Margot’s college life is not starting out how she wanted it. Her best friend from high school passed away and since then she has become a wallflower. She ends up with her current roommate as her friend because it was easy. But the three girls that captivate her are where she wants to be. Lucy is at the center of those girls and when she asks Margot to move in with her and the other two, Margot drops her current roommate. Everything changes from there. Margot starts to get more comfortable until a fraternity boy is murdered and Lucy goes missing.

This is a bit more of a slow burn than I was expecting. I also was annoyed with Margot - she was an unreliable narrator. The middle kind of stalled out for me but the ending made up for it. Could this also be considered a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde retelling?

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books. Only If You’re Lucky comes out tomorrow.

I really, really enjoyed this one! Only If You’re lucky is a slow burn mystery centered around female friendship and belonging and the lies we tell ourselves (and each other). It’s also a tale about morality, whether people are inherently good or evil, or if like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, they are “radically both.”

This story follows Margot, who starts her first year of college in a haze of depression, grief and guilt following her best friend’s death. Margot has always been the shy, careful friend, but when popular girl, Lucy Sharpe, asks her to move in with her & her friends, Margot can’t help but be drawn in to Lucy’s larger than life (and maybe even dangerous) personality. The four girls are all opposites, but they find themselves intertwined as lies are told and secrets are unraveled.

Nothing is as it seems with these girls. The house they move into is a character of its own. I love Stacy Willingham’s writing and this book really made me think. I was drawn in the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur for an advanced copy of this book. It releases tomorrow 1/16!!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review: I’ve been a fan of Stacy’s since I received an arc of her debut novel. While her debut remains my fav, this book was great!

She has a way of describing things that I don’t see often. Her books are very atmospheric which I love! This book was sort of a slow start for me, but I was dying to know what happened next. The backstory started to seem like it would go on forever, but once the twists started it was a rollercoaster of events. I loved the ending of this book and how Stacy is able to tie every miniature detail into the main plot. Check this one out!

Margot spent her first year at Rutledge studying and keeping mostly to herself while still mourning the death of her best friend who should have been here with her. At the end of the first year, Lucy, a bold and dangerous girl approaches Margot to be the fourth roommate in the house she's found off campus, away from the dorms. Something about Lucy makes everyone do what she wants. But there is a secret, sinister side to Lucy, and there are secrets, dark secrets about her too. By the middle of the second college year a fraternity brother is murdered, Lucy is missing and Margot has learned all of Lucy's dark secrets and even tho they are hard to believe, Margot knows they are all true.

Only If You’re Lucky was a twisty tale filled with secrets, murder, and drama. The first half of this book took me forever to get through but I did fly through the last half of the book. It seemed like things got more interesting towards the latter half of the story. I liked the author’s writing and I thought the main characters were intriguing. There were a lot of twists in this story and things definitely got wild at the end. I don’t think the ending was very believable though and it seemed way too far-fetched. I was not a fan of the ending, but I still would recommend this book to mystery/thriller lovers.

3.5/5 stars

“You’re only young once, and only if you’re lucky."

Wow, what a ride! This is my second read by Stacy Willingham (I also read A Flicker in the Dark) and I loved this one even more! I usually find thrillers to be relatively predictable, but for me, this one was anything but. I thought I had it at all figured out time and time again, but nope…I didn’t see the twists coming.

- Thriller
- Mystery
- Dual Timeline
- Single POV

I have really come to enjoy books by Stacy Willingham. The stories always play out well, and the character development is great.
Only if You’re Lucky is another terrific psychological thriller, taking place at a college. Margot has gone to South Carolina to escape her small town and the memories it holds, especially of her dead best friend. She meets Lucy, and things are going great, until they aren’t. Something about Lucy is off…
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, thoroughly enjoyed!

Do you love a slow burn mystery in a college setting? I love a campus novel with suspicious students and this one delivered! From the first chapters you are sucked into this story and just NEED to know more. The chapters are short which kept me listening to one more, then one more. This is definitely more of a slow burn than a traditional thriller, so go in with that expectation and you will be satisfied!

Pub date is today!!!! @stacyvwillingham is an auto buy author for me. This book's ending reminded me why I love her!

Margo was shy and grieving the loss of her best friend from high school, who died before they could go to college together as planned. Lucy was the fun one, the magnetic one. When Lucy befriends Margo, Margo is shocked and hopes maybe this will turn things around for her. She moves in with Lucy, Sloane and Nicole next to a fraternity house. But when she sees a face from the past, her world is rocked again. As she gets in deeper with this group, things start to unravel. Then a boy is murdered and Lucy disappears. What is everyone hiding?

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I felt like the buildup was just a tad bit slow, but the twists are so worth it! I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for an advance copy!

This is a slow burn mystery about a group of college friends where one is dead and one has gone missing. Girl friendships can be quite toxic at times, but I am not sure this one is about friendships since Margot moves in with girls she doesn’t know. This was the start of me silently screaming at her. I’d say who does that but if she doesn’t, then there is no book.

There are so many red herrings and so many twists, all in the last third of the book, hence the slow burn, that I wish the pacing would have been a little more even. With unlikable characters and a slow pace, I was losing interest by the time the good stuff started.

Luckily, I had the audiobook too and it was narrated by Karissa Vacker. She is one of my favorite narrators and keeps me wanting to listen. I highly recommend this on audio if you pick it up.

I should add that I think the author nails college life and what can go wrong with jealous, studying and friendships.

While this is not my favorite read of the authors, the twists and reveals in the last third did redeem the slow start.

The ending really saved this one 😮‍💨
Something just seemed off about Margot so she wasn’t my favorite character but I liked how easily she fit in with her new roommates. I also did really enjoy how everything came together in the end even though it was a little bizarre. It’s always fun to see how little hints throughout the story show back up.

3.5 stars — this book had a nearly perfect recipe but fell short in the execution for me. I loved the college setting and there were several twists I really didn’t see coming, but overall it was just TOO LONG and led by a really generic protagonist. Maybe if it was told in multiple POVs it would have been better? The short chapters helped with the pace but it was overall 50-75 pages too long.

If you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?

I love a dark academia thriller and this one had me holding on right until the end. An ending some weren't satisfied with (or so I've read), but I loved it! Life doesn't always wrap everything up in a package with a nice bow, and I'm ok with a book that doesn't!

Filled with many flawed characters, this one delves deep into friendships, especially female friendships. People lie. People keep secrets. Even those closest to us.

Margot is a bit of a lost soul. She had planned to attend Rutledge with her BFF Eliza, but Eliza's untimely death the summer before college changes everything. Margot is there, but deep in her grief and just trying to survive.

Enter Lucy, a larger than life personality much like Eliza was, who bursts into Margot's life, convinces Margot to move into a house she rents with two others next to a frat house, and changes Margot's life.

When Levi arrives at the frat house next door, a blast from Margot's past and the guy who was with Eliza right before she died, Margot spirals.

Some bodies turn up. Some people go missing. Some secrets are revealed. And you'll be on the edge of your seat right up to the controversial ending.

Both the audiobook and the ebook were fantastic!

Many thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for both an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Out tomorrow [Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC to review!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Margot is grieving the loss of her best friend when she gets pulled into the orbit of the magnetic Lucy Sharpe—and set on a collision course that will change everything.

I genuinely think Stacy Willingham is one of the very best thriller authors out there right now, so this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY is definitely a bit different from Stacy’s previous books, but I really enjoyed it.

Academic thrillers are some of my favorites, and this one felt like a pretty unique take on a familiar dynamic. I figured out some of the twists but was completely blindsided by others, which is always the ideal mix, in my opinion! I definitely recommend this one if you want a twisty psychological thriller in a college setting.

CW: Death/murder/blood; sexual violence

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of "Only If You're Lucky" by Stacy Willingham.

I loved Willingham's first two novels and was excited to check out her upcoming one- unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as her others.

Meet Margot, a college student, who's best friend Eliza died 3 weeks after high school graduation. It's the end of freshman year, and Margot meets Lucy, and moves in with her and 2 other girls immediately. They grow close throughout the year, but drunk college students are only fun when you're one of them making all the bad choices, otherwise they tend to be predictable, tedious disasters and unlikeable- there are soooo many horrible characters in this book. We spend entirely too much time inside Margot's head, hearing the SAME obsessive thoughts repeatedly. The first half of this novel was too much of a slow burn and NOTHING happened. The second half picked up and was enjoyable, with a few surprising (and a few predictable) twists.

3 stars, because of the ending.

Let me start by saying, I absolutely loved Stacy Willingham's two previous books. They both were top reads for me last year. From my understanding, Only if You're Lucky is considered dark academia, which this would be my first read in that genre.

I was very interested in Margot and Lucy. I immediately knew that Levi wasn't the culprit but had an idea that Lucy and Eliza did have some ties. Margot came off very naive and low-key obsessive. She seemed to be easily influenced and was very attached to her friend group. Its like she didn't have much of a personality outside of her friends.

The story was a slow burn for sure. The last 15-20% did pick up just a little bit. I found the story to be redundant in several parts. For instance, the before were from the same view. I think had their been different viewpoints in the before, after and present, it may have come together a bit better for me. Maybe POVs could have been from Levi, Lucy, and Margot.

Overall, I do think the story was interesting. I wanted to read it to find out how it all ended. I was underwhelmed with the ending, but then again, I was kind of expecting it. The writing was done very well.

I will continue to support Ms. Willingham. I look forward to seeing what she puts out next. This just wasn't the book for me, but I do think that its a great introduction into thrillers and maybe even dark academia.

I rated this book 3 stars on goodreads. I'm between a 2.5/3 star with it overall.

Once again, Stacy Willingham has written a book that I was so excited to get my hands on. She has such a way of developing characters and twists, and I did not see this one coming (as unbelievable as it was).

Willingham's writing is so beautiful and the tension throughout the book kept me on the edge of my seat. This slow burn isn't like her other novels, so reader beware. It did have interesting characters and a fun setting, but I couldn't convince myself to love it as much as her other books.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e ARC of Only If You're Lucky!

Thank you to NetGalley, Stacy Willingham and St Martin’s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t know quite what I feel about this one yet. I read it and I felt like I wasn’t that into it, but I read it in two sittings. The ending had a stellar twist and I liked the variety of characters. So I think I liked it mostly

This is another great campus/academic thriller from Stacy Willingham, although it is definitely more of a slow burn than her other books. I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, Margot, but her naïveté was exactly what was needed to move the plot along. I enjoyed how the book was divided into multiple time periods (past, before the “event”, and after), because it gave us enough detail while also keeping us wanting more. The last third of the book is one plot twist after another, and I honestly did not see any of it coming! Also, can we take a moment for the cover? 🤩🤩

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read before pub day on January 16th!

I absolutely loved Stacy’s first two books and this one didn’t disappoint. Although it’s not as fast paced, it’s still a solid story that keeps you on your toes. The exploration into female friendships was excellent and took me back to my college years. It’s amazing what lengths girls will go to to protect each other. I really enjoyed the jump between timelines and how everything was revealed. I’m not usually a reader who tries to figure out what’s going on. I enjoy the reveals as they come, but something about this story made me want to figure it out. I couldn’t, and I’m so glad. It was such a satisfying ending. Because of the pacing of this story, I think it’s best experienced on audio.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan audio for advanced copies. My thoughts are my own.