturally The It Girl ended up high on my anticipated reads list for 2022. I love books that center on reuniting with college friends and a good dual time-lined mystery.

In terms of Ruth Ware book rankings, I think this is my second favorite. My favorite remains The Turn of the Key.

I really liked the idea of this story, and it definitely had me fooled. I just thought it could have been a little shorter. The finished copy has 420 pages so it is a longer read then I would generally go for, but I’ll read anything @ruthwarewriter writes.

If you haven’t read this one and you are a fan of Ruth Ware def make sure you check this one out!

OMG
I had no idea what to expect and this book blew me away.
Fans of Girl on the Train will love this book.

A psychological thriller that you cannot put down!

My hopes for this book were so so high. While I did enjoy it, it was not the dark academic mystery I was hoping for. Although I do always love an Oxford setting

Ruth Ware always writes a good twisty thriller, and this is no exception. From the outset, it is clear that Hannah's new roommate and friend at Oxford, April, was going to end up dead, since the book is told partly in flashbacks. In the present, the recent death of April's convicted murderer, who went to his grave proclaiming his innocence, is causing Hannah to have second thoughts about the testimony that helped convict him. Since the murder, she has suffered from anxiety stemming from her days at Oxford, and with the publicity surrounding the murderer's death, she begins to fall apart. Her only recourse is to put her doubts to rest, regardless of the consequences.

This is the story of a much-intertwined group of students at Oxford, and how one of the group's members need for attention eventually led to the estrangement of most and death of one. There is an undertone of predatory male behavior that suits these modern times and casts a light on how it may have been handled in the past. As always, Ware imbues the story with a strong sense of menace and lots of red herrings to keep the reader engaged. The descriptions of Oxford and its surrounds are deftly rendered, transporting the reader to the locale.

Characterization is well done, with one exception. Although some hints are dropped to provide support for a very sudden change in behavior of one of the characters, a change that is crucial to the plotting of the resolution, I was not convinced. As a plot device, it works; as a piece of character development, it does not.

Overall, this was an immersive diversion that I very much enjoyed.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

initial thoughts: good, not great.

what worked: the multiple timelines, and I felt like I knew Hannah and April at the end of the story. the ending was a surprise, and it was fun getting there, to find out ‘whodunnit.’

what didn’t work: I felt like I’d read this story before. maybe I’ve just read lots of “dark academia” lately, but there wasn’t anything new or exciting in this book. it still worked and I’d recommend it, but definitely not my favorite of this genre.

Another solid mystery by Ruth Ware - brisk, fully developed characters, and a lovely way with language.