DNF @ almost 50%.....

This was sooo slow - also very young adult - not what I was expecting. I loved the author's last two books, and with a beautiful cover like this, I couldn't wait to dive in.

Unfortunately, I just kept finding myself uninterested and after everyone I spoke to who read it said they were disappointed, I decided it wasn't worth finishing.

This book was disappointing. I’m not a huge fan of YA novels and this thoroughly read as YA fiction. It’s the story of Margot- a college freshman who tragically lost her best friend Eliza the summer before college. She was creepily obsessed with Eliza- to the point of stealing little mementos from her bedroom. In college she meets Lucy and becomes obsessed with her as well. In the midst of this, there is some murder and assault but it’s all very slow moving and boring.

After reading the synopsis for this I was hoping for more of a dark academia vibe (e.g. 𝙄𝙣 𝙈𝙮 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙄 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙆𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚) but it felt more like Mean Girls with boring characters + a murder/missing person case. The characters are college age but live off-campus next to a frat house so the setting didn't really add much to the story for me. I did like the twisty ending but getting there was too slow of a burn and I was no longer very interested.

I will add that A LOT of people love the other two books by this author and those were just likes for me. So definitely still give this one a shot, especially if you loved those.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Due to tragically losing her best friend the summer before her freshman year of college, Margot spends her first year at university feeling numb and keeping to herself. That is, until she meets the enigmatic Lucy. Completely captivated by Lucy’s charm, Margot finds herself unexpectedly accepting the invitation to live with Lucy and her two best friends in a house off-campus. After settling in and growing closer to the girls, Margot is slowly able to come out of her shell. Then tragedy strikes again and Lucy is nowhere to be found…

“Only If You’re Lucky” ended up being another run-of-the-mill thriller and included characters that were not very compelling. I felt no emotional connection to the four main girls as they were bland and not as fleshed out as I would have liked. I also didn’t love that nothing really significant happened until the 70% mark. It would have helped the momentum of the story had we been given a twist of some kind in the second quarter. I had previously read Stacy Willingham’s debut and I do enjoy her writing style, but this one fell just a little flat.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy!

I absolutely loved this author's previous books so when "Only If You're Lucky" hit NetGalley I couldn't request a copy fast enough. And while this wasn't a total win for me, I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated.

Willingham's newest book focuses on the complexities of morality and the blurred lines between good and evil. When college student Lucy goes missing, her roommates and neighboring friends are put to the test on what they are willing to protect. It’s soon clear everyone has a reason to want their own protection.

The alternating timelines made the book hard to put down as I found myself engrossed in the dark academia storyline. While none of the characters in this book are all that loveable, you can't help but want them to win in the end -- "if you can't beat them, join them", ya know?

My only hiccup was the less than stellar police work. I can't say too much without spoiling the story, but as a crime junkie, I found their lack of investigation a bit bothersome.

"Only If You're Lucky" is a good fit for readers seeking an exploration of female friendship, loyalty, and the darker side of human nature.

I really enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s first two novels so I was excited to read her third, Only If You’re Lucky. I have to say, it did not disappoint! Toxic female friendships full of secrets and lies in a college setting— yes, please! This slow burn suspense novel sprinkled just enough goodies in each chapter to keep me engaged throughout. I’m a big fan of short chapters because it’s so easy to convince yourself to read “just one more” over and over again, which is what I found myself saying each night I read in bed. I loved the back and forth timelines, cleverly labeled “Before” and “After” (since this is a spoiler-free review I’ll leave out the details on the event that separates the two).
I really enjoyed the last quarter of the book when the puzzle pieces started coming together.
Be sure to read the acknowledgements at the end because Willingham discusses how aspects of her own collegiate experience shaped the setting for Only If You’re Lucky and I found that to be extremely fascinating.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝:
* In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
* What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
* The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
* A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
* Stacy Willingham’s first two novels

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

I love Stacy Willingham’s writing style. She gets me completely captivated by the characters. I feel like I am right in the story with them, watching everything unfold right before my eyes. I also love a good college friend group thriller. So many terrible things are always just one decision away from happening in every day college life. What kept this from being a five star for me was one of the twists. I think that particular twist is becoming overdone and unoriginal. Regardless, this was another solid thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed!

An exciting and twisted story!!

I really enjoyed Stacy Willingham's two previous novels and was excited to read this one too. I had both the audiobook and ebook which made it even better. Right from the start the story pulled me in.

Margot spent her freshman year at Rutledge College playing it safe. She shared a quiet but comfortable life with her roommate, Maggie. Lucy Sharpe was a very outgoing woman who lived on the same floor as Margot and Maggie. Margot was always very aware of Lucy but didn’t think Lucy had a clue who Margot was. So Margot is beyond surprised when Lucy suddenly introduces herself and then asks if she would like to room with her in a house off campus. Suddenly Margot isn’t going home for the summer and she won’t be following through on her previous plans to room with Maggie again the following year.

Lucy reminds Margot of her best friend, Eliza. Margot and Eliza had applied to the small liberal arts school together. Eliza had convinced Margot that Rutledge was where they were meant to be and they were thrilled when they were both accepted.

“It all felt so perfect, so according to plan…”

Until one night changes everything. All of a sudden Margot was at Rutledge without Eliza.

“I spent the entire year floating, totally unmoored, completely removed from not only my body but from reality, too.”

Rooming with Lucy brings about many changes and it’s not long before Margot starts coming out of her shell. She’s enjoying her new friends and her sophomore year is going great.

Unfortunately, things will soon take a deadly turn...

A dramatic and suspenseful story about friendship, acceptance, loyalty, and betrayal!

“Only if You’re Lucky” is excellent psychological suspense novel. It was a fast paced story with plenty of twists and turns that kept me gripped from start to finish. The chapters alternated between “before” and “after” as things from both the past and present were slowly revealed.

It was a very enjoyable read and the audio was also excellent! It was narrated by Karissa Vacker who is one of my favorite narrators.

I can’t wait to read more from Stacy Willingham!


I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I’m conflicted. I felt bored 3/4 of this book, but the twist at the end was actually great. I have loved Stacy’s books in the past, but Only If You’re Lucky felt like a whole different author wrote it. The college setting was relatable, but also I’m way past that stage of my life and it just wasn’t for me personally. I felt like the story just dragged on and on with not much happening until the last 20% of the book. I was definitely skimming. The twist at the end was fantastic in my opinion. It was interesting to learn Lucy’s story. What I really love about Stacy, though is her writing skills. I love the detail and how her sentences read so lyrically.

Read if you enjoy:
🔪 The book “In My Dreams I Hold A Knife”
🏫 College setting
✨ Slow burn thrillers

I started this book expecting it to be a constantly building plot with twists and turns throughout. Instead, it was full of twists and turns but some very predictable. I figured out one of the main plot twists by at least 50% into the book. The plot was mildly interesting, and I did enjoy the university setting. But overall the characters were bland and unlikable. I found the female friendships to be underwhelming as well. The friends felt forced and partly due to Margot suddenly jumping at the chance to live with the trio of girls. This felt too desperate to be believable as real friendships. I wanted to feel absorbed in these characters stories and lives but even Margot, the main protagonist was annoying. And don’t even get me started on how spoiled and entitled they were. It is reasonable for college aged kids to have some sort of college funds from their families and still be decent humans. But, these women took it for granted that they were from beachfront homes with fancy neighborhoods and cars and didn’t need to worry about money at all. The only character who had more depth was Lucy and she was not enough to drive the story on her own. I have loved this author previously and maybe went into this with too high of an expectation, but this was an okay story but not one that i would reread.
#OnlyIfYourLucky #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #Minotaur

This author never disappoints. Loved the mystery unraveling through the back and forth timelines and the twists throughout that made everything make sense but also shocked me. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy. This book was just released on January 16, 2024. Grab your copy today!

This is a very well written and crafted psychological thriller. I had so many theories about what was going to happen at the end and I was WAY off! No one is who you think they are. The author kept me hooked from the first chapter and I definitely recommend this thriller!

Stacy Willingham has done it again. This book was a great psychological thriller and I thought I had it this book figured out but the ending was so surprising. I have enjoyed Stacy's previous two books and I am looking forward to the next one. I highly recommend anything that Stacy writes.

This fell a little short for me. I did love the setting being at a college but the characters were a bit dull and the twists were either not twisting or totally unbelievable. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Stacy Willingham, and Minotaur Books for this ARC of Only if You're Lucky in exchange for an honest review!!
Description:
Only if You're Lucky follows Lucy, Margot, Sloane, and Nicole at the end of their freshmen year of college. Margot, a reserved freshmen, is approached by Lucy, a larger than life personality that you can't help but cling to, and asked to move into an off campus apartment with her, Sloane, and Nicole. Throughout the story, you learn that Margot's best friend, Eliza, who was planning on attending college with her, died 3 weeks after high school graduation. Margot is understandingly trying to find herself after her best friends death when she becomes friends with Lucy. But does she really know who Lucy is? And who killed the fraternity brother that lives next door and just so happened to be dating Eliza when she died too? How does everyone's stories intertwine?
Review:
I loved the academia setting of this story. The characters have strong personalities and I felt as though I really got to know them throughout the story. I would have loved a POV from Lucy, but I did love the "After" chapters sprinkled throughout the book. They made me want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. However, this is a very slow paced book. I would have liked for more action. In my opinion, it seemed like nothing of significance happened in the middle section of the book and I personally felt as though 50 or so pages could have been cut out. I did like how the book wrapped up and didn't see most of the twists coming. Once you find out how everything is intertwined, you pick up on the breadcrumbs left throughout the book with the flashbacks, which I really enjoyed. Overall, I enjoyed the book and think others will as well as long as they understand that this is a slow burn.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.

Friendships. The past. Secrets. What could possibly go wrong? College is all about fun right? Not for these close knit “friends” whom seem to be close but are more strangers than anything else.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller, the ride was wild and the double twist was epic! The characters were unlikable but you will feel the sympathy for some. Yes, it did take awhile to come to a conclusion but it didn’t steer me away. I recommend giving it a chance, you will definitely remember your college days. Thank you @netgalley for the ARC.

A twisty college thriller where everyone has secrets from their past. This was a fun read but all of the characters were very unlikeable which made it hard to form a sense of connection with the book. The concept of the story is unique and there’s plenty of mystery surrounding each character. The ending was interesting but felt rushed whereas the beginning of the book felt slow.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the ARC!

I absolutely loved All the Dangerous Things so I was so excited about reading this one. This was a slow burn that took me awhile before I started getting into it. There are a lot of twists in this book that was very entertaining the closer you get to the end. I didn't see any of the twists coming which was so exciting. Even though this was not my favorite book I still enjoyed this book. I really loved the cover of this book. I would recommend this book because the twists makes the ride worth it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

Stacy Willingham is an autobuy author for me! I loved the college party vibes but also they the learning about grief. There’s a lot you think you know and it just keeps surprising you! I liked the mix of characters, some you like, some you’re not sure of, and some you get annoyed. I thought I thought I had it figured out and then boom the end got me! I was definitely in my feels about what happened!!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy!

This, I think was my favorite so far of Stacy's books.
I liked that it was different than her previous books. It was more a thriller than a detective book.
I think her writing is improved in this one. And I liked the pacing in this one.

I'm a sucker for drama, and this book didn't disappoint!