This book was seriously entertaining. The author did a great job tapping into the interpersonal relationships among teenagers and early adults. Especially the women. I originally read it for possible comp research for a future project, but I pretty much forgot I was supposed to be researching. About halfway through, I couldn’t put it down. I read the second half in a single sitting. I did have the vast majority of the story figured out about a third of the way through, but I figured it was so off the wall that I couldn’t possibly be right. I was right about everything but one event toward the end. Be prepared to be spun in circles because this one is a doozy!

Huge thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

“𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷. 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓮 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓦𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓭𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓐𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰.”

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Lucy Sharpe is the mysterious girl with the bold, magnetic, and dangerous aura that draws people straight in. Margot is shy and careful and never the center of attention. Lucy befriends Margot at the end of their Freshman year of college and persuades her to live off campus with two other girls. When Lucy goes missing and a boy from the fraternity house next door is discovered being brutally murdered, Margot begins to see that Lucy had ulterior motives and she wasn’t who she claimed to be.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I loved this dark academia psychological thriller. It brought me straight back to the bubble of being in college and the thought of being able to remake yourself because no one really knows who you were in your pre college life. This is a dark twist on the new friendships that are made in those beginning stages of college and the fact that you can instantly become friends with someone without truly knowing them. I’m thankful that the friends I made in college were nothing like some of the girls in this book 🤣. It was a fun nostalgic ride to remembering bits and pieces of the college life, with the addition of lots of deep dark and haunting twists that hook your right from the start and gets even better as the ride goes along. I’m a huge fan of Stacy Willinghams writing and loved both her previous books as well.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Dark academia mystery thriller 🧐
💫Small town college vibes 🏫
💫Frat parties 🍻
💫Dual timeline ✌🏽
💫Multiple twists 🔀
💫College female friendships 👯‍♀️
💫Lies and secrets 🤐
💫Good vs. Bad ☯️
💫Character driven reads 📖
💫Slow burn 🔥

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: death, abuse, hazing, mention of rape.⚠️

🔥𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🔥
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: “𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈: 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹, 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝑜𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓂, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝒽𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓏𝑒. 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑜𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓇𝒾𝓅𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒.”


🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

A huge thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for the ARC.

This is easily my favorite of Stacy’s novels, all of which have been fantastic works. They all stand so well on their own, but in “Only If You’re Lucky”, she ventured into a subgenre I’m very well known to be obsessed with. Morally grey, rage filled, college girls.

You could maybe consider this dark academia if you squint just right, but to me, it’s just a classic mystery. I loved the back and forth between before and after, learning how all the events unfolded to get you to the final conclusion. Stacy is fantastic at leaving you guessing the entire time, while avoiding obvious red herrings and dropping subtle clues you missed earlier in the novel.

The final conclusion was staggering, in the best way possible! I loved and hated every single character - which I love. I loved the atmosphere of their run down college house.

This book makes you remember your high school friendships, maybe even your college ones, and how they possibly fell apart. Every time you felt jealous, every time you felt like you weren’t good enough or were second best. Every time you wondered if your friends really even like you, or if they pity you, or if you’re the one who loves them but they don’t love you back. I felt so seen in every inner monologue told by Margot, and for that, this book gets 5 stars from me.

This was an ARC I couldn’t wait to get my hands on! After reading it, I definitely have mixed thoughts.

“A Flicker in the Dark” sits at a 3-star read, for me. It’s a very basic thriller in terms of plot and execution. “All the Dangerous Things,” on the other hand, was an easy 5-star read, and one of my favorite thrillers to date. With “Only If You’re Lucky” I go back and forth on whether I liked it or not. I’d say it fits right between its two predecessors. Definitely not my favorite Willingham novel, but better than her debut.

Let me start off by saying, I absolutely love the dark academia tone this novel takes on. It’s so unique from Willingham’s other work. I’m such a sucker for a college setting, and this book perfectly encapsulated the freshman experience. It felt as if I was right back on campus for the very first time. From the first few pages, I was so invested in our main character and the story as a whole.

However, this book lost a lot of momentum about 30% of the way through and didn’t pick up again until the 70% mark. There was a serious lag that had me skimming pages through multiple chapters. The main character got less and less likable, the supporting characters were never likable, and the repetition was hard to power through at times.

It’s so unfortunate because I really like the writing, the concept has a lot of potential, and the ending is solid (although, quite predictable). There were just a few missteps that had me disappointed.

For now I’d rate this a 3.5

Such a suspenseful story! Loved the characters & their relationships, the pace, and the plot! The tension and pacing were amazing throughout this! Definitely going to be following this author

3.5, a slow burn portrait of toxic friendships and people desperate to belong. The first three quarters of the book is Margot ruminating on her friendship with her deceased friend Eliza and trying to fit in with her new “cool girl” roommates. It then accelerates quickly as we watch it all come together. I read Willingham’s first two books, so some of these twists I saw coming early on, but some still surprised me. The little breadcrumbs tie together nicely in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for giving me the opportunity to receive an ARC for this novel in exchange for an honest review. Another spectacular read from Stacy Willingham who is now an auto buy author for me!

If you love toxic female friendships, big secrets and lies, and dark academia vibes, this is for you. This book had a bit more of a slow burn feel in comparison to her other novels and it was extremely well done. Once I got around 50% I could not put it down. I think if you liked 'In My Dreams I Hold A Knife' by Ashley Winstead but wished it went a bit darker.. you will love this one.

Stacy Willingham’s first novel was a hit for me. Her second novel was a miss (a DNF) and so I requested this one hoping it would be another hit. Unfortunately, it is another DNF. The writing and plot line feels so childish to me and I have absolutely no interest in the lives of these characters. Thank you anyway for the ARC!

Only If You’re Lucky is a chilling thriller with so many twists and turns that you’ll be unable to look away. The story follows Margot who goes off to college after the tragic death of her high school best friend. As Margot struggles to find herself and overcome grief, she meets Lucy who seeming takes Margot under her wing. Lucy is everything that Margot wants to be - bold, risky and carefree - but there’s a mysteriousness about her that Margot can’t quite figure out. When a frat boy who lives next door ends up dead, Margot is left questioning whether her past and present are somehow connected.

The story alternates between past and present, which I enjoyed. There are a lot of characters in this book, but I think the author did a good job of introducing them slowly so it’s not overwhelming. The first half of the book was a slow burn, but kept me interested. The last half I devoured in one sitting, unable to put down. Overall, a great psychological thriller that will make you question how far would you go to protect your friends.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book.

I received an ARC of Only if You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham from Netgalley.

This book is a gripping story about friendship and the lengths people will go to protect themselves and those they love when everything seems to be falling apart.
Reading this book as someone who also lost their lifetime best friend a few months before college.. the way Stacy willingham describes Margot’s grief about Eliza is something that I will never forget reading. It was so real and emotional for me to read.
With that being said, the story had a sense of mystery throughout, gaining little snippets of information in each chapter that were like little breadcrumbs leading you to the overall outcome of the book. I really enjoyed this book and had chills when i finished the final chapter!
It Also brought me back to my college days with all the partying and was fun to read!

This book is dark and twisted story about female friendships, the lies that bind them together, and what they would do to protect each other.

This story follows our main character and her interactions with the three girls that she lives with at college. The story opens with one of the roommates going missing following the death of a next door frat neighbor.

Willingham's newest masterpiece is a must read and sure to be a hit. (On an aside note I love that her story setting's are usually in North or South Carolina, it makes imagining the landscape so much.)

I read the whole entire book in the 6 hour car ride back from The Outer Banks today (fitting as that was where the main character was from). This was such a page turner and I highly recommend it for thriller fans!

Yes absolutely yes so good! Female friendship can be a scary thing I think we all know that, the secrets we keep the lies we will say to even those the closest to us. This book is satisfying. It kept me guessing right up to about the last quarter of the book when it slowly started to piece together.

3 stars might be generous, but I think the ending saved it a little for me. It was just so repetitive and really read like a YA novel, which I usually do not mind at all but this was sooooo frat party-esque. I was disappointed after loving Stacy Willingham’s first two books so much. The storyline, need to fit in, etc, all could have been written in another setting and been more of a thriller than this. Thank you Net Galley for the eARC of this book.

Stacy Willingham is back at it again with another page turner. This book made me feel so nostalgic about college and female friendships. I was intrigued from the beginning, but as much as I hate to admit it, I did pretty much guess the twist at the end .I loved the homage to The Beatles with the Lucy in the sky with diamonds reference. I will forever read anything Stacy Willingham writes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my early copy of this book!
This is the third book I have read by Stacy Willingham, and as expected it did not disappoint. Much like A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things, I was left a bit stunned by the end as secret after secret was unveiled.
The pace of the book started a bit on the slower side, but built as you worked through Margot’s past as it led to her present.
As a former college girlie, the setting of this story felt familiar for me; Rutledge being a small university much like my alma mater. Over time, however, the setting dawned this eerie haze that was utterly brilliant as events the events continued to unfold. The day I finished this book, I had a reading goal of getting 3/4 of the way through the book but could not stop reading when I got to that point and ended up finishing it that same day.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
4 ⭐️ of out 5

Wow, what a book! A chilling look into just how cruel female friendships can be, especially at a young age. The story is set in present day within a college sorority, with peeks into Margot's past. Lucy is the other main character, the type of person whose very presence draws people in, the exact opposite of Margot's reserved personality. Everyone is living it up, complete with drinking, parties and boys, until someone ends up dead. Lies start to unravel and the truth slowly reveals itself. A twisty dark thriller that I HIGHLY recommend.

LOVED this one!! Thank you NetGalley for this arc, opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for a ln ARC of Only If You’re Lucky, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Stacy Willingham is fantastic at keeping you guessing. When you think you know what happened, she adds in a twist that has you rethinking everything. Nobody is completely innocent. But just how guilty are they?

Set in a dual timeline, you catch glimpses of Margot’s life during high school and college. Levi is the one constant denominator in her life and all of the problems that she has. The death of her childhood best friend, Eliza, and the disappearance of her new friend/roommate in college, Lucy.

I thought this book was well written and kept me hooked.

Stacy Willingham did it again! Margot is beginning life away at college following the tragic death of her best friend. Margot finds herself becoming very close with a well known girl on campus named Lucy. So close that Margot moves in with Lucy and two other female roommates in a house off campus owned by the fraternity brothers who live next store. This story is a thriller that keep you guessing and wondering what everyone's real motive it. I enjoyed the way the author wrote the story in the "before" and "after" timelines and kept me interested and guessing until the end!

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. This book has a publication date of January 16, 2024 and I do recommend you pick it up!

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham follows Margot, a young adult still haunted by the death of her best friend, Eliza, the summer before they are supposed to start college. She spends her whole freshman year closed off from everything, until Lucy Sharpe stands in her dorm room asking her to take the fourth empty room in their off campus house. Margot, a girl with nothing to lose and everything to gain, agrees and finds herself living next to Kappa Nu with two other girls. Her new arrangement seems to be perfect until Levi appears. The boy she hates. The boy who was obsessed with Eliza and was with her the night she died. Margot finds herself pulled in different directions by Lucy, Levi, and her new acquaintances of Kappa Nu as she navigates her Sophomore year in the midst of a murder investigation.

This story was enjoyable, keeping me guessing up until the very end. Stacy Willingham did a fantastic job with setting Margot as an unreliable narrator, twisting and shaping the story to her own perspective and fantasies. We switch between timelines from before Eliza's death and after, following her relationships with both Eliza and Lucy, and how similar they are to each other in Margot's eyes. I enjoyed being able to piece together the story at the same time she was. The pacing was on the slower end, taking some chapters to really get into the story and involvement of the characters or even introducing some of them. Looking back, some of the events were predictable, like shoving Lucy in the cave once we got to know her character and how she would never run or leave for weeks due to her controlling nature or that Nicole was to blame for Levi's death based on their weird behaviors after Halloween. While this is the case, in the moment it was less predictable as I was shocked at how it all unfolded. This story had me questioning a lot of things, such as Sloane's whole involvement with Lucy, was she just a consequence of trying to get Nicole close so her plan could work to get the house?

Overall, this story was well written and thought out. It kept me on my toes and turning the page. Would I have liked to see more? Yes. Am I questioning half of everything I read now that I am done? Also, yes. Will I be waiting for her next release? Impatiently, yes.