This was a great palate cleanser thriller/mystery. I enjoy a college student trope, and this one didn’t disappoint. Margo goes off to college without her best friend, and struggles to fit in and find new friends, until a popular girl invites her to move in with her friend group. Immediately, Margo is happy to be hanging out with the popular students, but she seems to be reminded of her best friend at every turn. What happened to her best friend, and what are this new friends’ motives? This book did not disappoint! Grab it right away!

An eerie academic thriller that kept my body tensed up the entire time. Is it just me or are fraternities just soooo creepy?

Margot gets invited to move into a house with three other girls, and basically shit hits the fan slowly but surely. I really do enjoy a book with a girl group full of dynamic characters, and I thought Willingham did a great job making them fairly different but similar enough to be believeable friends. I liked flipping back between then and now, and that we only got the information on an as-needed basis.

And that ending??? Could've seen it coming, definitely didn't. My new fav SW thriller!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⁣⁣⁣
📖 I received this digital copy of Only if You’re Lucky from @netgalley and it was easily a 4 star read! I read this story while on vacation and I literally couldn’t put it down! I loved the suspense and the constant second guessing every step of the way. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect with the ending throughout the whole story!

This is actually my second Stacey Willingham book, “A Flicker in the Dark” being my first and I am so glad I picked this one because it was just as great of a book as the first one!

This was twisty with an unreliable narrator but I enjoyed the final twist and how it all came together. I love Stacey’s books and each one is so different than the last

These are the types of reviews I hate writing because I go into every book ready to love it. This is also my third Stacy Willingham book. I absolutely loved one and thought the other was just meh so I was really excited to read this one to see where I stand.

Well it looks like the first one I loved may have been a fluke because this was the most generic thriller I’ve read in a long time. The entire time I was thinking how Ruth Ware did it better with “The It Girl,” but also the it girl trope is just so exhausting. This TRIED to do something with that idea but most of the book was just our main character whining about the past and then whining about the current day. She was wholly uninteresting to follow and the end was pretty predictable which is unfortunate. The ending honestly just made me mad which is why this gets a 1 star.

Friendship is a funny thing. Friends they come and they go but it's the real ones that stick around. And Margot thinks she has finally found that in Lucy. They have complete opposite personalities but they are drawn to each other like moths to a flame. That is until secrets from the past start to unravel and their friendship is put to the ultimate test.

Will they come out of this game of betrayal and deceit unscathed...maybe but only if their lucky.

"Best friends for life is a myth, a fable. A feel-good fairytale we tell ourselves to avoid having to think too hard about facing the world alone."

Willingham delivers a dark and gritty tale of friendship, belonging and envy, that will make your hair stand on end.

Told in a dual timelines. Bouncing between before and after eventually merging together in the end.

Sleuthing your way through the plot right along with these characters trying to piece together clues leading up until the night that everything changed.

With characters that aren't really the easiest to relate to, but even with their unlikeable qualities you do gain a strong understanding as to why they behave the way they do.

Atmospheric descriptions that will instantly transport you to a run down off campus setting where fraternity houses is where you spend your weekends and truth or dare becomes a much more dangerous game than it was when you were younger.

And a psychological ending that is hard to see coming. That will defenitly leave you with that shock and awe type of feeling

A huge thank you to Stacy Willingham, @minotaur_books and @netgalley for the early acceptance to Rutledge College.

You’ve Been Accepted
Thank you, Minotaur Books, for the gifted copy of Only if You’re Lucky {partner}

Genre: Mystery
Format: 📖
Pub Date: 1.16.2024
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

“There is no right or wrong, noble or evil, but simply the existence of people who dabble in their own combination of each.”

I’ve never been drawn to books that center around toxic female friendships because the story ultimately takes on a YA element. While I got some YA element vibes from Only if You’re Lucky, it wasn’t overwhelming.

The author, Stacy Willingham, created the perfect setting in this book as it took me right back to my college days and had me thinking about all of the decisions I made (some reckless) and how I had no idea what I was doing. So, while the story was part of a mystery, it was also an exciting look at complex friendships at such a young and impressionable age.

I enjoyed reading along, trying to figure out what happened to Levi and Lucy because I felt the obvious answer was right beneath my nose. The ending and how everything played out felt unbelievable, leaving me disappointed.

😒 Unlikable characters
☢️ Toxic friendships
👩🏽‍🏫 College setting
✌🏼 Dual timeline
📖 Slow burn

🛑 alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual assault, hazingå

I recommend reading Only if You’re Lucky if you would enjoy watching Pretty Little Liars: The College Years.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC. I couldn't put it down. It's a slow burn until the last half but the anticipation builds and builds as you try to unravel the mystery surrounding this group of friends. Highly recommend to thriller lovers!

“If you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?” Lucy Sharpe

Wow. This was a really great book, took a little bit of time to get into but once I got into it I didn’t want to put it down. The twist and turns were so crazy. I have really enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s books so far.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for an e-ARC of Only If You’re Lucky in exchange for an honest review.

Margot’s best friend, Eliza, died unexpectedly the summer before they were supposed to start college together. Margot decides to go anyway, where she meets a new best friend, Lucy, who reminds her of Eliza. Margot is soon swept up in the drama and excitement that follows Lucy around until someone is murdered and Lucy disappears. Maybe Margot has taken on more than she was prepared for.

This fun thriller would be a great summertime read on the beach. There is college drama, romance, mystery and intrigue. The pace moves quickly but especially picked up for me about 70% of the way through the book. I think I read the remainder of the book in one sitting after that. There were lots of great twists and a fun ending, which I didn’t expect at all!

For me, most of the characters were very unlikeable, which I think was the point. But it made me have a hard time connecting with the book at times. Sloane and Nicole mostly made up for it, as I liked the sarcastic Sloane and the sweet Nicole. But the rest of the characters could be irritating. Using these frustrating characters helped elicit emotion toward what would or wouldn’t happen to them.

Overall, this book made me want to check out other books by the author, and it’s worth checking out at your local library!

I really enjoyed this college thriller. I loved the drama and suspense of the storyline. I am a big fan of Stacy’s work. It was different than her other books but still on the edge of your seat! 4 stars for me.

Margot is the quite wallflower, picked out of obscurity into the enigmatic Lucy Sharpe's eclectic friendship bouquet. Things are looking up for Margo as she ends up living with Lucy. But her entire world is rocked by a brutal murder and Lucy's disappearance. Willingham is truly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of psychological thrillers. She weaves webs so intricate, you can't possible untangle every secret her characters are hiding. But at the same time, each reveal slots into place so masterfully you wonder how you missed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own!

I was very eager to finally read this book. I had read two previous works by the same author and really enjoyed them. I was hoping for the same magic with this one but it fell a little flat for me. I think the setting contributed to that. I don’t normally gravitate towards books that take place in college/fraternity houses. I never had a “standard” college experience so I find it hard to relate to all of the partying and craziness that seems to go on in fictionalized stories.

I wasn’t immediately grabbed by this book like I was in the two previous ones. I needed time to finally sink into the story. I will say the mystery at least intrigued me enough to propel me to the finish line. I thought some of the twists were clever and others I saw from a mile away.

What did work for me was the writing itself. I found many quotable lines. I know that I appreciated Willingham’s writing in her other novels as well. SO while this book may not have been a hit for me, I’m still anticipating her next book. I think this read was an anomaly and I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us.

The first half of this book was painfully slow. I was anxious to learn what happened to Eliza, and each breadcrumb was revealed at a snail's pace. Also, the young women in the book were all a little strange and fairly unlikable. The twists were definitely surprising, and I felt a little more invested by the end of the book. However, I was mostly racing to finish so I could learn who killed Eliza and another character, and where the heck Lucy went.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC of this one! I’ve loved everything I’ve read by @stacyvwillingham and this was no exception. Only If You’re Lucky has been all over bookstagram, so I won’t recount the synopsis, but if you’re looking for a twisty, dark, college student thriller…look no further!

I do think that this book would rank number three for me out of all three of her books. But, all of them have been solid 4 stars with the other two ranking a smidge higher in my mind (4.25 or 4.5). If you haven’t read a Stacy Willingham, what are you waiting for?? I will continue to read everything she writes! 🙌

Overall, I'd give Only If You're Lucky 3.5 but I'm rounding up here. I was a little disappointed but only because my expectations for there were so high. There were some twists I didn't see coming but a few I did. I wasn't picking up the same atmospheric, Southern Gothic vibes I loved about Willingham's first two books, and I think that's why it fell a bit flat for me.

The first 75% of this was extremely slow. The ending was exciting and fast-paced but I also didn't really like the ending and felt it was rushed and didn't make a ton of sense. This was just ok as a thriller but nothing groundbreaking or all that entertaining. I really enjoyed this author's previous two books and will look forward to their next.

Margot lost her best friend Eliza due to an accident three weeks after graduating high school. Their plan had been to go together to college in South Carolina. Margo decides to do just that but her first year doesn't bring her any happiness, she is barely living. Then, Lucy Sharpe appears out of nowhere and offers Margot to move in with her and her two besties, Sloane and Nicole to an off-campus house and she doesn't hesitate to accept the offer.

Lucy is magnetic. Everyone is interested in her and what she has to say. People gravitate towards her just like they did with Eliza. Margo is no exception. Like moths to light, Margo will follow Lucy's lead into everything but will this include murder? By the middle of sophomore year, a freshman fraternity boy has been brutally murdered and Lucy has gone missing....

The novel is narrated in past and present chapters.

I loved A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things but Only If You're Lucky felt short for this reader. I don't know if it was the unbelievable conclusion or me guessing the conclusion very early on. I was disappointed, to say the least. I wish this wasn't the case.

Will I read Stacy Willingham's next novel? You better believe it!

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Minotaur Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of the ebook.

I have read other books by Stacy Willingham and enjoyed it, although not loving it. I found this book to be less thrilling than her previous ones. I don't think this author would be an automatic read for me here on.

My college days were some of the best years of my life, and sometimes I love to read books that remind me of those times. You have the friendships, the partying, the studying, and just trying to figure out how to be an adult, especially when you move out of the dorms.

Only If You're Lucky takes place during Margot's second year of college. She moves in with three other women and lives next door to a fraternity house. One of the new pledges is from Margot's past, and she believes that he is the one the killed her best friend in high school. That's not a spoiler alert. You learn that in the beginning of the book. :).

There were a few different twists as you try to figure out what happened on the night that Margot's best friend died.

The first half of the book was a little slow for me, and I felt the author repeated the story a little too much. However, I really enjoyed the second half of the book as everything comes to light.

Stacy Willingham, the author, also wrote A Flicker in the Dark and All The Dangerous Things. She definitely knows how to write thrillers.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for sharing this book with me. I would give this book 4 stars. I was given this book for my honest review.