I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I will say the first two books by this author completely blew me away. This one wasn't in that category for me but I still enjoyed the story and highly recommend it! Super excited for this one to publish and for others to get to read it!

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this story. The review will be posted to my instagram @manymerrybooks.

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the ARC of this book. all opinions are my own.
Due to the current SMP boycott, I will not post my thoughts on this story until the concerns are addressed. At that time, I will be happy to post my full review.

only the last 15% was exciting the rest was pretty boring. Margot is not a very interesting character

After loving the two prior novels from the author, this one continues to fall flat for me. It reminds me of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife, which was also a struggle for me to get into. If you enjoy a slow burn, disturbing academia, dual-timeline read then this would be an excellent choice. For me, it was a bit repetitive and it took too long for the pace to ignite.

As always, even if a book is not for me, it will absolutely work for others. If you enjoyed other academia slow-burns, give this one a try.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for the complimentary copy of this book - I am so appreciative!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC! Stacey Willingham has become one of my go-to thriller authors and this is her best yet! This novel had me gooped and gagged. As someone who reads thriller regularly, I couldn’t predict the twists or ending. This felt fresh and different compared to other thrillers I’ve read. I also listened along with the audio version, and as usual Carissa Vacker killed the narration!

First read of the year and I loved it! The college vibe was creepy and the setting was amazing and well done - be sure to read the author's note. This one surprised me with the twists and I never saw things coming. The chapters were set between before and after and it worked well by providing the background and eventually merging. The characters were also varied and interesting. The ending worked for me. Excellent read!!!

A slow-burn narrative, delving into the intricacies of the darker side of friendship. Willingham explores the boundaries that get pushed to keep secrets with relatable characters and an engaging plot filled with unexpected twists.

ARC provided in exchange for honest review of Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham. #NetGalley

I absolutely loved this new thriller from Stacy Willingham. Margot’s life is turned upside down when her best friend dies in a tragic accident and she goes to the college they had planned to attend together feeling hopeless with no friends. She meets Lucy, who reignites her need for friendship and seems to be full of mystery. But both of their histories aren’t what they appear to be. Couldn’t put this one down. Lovers of her other novels will be hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up Only If You're Lucky on January 16, 2024.

I think this book solidified that I'm not as much of a contemporary fiction or thriller girlie as I thought. I picked this up, read the first few chapters, and knew the tone and plot weren't for me. I didn't feel motivated to continue reading, none of the characters felt compelling, and I forgot about this book almost as soon as I put it down.

That doesn't mean other readers won't love it, especially if you are a thriller or suspense fan. I can see how the plot and storyline can ensnare some readers, but it wasn't for me personally.

It took a while to get the story going.  Around the third of the book is when it finally gets interesting and you find out how the characters are intertwined. I enjoyed the dual timelines and the author did a fantastic job displaying how far we'll go in the name of friendship.

Stacy Willingham’s work has been a mixed bag for me. I didn’t love A FLICKER IN THE DARK but I enjoyed ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS. Happy to report that ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY was also a win for me. it was definitely more of a slow burn than her previous work, but i still enjoyed the plot of this one and the twists are great! definitely would recommend to any thriller lover.

I am big fan of Stacy Willingham’s first two books so was elated to receive an ARC of her newest book ((Pub date: 1/16/24). I chose to listen to the audiobook which had great narration!

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

Eliza and Margot were best friends. The kind of friends that make life long plans. Then, Levi moves into their orbit and three becomes a crowd. Levi and Eliza have no room for Margot, but Margot is not willing to give up. As fate would have it, Eliza dies unexpectedly leaving Margot broken and alone and ready to start college. Margot is shy and broken and easily led. Once on campus she sees a young woman in Her dorm named Lucy who is flanked by two girls, Sloane and Nicole. According to Margot, those three have everything she has ever wanted. As the spring semester ends, Lucy approaches Margot with an opportunity to live with them and Margot accepts. This story of friendship, betrayal and belonging is painted to close to real life it is easy to under why this novel grabs you and holds you close. Bound by blood and lies ‘if one goes down,’ they all go down.

As a HUGE fan of Willingham's previous novels, I was THRILLED to receive early access to her latest, Only If You're Lucky. This ended up being a quick read (with lots of twists around the 75% mark), however, I'm realizing that the "college campus thriller" trope isn't my favorite. If you're a thriller lover, you'll probably like this one. It won't be the most memorable book for me, but I'll keep picking up this author's books to see what she does next. I did find the Author's Note to be really interesting!

Thank you to netgalley and publisher for a free copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

This wasn’t my favorite from this author but it was good. We are going to be reading this book in March for my book club. I will reread when it gets closer.

Lucy is outgoing and people love to be around her. Margot is the opposite. She goes with the flow and she blends in with others.

When someone gets murdered, the cops have to go through the whole sorority hoises to try to find out who was involved.

The ending of this book was worth reading this book but I wanted more. I found this book to be more of a young adult thriller book and not what I was expecting it to be.

3.5 stars but will read anything Stacy Willingham writes.

Only If You’re Lucky ~ Stacy Willingham

A friendship develops in an off campus house between two opposites, Margot and Lucy. But when Lucy ends up missing after the murder of a frat boy neighbor, Margot is pulled into a web of lies and betrayal she never saw coming.

Willingham is a must-read for me so this was a no-brainer book to get me back in the swing. Perfect for those who can appreciate a slow-burn build to some unexpected twists. Willingham writes relatable suspense - I was immediately swept into college life all over again filled with frat boys, late nights, and forever friends. With a surprise ending, this is surely one to add to your list - a BOTM January pick that hits the shelves January 16th.

I have become a fan of this author's books however this one fell short of the others. It came across to me as almost young adult but it was also so drawn out and a bit boring as well as unbelievable. I said "Oh, Come On!" a number of times out loud. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Only if You're Lucky will be available on 1/16/24.

📚: Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham
⭐️: 4/5

An academic setting, toxic friendships, secrets, and lies. Oh, so so many lies.

Margot is what one would call “vanilla.” She melds her personality to her friends - which for her life had been her best friend, Eliza. Eliza dies only weeks after high school graduation, leaving Margot to navigate her grief - and college - alone.

Enter: Lucy Sharpe. The girl everyone wants to be (or loves to hate). She attracts attention just by existing on campus - and seemingly out of nowhere, chooses Margot to join her clique. But why?

Minus one star for pacing issues in the first half, but when it picks up and the truth starts to unravel, this read becomes unputdownable.

Big thanks to @stmartinspress via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to grab this read on 1/16!

Only If You're Lucky follows Margot, a college sophomore, who is still mourning the lost of her childhood best friend, Eliza, and looking for a fresh start after a lonely first year at school. After meeting Lucy, an enigmatic and captivating fellow student with many similarities to Eliza, Margot jumps at her invitation to move into an off-campus house with Lucy and her two best friends, Sloan and Nicole. The house is owned by the fraternity next door, and soon enough, Margot has started to form tight bonds with her new roommates and opened the door to an entirely new social life including an old and unwelcome face from her past. The novel bounces back and forth between both the present, where Lucy has gone missing and a student has been killed, and the events in Margot's life during both her high school and college years that led up to this moment.

I have loved Stacy Willingham's first two novels and recommended them over and over to fellow readers, so I was beyond excited to get early access to her newest book, but unfortunately, Only If You're Lucky wasn't a 5 star read for me like her prior novels have been. Although the characters in this novel were much younger than those in previous books and younger than me as well, I had no problem connecting with them and following a story set in a college setting as some other reviewers have mentioned. However, I felt like the pacing of the novel was too slow burn, and there was not enough plot during the majority of the story to keep me wholly interested. I did enjoy the ending and Stacy Willingham is still the queen of a great twist, but I didn't feel like it made up for the other 3/4 of the book. I don't think this is a bad book by any means, and I will still read anything Stacy publishes. If anything, she has just set the bar very high with her first two novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

thank you to Minotaur & Netgalley for the e-arc! I’ve been a huge fan of Stacy’s past releases, but this one missed the mark for me unfortunately.

I found it to be incredibly slow to start, but I did really enjoy the ending! I felt this one was a little more predictable than her previous releases as well.

I enjoyed the last 20% more, but the predictably and the characters being a little two dimensional made this a 3 star read for me.

Personally, this just wasn’t for me but I will definitely be reading her future releases!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was super excited to read another book by this author after loving another book by her. Unfortunately this one I didn't find quite as good as A Flicker in the Dark. I just couldn't get into the story about a mysterious roommate and the college setting. It all unfolds in the last 3 chapters but it's not all that surprising.