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.

For ten long years, ever since the trial, in fact, she's been hiding from that spotlight. For ten years April's death has been the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up, and the last thing at night. And she knows it's been that way for Will too- they have spent the whole of their relationship with the shadow of April's memory looming over them.

Hannah had lived the dream of academia. Going to the most prestigious centers of learning in all the world - Oxford University's famous Pelham College. It will be her new home for 3 years. She will in the same halls of Nobel prize winners, great thinkers, politicians, all surrounded by her greatest love- books. Her roommate is April. She is everything Hannah is not. She comes from money. She is beautiful, livens up a room. She also has what Hannah wants- Will.

The narration is done before and after. Before April was murdered and after the death of her accused killer Neville. Ten years until he died in prison, Neville has claimed his innocence. With his death, Hannah is haunted that she has stolen her best friend's life. She is now pregnant and married to Will. For 10 years she has been wanting to forget the day she discovered her friend's body. What lead to April's death. Did she send the wrong man to prison?

This is my first book by Ruth Ware and hopefully it will not be last. She writes beautifully and descriptively. You could hear the bells ringing each morning in Oxford. The anticipation of Hannah and April's friends as they started their education that would lead to life long dreams of changing the world. There is a dark side too that the killer could be someone close. Someone that is calculating and could Hannah be the next victim. Like peeling an onion, the before and after reveals what you thought you knew about those closest to you and what you are willing to face.

A special thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Another Ruth Ware winner. The it Girl brings you all of those elements that make this genre so incredibly appealing.

Ever since The Woman In Cabin 10 I have been a big fan of Ruth Ware's writing. Suspense, intrigue, action, and creepiness galore.

The It Girl is told in alternating timelines, before and after. Ten years ago, before, Hannah found her roommate, and good friend, April dead. Now, after, a married and pregnant Hannah has tried to put the past behind her and move on with her life. But when April's alleged killer dies in prison and a journalist brings the case into the spotlight again, unanswered questions and suspicions arise.

The premise of this book drew me in and the twists, turns, and suspense kept me pulled in. Love Ruth Ware and anxiously await her next book. Thank you to Gallery and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 4 stars.

I love a book with the backdrop of college or a boarding school, so this was an automatic good read for me. I loved how I kept second guessing who the “bad guy” was.

Ruth Ware is a great at what she does. It was an interesting story, everyone has something to hide. Read if you like duel timelines, college relationships over the years and twist endings. I have to say, I didn’t guess it.

This book was not it for me.

It was VERY slow and took me months to get through. I contemplated DNFing it a few times but stuck with it and am just sort of meh about it.

I've read a bunch of this author's books before and they have been hit or miss, some I love and some I could do without so I wasn't that surprised to find myself not into it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I might try this one on audio to see if I would enjoy it more in a different format.

There is something about British-based fiction that feels right at the holidays. The It Girl starts at Oxford University ten years ago, and the story is split between the events of then, between a group of first-year "friends" and present day in Edinburgh, around the main character, Hannah, and her discovery that a friend's murder might not have been what it seemed. Very clever plotting. I didn't figure it out until near the end, and over all, such a cozy feeling! Thank you to Netgalley for my copy. My opinions are my own.

Told through alternating past and present timelines, the story is presented through the main character, Hannah’s, point of view. I loved her detailed descriptions of Oxford’s campus- they made me feel like I was walking the grounds with her myself.

This was a solid dark academia style mystery, that left me guessing until the very end. It was slightly long for my liking, but I binged it in two days, so don’t let that stop you from picking it up!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an e-copy of this novel to read and review!

This book was interesting and had the makings of a great thriller, but I figured out who the villain was pretty early in the beginning which took away some of the luster from this read.

Any Ruth Ware novel is going to be a good one. The It Girl is just that. First, part of the story occurs in Oxford, a location which always, to me at least, elevates a story. Adding to that is a roommate situation that involves a little hero worship. This is all before we get to the murder itself. In the present day, tension automatically comes from the fact that both Hannah and Will are now married and still dealing with the fallout of April's murder, something that only increases as you discover the extent of their relationships with her. The only issue I have with this particular one is that I could not stand April, and I couldn't help but understand why someone might have problems with her to the point of wanting her dead. While I say that, I wonder if that is Ms. Ware's point, which is quite sneaky of her if true. Still, I did enjoy The It Girl and would rank it higher than some of her previous novels.

An outstanding thriller, dark academia novel, and examination of grief, I couldn't put THE IT GIRL down on vacation in Iceland. I wanted to be curled up, cozy, reading it as soon as the sun went down! I loved Hannah's journey from shocked bystander to active participant in unraveling her friend's death, and I thought the Oxford setting worked incredibly well. I also thought the Before/After chapter structure kept the pacing brisk while giving us just enough to make guesses about what happened. Despite all the clues, I didn't figure out the ending until Hannah did! A truly great reading experience. Must read more Ruth Ware!

All the twists and turns we’ve come to expect from Ruth Ware. A fun read! - One that will keep you up reading even when you have an early morning coming up.

Ruth Ware always has unexpected endings. I really enjoyed this book and moving from different time periods. The ending was quite unexpected.

DNF at about 1/3.

I'm usually a fan of these college-friends mysteries, but these characters just turned me off. And I guess I just wasn't in the mood for another one...

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.