𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
I was so excited to get an ARC of Stacy Willingham's newest book because I LOVED her other two books. This one exceeded the other two. I went in blind and had no idea of the storyline but it had me hooked from the very beginning. Stacy is such an amazing story teller. Her ability to paint a picture never ceases to amaze me. I had no idea how the story was going to end, and the many twists kept me guessing throughout. If you haven't read any of Stacy's books, you need to. I highly recommend Only If You're Lucky and her previous two books as well!

Thank you to NetGalley, Stacy Willingham and Minotaur Books for an ARC!

I really enjoyed the plot, setting, and character demographics. I looked forward to reading more each time I was able to pick the book back up but at the same time, it seemed to stretch on for long bits of time without furthering the story. There was just a little something missing in terms of character connection for me, but again, overall, I really enjoyed where the story went and the various motives.

This book is a slow burn thriller with some good twists at the end. It will definitely keep you interested until the end. I have read other books by the author and will continue to be a follower. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for and e ARC of this book.

Stacy Willingham is an auto buy author do I was so excited to receive this book to read and review!

The setting of this biok is awesome I love a good twisty college setting for a book with twists and mystery!

I liked this book and the author will continue to be an auto buy!

Thanks again NetGalley loved this book!

Stacy is an auto buy author for me so I was excited to read her new release! This book kept me on the edge of my seat- I devoured it!! Thank you for sending me an early copy!

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the chance to read this new book by Stacey Willingham.

I must admit that I read about the first third of this book one evening and was sucked in by what looked to be an engaging piece of work set in a university environment. Then I got stuck on it for a couple of days and couldn’t seem to make any progress. I couldn’t quite figure out why.

I picked it back up today. I finally figured out why the slowdown. It's set in a college town and there is much to do with drinking, drugs and fraternity pledging. It just put me off at first.

Then the story started to unfold. I like the author, Stacey Willingham. I've read a few of her other books and enjoyed them. This one didn't hit the right note for me at the start. About halfway through the fire caught hold and I burned through the rest of the book in about 3 hours.

SW has a way of taking a kernel of truth and building a big twisting story. Sometimes you want to turn your eyes away from the subject, but it’s always a good ride.

Thank you @stmartinspress @minotaurbooks for the #gifted copy!

Thrilling & nostalgic, this campus thriller gem by @stacyvwillingham delivers a gripping tale told in dual timelines. The suspense is relentless, weaving multiple unexpected twists that I didn’t see coming & kept me hooked!

College memories flooded back, enhancing the immersive experience. It brought me right back to my move in day freshman year 🥹. The trust issues with characters heightened the suspense, making everyone a potential suspect.

Willingham's masterful storytelling shines, concluding with a satisfying ending. She doesn’t miss & is a definite auto-buy author, her skillful pen always guarantees an unputdownable read. A riveting journey that blends nostalgia & suspense seamlessly

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
◽️ campus thrillers
◽️ feeling nostalgic about college
◽️ multiple twists
◽️ dual timelines

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this book*

I think that I can now confidently call Stacy Willingham my favorite thriller author. I read both of her previous novels and loved both of them. When I saw this while scrolling on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it and immediately requested it. I didn't look up a single thing about it, knew nothing going in, and honestly I believe that is truly the best way to go into this. I really don't even know what I can say about this book without giving anything away or spoiling things.
What I will say, is that this book did not disappoint. It was weird and twisty, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It seemed like every chapter ended on some sort of cliff hanger which made it a very quick read, because I just had to keep reading to figure it out. I'm not always a fan of dual narrative books, but I feel like the past and present narratives really worked well together in this book and only added intrigue.

I don't think I liked a single character in this book except for maybe one side character. Stacy did a great job making characters seem like both villains and victims at the same time, loving them one chapter and hating them the other.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham is a slow burn. The first quarter of the book not much happens but it does set you up for the rest of the story. Once the story sped up, I could not stop reading! I really enjoyed the main character, Margot, and the way her backstory was revealed. I specifically like books where you are not given all the information right away. . I kind of like not having all the information right upfront. That technique makes it more suspenseful for me while reading. This book definitely seemed different than the authors previous ones. I think that because the characters were in college, it seemed geared towards a younger audience. It still was a really fun book to read! The author did a great job at documenting female friendships in the early 20s/late teens. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to receive access to Willingham’s latest release. I binged her first two books in a day each and found them so entertaining.

In comparison, “Only if You’re Lucky” was a bit of a let down. The first 79% felt like trudging through mud. I was on the struggle bus.

For me, The story was by no means “bad,” it just wasn’t especially engaging. Nothing happened that hooked my attention for SO. LONG. It was just “meh.”

I DO want to give credit to the author for once again delivering an emotional punch of a twist ending. And once I hit that 80% mark I loved those great moments of reflection to the elements of the set up.

It was just such a slog to get to the pay off.

I hate not giving her an excellent review on this one, but, damn, it’s only her third and I’d put money on her next books being bangers.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Stacy Willingham for an ARC of Only If You’re Lucky. At the beginning, I was a little hesitant about what I was entering. I’ve read all books by Stacy and this felt a little different - but I knew there was something there. Holy book heavens - this turned out to be FANTASTIC! Everything building up - it was well worth the ride. Margot is off to college after the passing of her friend Eliza and she’s trying to find her place, become the person she wants to be. Margot finds a friend in Lucy, could she be the replacement for Eliza in her life? It’s college - anything can happen. When one of the boys next door dies and Lucy goes missing … what is Margot going to do? Seems as if something goes wrong in Margot’s life everywhere she goes.

DNF at 15% - I tried I swear! This book is really slow moving and I just could not get into it no matter how hard I tried. I thought the pacing was off - the flashbacks with the roommates were okay but the time jumps were too frequent and I just wanted the plot to keep moving. By 15% I still felt like nothing had happened. The writing also felt very repetitive - I just kept thinking something would happen soon but it never did. I liked this author's prior work so I would try her next book, but sadly this one didn't work out for me.

Only if You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham is a thriller that drew me in with a gorgeous cover, hooked me with a promising premise, and kept me reading with a wonderfully paced narrative. I will be grabbing a physical copy of this one as soon as it comes out and enjoying the authors other work in the meantime.

Stacy Willingham quickly became an auto buy author for me after her debut novel A Flicker in the Dark. I was so excited to receive the e-book from NetGalley for her third, “Only If You’re Lucky” and it did not disappoint!! I love her fluid and descriptive writing style. This one was more of a slow burn than her others, and gave off young adult and dark academia vibes, but in such a mature fashion that you almost forget you are reading about college students. I enjoyed the twists, the characterization and how it was all tied together in a neat little bow at the end. I highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise sounds amazing, but it missed the mark for me in execution. The characters are unlikeable, the college antics are overdone, and the pace is too slow. There were no "WOW! I didn't see that coming." moments. I was never quite sure what the point of the story actually was. Too much repetition and a predictable ending made this 2 stars for me.

Stacy has done it again, but dare I say even better? This one is a bit different than her other two, but I loved it. It’s a tale of friendship and heartbreak and murder. I love her use of multiple timelines that come together in the end. I cannot recommend this book enough!

We follow Margot as she enters college without her best friend who passed away after graduation. She’s lonely until a group of 3 girls take her under their wings. They change her life completely. She moves into a house that is owned by the fraternity next door and life seems to be going well for Margot now, only nothing is as it seems.

Thank you to Minotaur publishing and NetGalley for this ARC

Being accepted into a cool girl’s group gives a quiet, troubled young woman the chance to reinvent herself….but at what cost?

After the tragic death of her best friend Eliza, introverted Margot leaves her Outer Banks home to attend a small South Carolina college. Freshman year is difficult; she and Eliza had planned for years to attend the college together, and Margot is still struggling with grief and guilt. It seems like a miracle when, towards the end of the school year, she is approached by Lucy Sharpe and asked to take a room with her and her other friends the following year. Lucy is everything that Margot is not, self-assured and adventurous. Margot impulsively accepts the invitation, and ends up spending the summer in an off-campus house with Lucy, Sloane (the sarcastic but scholarly friend) and Nicole (the gentle and kind friend). The house is owned by the fraternity next door (whose current president is Trevor, Nicole’s boyfriend), and Margot spends the summer getting to know her new group of friends as well as spending time together with them and some of the frat boys. When she discovers that Levi, the boy who tried to interfere with Margot and Eliza’s friendship and the person Margot blames for Eliza’s death, turns out to be a pledge at the fraternity, Margot is furious. She tells Lucy and her other roommates what happened with Eliza and Levi, and her suspicions about him in general. As the new school year begins Margot’s friendship with Lucy grows closer, in large part because Lucy reminds her of Eliza. Margot is troubled however by Lucy’s apparent curiosity about, and interest in, Levi, as well as how little Lucy reveals about herself. Two things about Lucy become clear; no one can be sure what Lucy will do next, and it is highly likely that none of what they know about Lucy is, in fact, true. When someone dies during a fraternity celebration and Lucy disappears, rumors fly and Margot and the remaining friends are left to deal with the police and the aftermath. What happened that night? And what role if any did Lucy, Margot, and the others play in it?
The dynamic of friendships between women plays a large role in this thriller. It is unclear to Margot why someone like Lucy would choose her to fill the fourth bedroom in the rented house, but she so desperately wants to reinvent herself that she doesn’t question her luck. The moments and actions that cause friendships to grow and strengthen unfold over the course of the novel, as do Margot’s (and the reader’s) suspicions about Lucy. Lots of drinking to excess and getting high permeate the household, and Margot goes along with it all. What is the fascination that Lucy holds for Margot and the others? What happened to Eliza all those months ago? Is Levi the bad guy that Margot believes, or is there more to the story than she is telling? As other reviewers have mentioned, in some ways this feels like a YA novel given the age of the characters and the setting, but there are strong elements of a psychological thriller pulling it together. Anyone who has fallen under the sway of a charismatic friend can relate to the vulnerable Margot, and understand why she is so easily manipulated by someone like Lucy. Not until the end of the book does the reader find out the truth about Lucy’s background as well as what led up to Eliza’s death. Readers of Stacy Willingham’s earlier novels should definitely pick up a copy of this, her latest, and fans of Lisa Unger, Rachel Hawkins and Mary Kubica would also likely find this of interest. Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review (even if it did keep me up reading past my bedtime!),

This one felt different than Willingham’s last two books to me! The setting was excellent and really easy to immerse yourself in. I immediately understood Margot, I loved learning about her past and her relationship with Eliza.

The twists KEPT coming. They were super well paced and spaced. I always understood what was going on. They felt so well done that they always felt just out of reach, like I should’ve and could’ve guessed what was coming, but didn’t.

The college setting, and maybe even just the character name Lucy, reminded me often of Tell Me Lies. There are manipulative relationships and a lot of secrets and lies. But that’s about where the similarities end.

Margot and Eliza were best friends and planned going off to Rutledge College together. That is, until Levi moved in next door to Eliza, causing a rift in the girl’s friendship. He was with Eliza when she accidentally fell to her death. Margot went off to Rutledge on her own where she spent a nondescript year until she met Lucy who invited her to room with her and two other girls in a house next to and owned by a fraternity. There’s something mysteriously alluring and dangerous about Lucy who fast becomes Margot’s new best friend. And then Levi turns up as a pledge at the fraternity….

I read Willingham’s All the Dangerous Things and liked it. However, I had a difficult time engaging with this novel. The characters were not very likable, although many were quite sad, and all the obsessing just didn’t draw me in. As timelines went back and fourth, I thought it was a slow burn with a lot of repetition. I kept waiting for the twists and as the story spiraled downward in the last part of the book, I finally found the tale more compelling. The novel was a good commentary on the pain and danger inherent in the desperation to belong and the question asked in a Truth or Dare game, “if you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?” quite thought provoking.

There are many readers who will really like this book…it just didn’t quite do it for me. However, I am looking forward to reading Willingham’s next work.

After falling in love with Stacy Willingham after her debut novel, she became an auto-buy author and her latest, Only If You're Lucky, did not disappoint. The alternating time frame, before/after, and the two seemingly different storylines kept me interested, engaged and guessing how it was all going to come together. The last 45 minutes of this book were one twist after another that had me staying up past my bed time to finish the book because I needed to know how it all ended. Fans of Willingham, and those who are new to her and think this book sounds good, need to add Only If You're Lucky to their TBR.
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Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.