It pains me to say this, but this was a flop for me. It was extremely boring, and it definitely lacked the "thrill" aspect I was expecting from this book and author. It's completely different from her first two, which I enjoyed and would recommend reading! But this one. Ehhh. Not so much. I commend the author for being so versatile and I will still read her next work. I just hope the next one grips me more than this one.

This story is centered around college students so it is dark academia, which has not always been my favorite theme when it comes to thrillers, but since this author's first two books were enjoyable I was hopeful I'd enjoy this one as well. I think the main issue I had was it felt like nothing was happening throughout the story to the lead up to the big reveal. Like we get it Lucy and Eliza are so much alike and so very charming and you, Margot, are a wallflower. Can we move on to the good stuff? 😅

It lacked the "thrill" aspect I look for in thrillers and was more drama and mystery centered. Sure, you are wondering what is going on and how the mystery part is going to play out. We get the past and present with the little bread crumps try to lead us along the way, but for me they weren't big enough to make me want to fly through the pages. When we finally get to the major twists at the end, they felt so farfetched to me it made the time invested to get to that point even more disappointing. I typically prefer the "edge of your seat", heart-pounding thrillers over drama/mystery reads anyway. However, if done right I enjoy them as well and in my opinion, this one wasn't. Like I said, read her first two books. I don't think you'll be disappointed with them! But I can't readily recommend this one, unfortunately.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

The twists!! Didn’t see a lot of them coming! I picked up a couple, but whoa! This is a great psychological thriller mixed with mystery and drama. Liked the unreliable narrator. The pacing was slow and wasn’t sure exactly where this all was going, but once things started to unravel, I couldn’t put the book down.

I liked the dark academia trope as this follows young college kids, heavy on female friendships. There was a lot of character building so that is where most of the suspense stems from than actual action.

I would def recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and author Stacey Willingham for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Wow, this is DEFINITELY a slow burn novel! I was already losing heart to continue on because nothing was happening until the last 25% then expedited the entire twist on the final 10% of the book. The premise was interesting, it gave me a bit of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife vibes due to the college setting, and mostly this book felt like a domestic drama somehow, which kept me going to see how it all concluded. The changing timeline was a bit confusing to me even though it indicated if it was "before" or "after," since there was a part of the story that covered a distant past. Overall, I still liked it, I recommend this to anyone who don't mind an extremely slow burn type of story. This book is out on Jan 16th!

Margot our main character loses her best friend in a freak accident. She had a pack they were to go to college together. Unfortunately Eliza didn’t make it there.

Margot meets Lucy, and moved into the Kappa house with other girls. Lucy is wild and opposite of Margot, makes her feel alive; live dangerously.

Until one day Lucy also goes missing..:

This book unfortunately was very slow until I was at 80%. I found myself skimming and reading more of the dialogue. It was just a lot of unnecessary background. I would’ve rated this book lower had the ending not surprised me as much as it did.
I was shocked, and didn’t see any of that coming. At all. Very fitting and ended the story well. I wish there would have been a few more twists during the rest of the book instead of last 10-15%

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advanced in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm definitely a fan of Stacy Willingham and her cadre of unreliable narrators. Her previous works had MCs who were more mature and relatable as a reader in her 40s. Only If You're Lucky comes off more as a YA or New Adult thriller with characters who lacked emotional maturity and who made poor choices (admittedly myself as well back in those days). Having read the afterward though, I do believe this book begged to be written. A house with history and baggage is definitely one of my favorite characters!

Freshman year at college is full of excitement and anxiety. So many new things to experience on your own outside of your parents' rule but also so many unknowns and new friendships to forge. Imagine planning to do that with your BFF, but than your BBFF dies in a tragic accident... or so they say. How much of your new life is one you sculpted, one you fell into, and one that was manipulated for you? Only if you're lucky will you make it through.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Isn't the saying that opposites attract? Or is that just pure science? Either way, Margot and Lucy are opposites. Something draws them together, an attraction they can't avoid. No, it's not romantic, they are just best of friends. They end up moving in together off-campus, there's boys that live next door - you know the story, right?

Nope. This isn't a romance - no one falls in love and has a happy ending here! Instead, Lucy is missing and one of the boys is dead. Where did she go? That's what I stayed up to find out. I couldn't help it! The book was fast paced and I enjoyed the twists. I didn't mean to stay up so late (more than 1 night in a row), but now I know the answer and I can't wait to read another book by Stacy Willingham!

3 stars for this ill-paced read. The story itself is fine, but my goodness it took way too long to make its point. The main character, Margot, is dull. The amount of alcohol consumption in this book is staggering. I am giving it 3 stars because I did actually get interested in the second half to see how it would resolve. But overall it was just OK.

I was very excited to start this book as I LOVED the authors first two books. This one read more of a YA book and dragged a little. The ending was somewhat of a surprise but could have been a little more based on the buildup. However, I will be an avid reader of this author still

Starting my year with the latest STACY WILLINGHAM book is becoming tradition & I loved every page ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY.

I’m forever drawn to stories that explore the complicated + dark dynamic of female friendships. There’s such relatability to the instant bond that forms, particularly in college when you seem to go from strangers to inseparable in a snap. Whether it’s the desire to belong, to fit in or to find your people. A chance to reinvent yourself, to push beyond the person you’ve been, to leave the past behind and allow yourself to get swept up in the idea - in the promise - of something new.

Margot spent her freshman year holed up in her room, her head down and her walls up, grieving the death of her best friend the summer before. But then Lucy Sharpe walks into her room and everything changes.

Lucy is the ultimate *that girl* — oozing confidence and beauty, a larger than life personality and a seemingly effortless air about her. Everyone is drawn to Lucy. And Margot’s been mesmerized by her all year.

When Lucy invites Margot to be the fourth in an off-campus house, she’s intrigued. So what if she doesn’t know Nicole and Sloane? If the house is on the very rundown side? And if their neighbors & landlords are the Brothers of Kappa Nu? It’s Margot’s chance to live a new life and she grabs it, becoming fast friends with her roommates & settling into a party and play routine at Kappa Nu.

But when the book opens, in the middle of their sophomore year, a fraternity brother is dead, Lucy is missing and a Detective is looking for answers.

With dual timelines and great twists I was hooked from the start. There’s such an ease to STACY WILLINGHAM’s writing & to the flow of the story, but she stops me in my tracks with a line or phrase that will cut deep or evoke a memory or leave me slightly speechless. Yes, I’m obsessed.

And be sure to read the acknowledgements for the inspo for the book and for Lucy. Love the behind-the-writing-curtain bits!

Huge thanks to to @stmartinspress & @minotaur_books for granting my ARC wish.

Take a trip back to college days, but buckle up. It’s a dark and scary ride. In Only if You’re Lucky, newbie-on-campus Margot is swept into a group of friends led by Lucy. We all know a Lucy, the one who captures the attention of everyone in the room, the one who calls all the shots, the one who is never told no. So on a small college campus, the most popular girl befriends a shy and innocent but vulnerable girl, Margot. What does Lucy see in Margot? What does she want from Margot? Their apartment is now complete with Margot, leader Lucy, Sloane, the sassy one, and Nicole, the nice one.

Stacy Willingham is the wizard of the psychological thriller and a master at drawing her readers into a story. This is a story within a story, one of female relationships and a darker tale of murder. The action begins with the death of one of the fraternity boys next door, and then Lucy goes missing.

The writing is fast-paced and descriptive, bringing back vivid memories of long-ago college days. There’s plenty of parties and booze, but don’t get lulled into a stupor. The twists keep coming, and they wind even tighter toward the end of the story. The author does an amazing job of keeping the suspense on edge throughout the narrative.

I was interested to read that the author set this story in a locale similar to her housing at the University of Georgia. Although inspired by a real place, the characters are entirely fictional. Don’t miss this 5-star nail-biter.

Only If You’re Lucky follows a girl Margot who is just trying to fit in a world where it’s not very easy to. Always being not so spontaneous she spontaneously rooms with three other girls and we are in for a ride. Page turning thriller that kept me entertained. The ending was nothing that I expected and again was shocked by the end results, like all of Wellington’s books. I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of the latest by Stacy Willingham!

I was so excited for this book as A Flicker In The Dark and All The Dangerous Things were both 4⭐ reads from me, but sweet mother of all that is holy this book was not for me. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow. I'm not big into slow burn books, but this moved at a snails pace, with nothing happening until the 70% mark.

There were some unpredictable twists, but several plot elements were completely unrealistic and ridiculous. It's a solid no from me.

This is a slow burn mystery/thriller. The main characters are freshmen and sophomores in college and it brought back so many feels. College was great but I never need to go back 😂 The story is told hopping back and forth between before and after a death and someone going missing and you slowly figure out everyone's secrets.

I have to say that I wasn't blown away. It was a pretty typical thriller and the burn was a bit too slow for me. I think multiple POVs would have been more imteresting!

This was just okay for me, but would still recommend it to someone who enjoys slower moving plots!

I felt that our MC’s POV was a bit monotonous and I didn’t love her character.

*3.5 stars rounded up.

Margot heads off to Rutledge College with a sad heart--her lifelong best friend died from an accident a few weeks after high school graduation. They had planned to be roommates at school and now Margot is having to carry on alone. She has a nice roommate and the two of them tend to keep to themselves.

But at the end of that freshman year, a popular and charismatic girl named Lucy stops by Margot's dorm room to invite her to come live with her and her two friends in a house owned by one of the fraternities. Margot's been watching the three friends for months, envious of their closeness, and can't believe her luck. Why would Lucy want to include her? The four soon become fast friends but something is not quite right.

It takes a while for this story to unfold and the changing timelines can be a bit confusing, but be patient--the twists of the last 20% are well worth the wait. I sure didn't see them coming!

St Martins Publishing Group provided me with an arc through their Influencers Program via NetGalley. I am very grateful for the opportunity to read this new thriller by Willingham. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Only If You’re Lucky is a spellbinding thriller that explores the intricate dynamics of friendship and the dark underbelly of human relationships. The narrative follows Margot, a reserved and careful college student, whose life takes a thrilling turn when she becomes roommates with the larger-than-life Lucy Sharpe. The novel unfolds against the backdrop of an off-campus house where Margot, Lucy, and their two roommates, Sloane and Nicole, form an unlikely sisterhood. The story takes a chilling turn when a brutal murder rocks the college community, implicating one of the fraternity boys from the neighboring house. Lucy Sharpe, the charismatic ringleader, goes missing without a trace. The suspense builds as Margot, now emerged from her shell, grapples with the unraveling mystery and the shadows that linger over their shared past.

Stacy Willingham simply does not miss. The pacing was near-perfect, the characters were enigmatic and convincing, and I never saw the plot twist coming. Only If You’re Lucky is not merely a thriller but a compelling exploration of the nature of friendship and belonging. Stacy masterfully captures the complexities of human relationships, leaving readers questioning the trust they place in those closest to them. A must-read for anyone looking for a gripping psychological thriller.

Well - this will be a 3 star review but one of those 'still read this it was good 3 star reviews'. Hear me out though.. I think if I didn't have high expectations from this author because of her previous two books I would have liked it a whole lot more? This one felt quite juvenile, then it almost lost me, and the end left me mega confused. I really don't want to spoil anything with my review, so I won't explain why I was confused or what I didn't like all that much about it, but it didn't hold up to her previous two books.

Now, in saying that, it was still fairly good. It was super dark, super twisty, the writing was phenomenal and it was hard to figure out what characters to like or trust. It was a fairly slow burn, but it weaved the dark tale to set you up for the blow out ending.

I loved this author’s two previous thrillers but this one for me was not as enjoyable. The story about female friendships, a dead college student and a missing friend unfolded without much happening for a large part of the book. I kept waiting for something to happen. The last quarter of the book did pick up with some interesting twists and turns and a good ending in keeping with this author’s previous novels but it was a long road to get there. I found this to be more a character study/look at female friendships than a thriller until near the end. I did like the writing style which was easy to read.

I will look out for this author’s next novel as I did really enjoy her earlier works.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

This was just an okay read for me. Told in dual timelines, which normally I am a fan of, in this case though, the plot unfolds at slow burn pace that made me lose interest in what was happening. The characters were unlikable, not always a bad thing, but mixed with the slower plot I struggled connecting to the story. The storyline was intriguing and overall a well written novel. I have read other books by Stacy Willingham and while this wasn't my favorite, I will be looking forward to her next novel.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review a complementary digital copy.

This was an interesting story with some unexpected twists. I found the plot to move very slowly, though, and it took me nearly three weeks to finish the book. All in all, it was just an okay read for me.