Stacy Willingham has quickly become one of my “must-read” authors. Her characters are multi-faceted and relatable. It was twisty how everything came together. Really enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

First, I want to say, this should be rated YA. It has a very YA feel and is s college based novel.

Overall, this was a good thriller that kept me intrigued the whole way through.
It was well written and I did not see the ending going the way it did.

However, I didn't really like the story at all. I was disappointed in the way it ended up going.

Lucy is bold and dangerous and shines very brightly. Margot is the exact opposite but is drawn to Lucy at the end of their freshman year. They end up sharing a house together off campus with two other girls. Margot is finally starting to feel like the fog is lifting after her best friend Eliza died her senior year of high school.

Things are going well, and Margot feels like Lucy is her best friend. Until one of the boys from the fraternity next door unexpectedly dies and Lucy is missing.

I have enjoyed all of Stacy Willingham’s previous books and I was very excited to get this one. This one was a little different than her previous two books in that this one is not a police procedural, rather a thriller set around some college girls. I enjoyed getting to know Margot throughout the book. The writing is done exceptionally well, and on par with what I expected from this author. There was so much drama in this book that it sucked me in and captivated me from the start. Even though this one is a slow burn, it held my interest, and I couldn’t put it down. I liked the twists and didn’t see them coming, they were well done, and I’m still shocked. I think that this one is a good exploration of college aged and teenaged friendship. It was a little hard keeping track of all the characters, but once I had it down things were great.

Overall, this is a solid mystery / thriller and I recommend it to those looking for a book where nothing is as it seems.

Thank you to St Martins Press, Minotaur Books, @minotaur_books and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was highly anticipated by many, including me. However, I feel let down and misled, as I expected an adult psychological thriller. This read like a YA suspense novel. The characters of Eliza and Lucy were cardboard alpha females and I found it hard to bring myself to care. The main character was pathetic and kept making bad decisions. The wiring was engaging, which kept me reading, but the plot and characters were subpar. I love this author, but am disappointed in this, her third novel. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my gifted digital advance reader copy!

Quiet and reserved freshman Margot is used to blending into the background. She's often overshadowed by her friends and forgotten by strangers. Lucy is Margot's polar opposite- she's magnetic, beautiful, and bold. She doesn't hesitate to say what she thinks and never hides how she feels. Seemingly out of the blue, Lucy invites Margot to live off-campus with her and two other girls in Margot's year. Somehow the girls draw Margot out of her shell, and she starts to come into her own, forming a particularly close bond with Lucy. By the middle of sophomore year, however, one of their neighbors was found murdered and Lucy is missing.

I was so excited to receive this book in advance, as Willingham's first two novels are among my favorite releases of the past two years. Here, she departs from her previous style of novel (police procedural, mystery) and dives headfirst into the dramatic world of the teenage girl and dark academia. If you've been following my reviews for a while, you may know that I am a sucker for a good boarding school/college murder mystery, and this one is no exception. I read this book in a single sitting while on a plane and was so spellbound that I barely slept.

While Willingham does traverse familiar ground, she does it exceptionally well. Between the drama among the girls, wanting to learn more about Lucy and Margot's respective pasts, and the murder investigation, this one had just enough of everything going on without being too overwhelming or over the top. I did predict a few of the twists early on, but found this to be an enjoyable and entertaining read nonetheless.

Fans of The Last Time I Lied (Riley Sager), The Divines (Ellie Eaton), The Lying Game (Ruth Ware), and The Maidens (Alex Michaelides) will probably lap this one up.

The third book by ms Willingham, and definitely won't be my last if she continues to bring out this solid, amazing books. This book had me sucked in from the very first chapter. And the writing, just absolutely beautiful! I hated, loved, and felt all the feelings each character had and was going through. What a solid solid 5 stars! I will definitely be recommending to my patrons!

This was a slow burn but satisfying story with rather unlikable characters that will keep you guessing. It poses the question of how far one would go for friends and also is about jealousy, wanting and trying to fit in, and making moral choices.

this book honestly kept me on my toes the entire time.


margot is nearing the end of her freshman year of college, she’s spent it kept to herself moving through the motions grieving the death of her best friend and supposed roommate eliza, who passed away 3 weeks after their hs graduation in an accident. but now a new girl has piqued margot’s interest.

her name is lucy. lucy is the type of girl who you know absolutely nothing about but want to know everything about. she brings in attention but also danger. when lucy singles out margot and asks her to move in with her and two other girls who live in margot’s hall, sloane & nicole, she’s reluctant at first thinking “why me?” but ultimately agrees.

but what happens when she starts realizing the same thing that pulled her towards lucy was the same pull with eliza? and what happens when someone connected to eliza comes back into margot’s life?

when i say i saw a few things coming but ultimately was left shocked. it has been DAYS since ive finished this and im still kinda shocked that i didn’t see it coming much. i think the twists were so well written, to the point where you see it coming but there’s a twist you may or may not have missed.

i think it does such a deep dive into friendships amongst adolescent girls, especially in college, that weird imbalance in the friend group where one is the “leader” and everyone goes along with it.

i enjoyed this book a lot, i binged the last 50% in a day and i couldn’t stop thinking about it every time i had to put it down. i will admit the inner monologue was quite repetitive at some points but otherwise, it kept me so intrigued.


it did remind me of the first season of pll, in how they always described allison as the girl who brought on danger and thrived in it bc it gave her attention.


overall, this was such a good thriller/mystery and i would love to read more stacy willingham

Thank you to Stacy Willingham, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGally for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Margot loses her best friend Eliza just before she heads off to college in South Carolina. Reeling from the loss, Margot does not do much during her freshman year besides go to class.

Margot finds her self enthralled with a girl on her hall, Lucy, and soon after meeting her, Margot decides to live with her sophomore year.

Sophomore year, Margot and Lucy, along with Sloane and Nicole, live in a house adjacent to a fraternity house.

The girls spend much of their time partying with the boys of Kappa Nu and visiting Lucy’s workplace after hours. And, there is a lot of drinking and poor decision making.

Someone from the past reappears, Margot is caught of guard, something seems off with Lucy, and Nicole is struggling.

And, let me tell you, that was a WILD ride!! So much to digest. What an adventure it was to read Only If You’re Lucky.

I’m pretty sure I’ll purchase the audio version when it comes out. And, may read it again, too, as I’m sure there are clues sprinkled throughout the book.

I think this is the first book I’ve read by Stacy Willingham, and I will definitely check out her other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press from the advanced readers copy of Only If You’re Lucky in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my owner.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/4 stars

I really loved Willingham’s precious books and was SO excited to head this one ahead of its release. Unfortunately, I was let down with this one.

The storyline started off VERY slow in my opinion and I kept getting the people mixed up as I didn’t really care about any of them or their stories. The novel did pick up about 80% into the book and I did enjoy the last 20% a decent amount. It wasn’t a bad book, just didn’t hit like Willingham’s other books did in my opinion.

A huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Thank you NetGalley & St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC! I absolutely love Stacy Willingham’s books so I was so excited to be given the opportunity!
Only If You’re Lucky follows the story of Margot, a young girl starting college without her best friend due to a tragic accident. Along the way she meets Lucy, the outgoing girl from her freshman dorm that reminds her so much of her childhood bestie. Margot & Lucy (along with Lucy’s two friends from Hines Hall Sloane & Nicole) all move in together soon after finishing their freshman year right next door to the boys of Kappa Nu. But nothing is as it seems. The twists & turns this triller takes along the way just kept me flipping page after page! You wont be able to put it down!

With multiple twists in her newest novel, Stacy Willingham crafts a suspenseful novel about a group of 4 friends and the murders that have happened around them. I do think some of the twists were predictable early in the story but there were enough to keep me interested. Overall a fun mystery/thriller!

I think this is a DNF. Might finish if it comes out on audio but it’s the most ridiculous plot and I hate all these stupid silly girls

Phew, the last 25% of this book was a wild ride with so many twists and turns. I truly did not guess all the twists, which I so often do with thrillers. However, the first half of the book was pretty slow. I kept speculating where the book was headed and was pleasantly surprised it was not what I was thinking. This book was very different from Willingham’s other 2 novels, which I enjoyed a lot more than this one. Willingham is a great writer and I will definitely continue to reach for her books. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this Advance Readers Copy (ARC) to honestly review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This might be Stacy Willingham’s best book to date and that’s saying A LOT! This author quickly became a favorite after I read A Flicker in the Dark. I will drop everything to read a book from her. It’s increasingly hard to keep my attention on reading these days and this author does it every time. I just need to pace myself! Great work!

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

Four college girlfriends, three murders. Who are the murderers? Can they get away with it? Are friends for life a myth, a fable, or can you really have friends that remain your friends for life, through thick and thin, through good and bad?

Four girls live in a house on a college campus with boys next door. Lucy is the ringleader. Her favorite game when they are all together is truth or dare. The question that haunts everyone is, “ If you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?”

The book is slow to get going but the twist and the last 1/3 make it worth reading. Giving this one 3.5 stars. I am a huge fan of Stacy Willingham and am always bummed when I finish her book and have to wait for the next one to come out!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I love when it involves school and girls. Mean girl vibes for sure and interesting to see how everything would play out. I was shocked at many twists and turns.

I absolutely loved Willingham's first two books so was excited to dive into this one. It was a bit of a different style, and just didn't work well for me. While it did pick up in the last fourth of the book, it is a forgettable story for me.

Margot is a shy, blending-into-the-background kind of girl. Lucy, however, is magnetic; someone you can't seem to look away from. When Lucy asks Margot to be her roommate at the end of freshman year, everything will change for Margot. When a fraternity brother is murdered and Lucy goes missing...things may not quite be what they seem.

The obsessed friendships here were a little stale for me. I didn't find any of the characters likeable. It was tough to get through and overall didn't work for me.

thank you for allowing me to be an early reader! i loved A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things so i was extremely excited for this one!

unfortunately, this one let me down a bit. i'll start by saying these characters were truly insufferable. i couldn't stand a single one of them. i also found it to be SOOOO SLOWWW for the majority of the book, picking up around the 75-80% mark and that's far too late in my opinion. the first half of the book was extremely repetitive, and too much inner monologue and too many comments about two "friends" being so similar. it made the big "reveal" super obvious.

I felt this one just dragged on and on and i eventually started to skim through the same FMC's thoughts over and over and over. i felt like the same details were drilled into me page after page.

I struggled to get through this one but I will still read this author's future work!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ | Stacy Willingham’s “Only If You’re Lucky” just secured her spot on my auto-buy author list. I absolutely loved this fast-paced thriller. Willingham’s snappy imagery and quick pacing torpedoed me through her book in a single sitting. And of course, it wouldn’t be a thriller review if we didn’t talk about that twist—sharp, cunning, and merciless… Willingham’s got it all.