I fell in love with THE IT GIRL. The characters are deep with wonderfully complex and entangled relationships. The writing soars. At the heart of it all, there’s a great and memorable puzzle.

New Ruth Ware? Yes please!  The It Girl did NOT disappoint. The setting was different from other Ruth Ware books and had me hooked from the beginning. This fulfilled my love of dark academia and dueling timelines. Hannah and April were a duo I just couldnt get enough of. I found myself rooting for Hannah through the very last page. This book kept me guessing for quite awhile, so many suspects! Also, the cover is just striking 🤩

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced read.

Hannah met her roommate April her first day at Oxford and could tell immediately she was far from extraordinary. April was devious, intelligent, and captivating, and quickly creating their inner circle of friends. But Hannah comes home one night to find out university It Girl has been killed; Hannah is the only thing close to an eye-witness, but years later when the convicted culprit dies in prison after steadfastly maintaining his innocence, Hannah is beginning to question if he had really been the one to kill April.

This book had twists and turns, multiple possible suspects, and an ending that I thought I had predicted but threw me for a loop. Ruth Ware’s story is alike in theme to “In My Dreams I Hold a Knife” so if you’re looking for a similar thrill this is a perfect pick.

Hannah can't believe her luck, a place at Pelham and new friends who accept her as one of them. Her roommate April is the Best friend Hannah never had, and tragedy strikes. Hannah knows who did it, her words sent him to jail, but ten years later new to her information may change her mind. Did she really know her "friends"?

I couldn't put this book down. The setting and characters drew me in as chapters switched between "before" and "after" April's death. As the book switches to primarily "after" chapters, the pace intensifies as Hannah begins to uncover secrets and questions the guilt of the man convicted by her testimony. Well-written, with well-developed characters and shocking twists and turns, this book is a captivating read.

Academic suspense of the type where a group of friends at an elite school experience a trauma that comes back to haunt them years later.

The past storyline is the most interesting, following Hannah, a middle-class student from an average school, as she enters the hallowed halls of Oxford and is befriended by her posh roommate, April. This is pretty standard fare but I enjoyed it. Most of the suspense is generated by a creepy porter who seems to be stalking Hannah, while the girls and their friends have the usual teenage dramas -- until April is murdered.

In the present timeline 20 years later, the porter who was convicted of the murder dies in prison, professing his innocence until the end. Hannah agonizes about her testimony and goes over and over and over possible scenarios in her head in a way that I found repetitious and frustrating, especially since I figured out the mystery early on and anticipated the grand finale.

Enjoyable but not Ware's best, in my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

I’ve enjoyed all of Ruth Ware’s books and think this is the best one yet. The writing and dialogue seem to have improved a lot and the plot is the usual twisty narrative we’ve come to love from this author. I like a campus setting and Oxford is a wonderful location to revisit in grand detail in these pages. The two timelines introduce us to characters then and now and the murder mystery did have me guessing even though my first guess was correct. For some reason, I didn’t believe in Hannah and Will’s relationship and maybe that was intentional on the part of the author. I suspected him but that seemed too simple. It was hard to tell if the narration was unreliable or not. I enjoyed all the characters and their back stories and had moments when I thought each of them was the murderer. This is definitely a page turner and a very entertaining read; the plot was compulsive, and the switching timelines kept me on the edge of my seat. I read obsessively until I was done. Thanks for the advance copy and I will read the next one from Ware as soon as I can!

Having read every single book that author, Ruth Ware, has written, I was thrilled to be approved for an early read of her latest, "The It Girl". It certainly lived up to my expectations! The academic setting in Oxford and shifting time lines were very well done. I found the story, about a past murder of a female college student, April, and her murder, fairly engaging, but perhaps a bit derivative. Still, I would recommend it highly & think it should do very well. My thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the complimentary DRC, the exchange of which did not affect my opinions.

A suspenseful who done it, that I couldn’t put down. Well developed characters who were as likable as they were untrustworthy.

This book was great! I really like Ruth Ware but don’t always feel like her books live up to my expectations for thrillers. This one though definitely did. The characters were compelling the story line was interesting and kept me guessing. I definitely would recommend it.

Another plot twister from this author. I’ll be honest, she’s in my head at this point, so I think I was mostly messing with myself - is it the husband? That feels too obvious but maybe she’s going to fake me out. Or is it the narrator? Or what about the friend? I did figure it out around 80% of the way through, although it was someone I’d suspected earlier and then eliminated. I should have known!

Anyway, I liked the time hopping and the overall plot. I did find it a bit slow to start, but as with all of her books, it picked up steam about halfway through. A solid 4 star thriller.

I am a huge fan of Ruth Ware! This book was amazing! It reminded me a lot of the lying game because it jumps back and forth from past to present. It was hard to stop reading! I think throughout the book I suspected every single person as the killer! But when it was finally revealed I was in complete shock! I would have never guessed that one! I loved it!

A good read -- I felt that it fell a little flat compared to her earlier books. It seemed predictable at several points, and there was never rely a lot of doubt about who was responsible.

Ruth Ware does it again! Hannah arrives at Oxford College from a middle class background in southern England. Her roommate, April, is very wealthy and totally different from Hannah. They become best friends anyway. They form a small group of friends and navigate their first year together, until...Hannah finds April strangled in their suite. One of the school porters is convicted mostly on Hannah's testimony. Ten years later, he dies and his guilt publicly speculated upon. Hannah gets drawn back into her nightmare, and nearly dies herself in the process.

Wow! Ruth Ware does it again. The perfect thrill full of twists and turns. What if you had it all wrong? What would you do. Ruth Ware crafts her characters in such a way that you jump when they jump, you worry when they worry. What a wild ride!

First off, I am a huge fan of Ms. Ware. I have read all of her books and have not been disappointed. I didn’t think this book was necessarily “bad”, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I devoured The Lying Game, and The Death of Mrs. Westaway in hours, and The It Girl did not draw me in. I didn’t seem to care about the characters or why I was SUPPOSED to care that April died. (Lol that seems harsh). But, it took every ounce of me forcing myself to finish this book.
There’s some twists and turns that come and it does spike some curiosities, but I could’ve been fine to not finish the book.

2.5 stars rounded up

I found this book hard to get into at first, I think the dual timelines threw me a little. However, once I got into the swing of things I was intrigued. I didn't find this to be as compelling as some of her other books. The way she wrote the escalating events in Before with John Neville was the most gripping part of the story to me. April didn't really strike me as someone who was nice or good, so I didn't fell terribly upset at her murder. The Will and Hannah love story felt forced almost? I don't know it didn't quite strike the right tone. I liked how the author made it clear the cost and weight of this tragedy on everyone involved and how impactful it was on their lives even years later. Overall, it wasn't my favorite book by her, but it was a good read.

Another great mystery by Ruth Ware. Thanks to Net Galley for an early copy.
Each one of her books are so original that they are the best.
The It Girl is set at Oxford in England and centers around Hannah and her new roommate, April. Great characters and each a suspect when one of them is found dead.
Not to miss - watch for its release in July.

This book was rather a slow-burn with much back and forth and little much happening. Only until I was around 30% did it grab my attention. Once this started rolling for me, it was enjoyable and I finished the last 70% in one day as the story developed more. Could have been 5 stars if not for the drag in the beginning. As always, I believe Ruth Ware is a wonderful storyteller. I have listened to her books in the past, and would be interested to see if I would be engaged earlier in the book with her usual narrator Imogen Church...

Ware’s books are always a satisfying read. This one is missing the creepy element I expect and love from Ware. The main character Hannah is kind of meek and sad but her devotion to April is heartwarming. The twists at the end will have your pulse pounding. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this very entertaining mystery!