I am obsessed with Stacy Willingham’s books and I was so excited to have the opportunity to read her latest one early. This book definitely had a different vibe than the other two and I loved it! The story takes place on at an off-campus college frat house. The book is told from a then and now POV and there are so many unreliable characters. It’s definitely a bit of a slow burn but Stacy weaves together such a gripping and dark story that I was invested right away. There are secrets, lies, twists and turns and I enjoyed reading how all the pieces came together.
Read if you like:
-Small college town setting
-Dark academia
-Female friendships
-Past and present timeline

Margot Is a student at Rutledge University, a school she chose to escape tragedy from her hometown. When she makes friends in the dorm and moves in with them, someone from her past appears, and she starts to doubt everything she thought was true.

For once I did NOT guess the ending of this book! It was very well done with twists and turns, and little clues (that I didn't pick up on!) all the way through.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“What we did together is tattooed across all of us now, a permanent mark like a friendship bracelet tied tight around our wrists.”

Personal review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Dark, twisty tale of female friendship deeply rooted in lies and hidden secrets - but just a bit too long. I was very interested in the beginning of this novel, and at the end, but the middle got a bit monotonous and I struggled to maintain attention. I loved the character of Lucy Sharpe, although I don’t think I was supposed to! Margot was just an ehh main character. I was interested in this plot and wanted to know who killed Levi and what actually happened to Lucy. Written in dual timelines going from the past to current day, I enjoyed the twists and turns from Stacy Willingham. Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Review Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can't say no―something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious. And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It's a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she's been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered... and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.

I’ve read all 3 of Willingham’s thrillers so far, and all of them have ended up at around 3 stars…maybe this author just isn’t quite for me.
this was a pretty well plotted college-set murder mystery thriller (all ingredients i love), but i never really felt super invested in the story, and was never dying to pick it back up (it took me almost 4 weeks of on-again-off-again reading to finish it). I think the issue for me was that i never really cared about these characters enough to care what happened. also i’m dying for someone to add up just how many freaking similes she uses because it got to the point where it was distracting.

I am never let down by Stacy Willingham. Her books are nearly always a win for me and this was no exception. I felt like I fell a little bit in love with Lucy myself throughout this story. I truly felt like I was in college, living in that house. I was hooked.

As a fan of "Flicker in the Dark," "Only if You're Lucky" was a disappointing read. Set on a fictional college campus, it chronicles the rise and fall of group of students that live in an old house together. Ring leader Lucy is charismatic and manipulative, luring quiet Margot into her fold. Margot is haunted by the death of her High School best friend Eliza and is eager for a new beginning. The book opens ominously: Lucy has disappeared, and a student has been murdered. Margot can't believe her life has been struck by tragedy once again and becomes a person of interest by the police.

The pacing did not hold for me at all. Told in alternating timelines, it drags the reader through past events to slowly reveal Lucy's fate. I realize this is a personal perference, but a thriller feels much stronger to me when the reader is discovering facts along with the characters, instead of the characters (and thereby the author) hoarding secrets that all come to light in the end in a "gotcha" moment. The characters in this book are also exceptionally mean, and lean into the cruel college girl trope. I felt apathetic and uninvested in the story, and disappointed it didn't contain the wit and spookiness of Willigham's previous work.

At first, it started off slow for me. It seemed pretty straightforward and I wasn’t sure where the story was going. But the slow burn was definitely worth it and I did not expect what happened!

Margot and Eliza were the best of friends. High school graduation just around the corner. The two were finalizing their plans to leave home and start college together.

But when Eliza tragically dies Margot is crushed, and must prepare to begin her college life alone. After suffering the first sad and lonely year, Lucy befriends Margot, inviting her to move in with her friends off-campus in a ramshackle house owned by one of the fraternities. Eliza jumps at the chance for a new beginning!

But maybe the past isn’t ready to let you go….

If you enjoy university/college themed thrillers this will be a perfect match. As usual, I failed to read the blurb and just read the book based simply on the author's reputation. And must say, for a 'young-ish’ themed book it held my attention throughout! The characters were well portrayed with a sense of maturity. (Well other than the mandatory partying and binge drinking of course)😉

Anyhoo….another great release from Stacy Willingham!

A buddy read with Susanne!🍻🤓📚

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press

This book was simply just amazing. Each Stacy Willingham I read becomes my new favorite. I was immediately captivated from page 1. The mystery of Lucy drew me in and kept me hooked. I absolutely never would have guessed the twist ending, Seriously friends, you need to pick this one up when it releases January 16, 2024!!! Could not recommend enough. Another job well done, Stacy.

Major thanks to Stacy, Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press for proving me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.25! So many unexpected plot twists that I never could have predicted. That seems to be Willingham’s specialty and I love it. She is great at writing such dislikable characters in a way that makes you still care to see what happens to them. Would be an instant 5-stars but the beginning was a taaaad slow for me. Completely worth the ride, though.

Stacy Willingham is a literary thriller genius. Her twists and turns are so believable and fit so well into the story she’s written that you truly don’t see them coming. I also loved this book for its commentary on female friendship and the lengths you go to belong, especially as a young girl in high school and college.

Beginning college was supposed to be a life-changing experience for Margot, especially after experiencing a tragedy. After a dull freshman year, she’s ready for a change and finds herself living with a new crowd, led by the elusive Lucy and her sweet friend Nicole. Used to being the quiet sidekick of the group, Margot finds herself coming out of her shell and experiencing more in her sophomore year. But by the end of the school year, a boy next door has been murdered and Lucy is missing without a trace.
This book is like the college version of Mean Girls with even more drama, and missing people. As we read through Margot and all of the girls’ growth throughout the story, we are provided with a different angle of friendship, one that is twisted and comes with scary consequences. This was a fantastic read, with an engaging story that is fast-paced and expertly crafted.

This book was so slowly paced. It has such a slow beginning and it never seemed the get any more interesting. Maybe if you took out about 100 pages I would have been more engaged with the story. It was not very original story and if you are looking for an exciting page turner I would say skip this one.

What an excellent, excellent storyteller Stacy Willingham is. She can weave these chilling and yet so real characters and situations that truly give you the creeps. I love reading her novels even as they stress me out.

This one was no exception. The female friendship in this book is so raw, so real, and so disturbing all at once. The frats, too. So real and so disturbing.

I didn't see the twists coming and I just truly got lost in this book. I will think about this book for a long time.

with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Only If You're Lucky. As always, Willingham delivers an exciting book that keeps you guessing throughout. I was invested in this book and enjoyed the story. Highly recommend!

In true Stacy Willingham fashion this is thrilling story on just how dangerous some friendships can be. I was hooked on every single word and the character development was so on point. She just has a way of telling the story in such a deeply detailed way that you feel like you are apart of it. The main character Margot is fresh into college after suffering a horrible tragedy but when she forced to confront her past she sees just how dangerous it can be to go searching for the truth. I am already hoping for stacy’s next novel because I know it will be just as good as the rest.

Stacy Willingham describes reading as “words [melting] in my mind,” and I couldn’t imagine a better way to describe the way Willingham writes. Her words are melted butter. She has an uncanny ability to describe the mundane and make it soft, lustrous and beautiful. Only If You’re Lucky was another knock out of the park.

An enthusiastic 5/5 for Only If You’re Lucky.

There are few things in a young person’s life that affect them more than friendships, and if you are lucky enough to have one where that person or people knows everything about you, can finish your sentences, step in when you fall down, cover for you when you sneak out, and hold all your hair back when you’re sick and your secrets, then you have the ultimate friendship; you have a best friend. Margot had Eliza from kindergarten through just before their freshman year at Rutledge, when Eliza died at a party that Margot didn’t go to. And the last person to see her alive was Levi, who vied for Eliza’s attention from Margot.

Starting her freshman year alone, Margot, a forgettable sort who would rather stay in than attend functions, limped through the year with her roommate, Maggie, doing her best to keep Margot afloat. When the girl in the bikini outside their dorm catches Margot’s attention and suddenly befriends her, going so far as to ask her to be the fourth in a 4-bedroom off campus house, Margot is beside herself. Could things be looking up?

When Margot moves in with Lucy, the magnet who pulls everyone’s attention, Sloan and Nichole, she is bothered by Lucy’s peculiar behaviors that seem so familiar to Eliza’s; the same tics and mannerisms, the same pull on people. Margot chalks this up to her own overreach and falls headlong into the party life with her new roommates and the frat boys in the house next door. When freshman, Levi, pledges the frat house and becomes enthralled by Lucy, Margot is determined to prove he was responsible for Eliza’s death. But when a frat party goes very wrong, all bets are off as to what Margot thought was fact.

Stacy Willingham, while new on the scene with this being her third book, has knocked it out of the park. She completely nails that deep, intimate bond with friends and their way of feeling and thinking; including their insecurities, power struggles, secrets, and clicks within a group of besties. Only if You’re Lucky was unputtdownable and totally captivating. Just when you think you have it all figured out, Willingham adds another whammy.

If you weren’t a Stacy Willingham fan before, you will be after reading Only if You’re Lucky.

Thank you St. Martin’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are mine alone. This review was uncompensated.

A book that truly spells out the dangers of female friendships. College life with its usual dangers plus more death. I throughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down. I did have some questions at the end though. I guess that’s how some thrillers end but I always like a tidy ending. Just my opinion though.

Wow! Did not see that coming at all. When I thought I knew, I was completely blind sighted. Amazing thriller with relatable characters and setting. Stacy Willingham has done it again. Cannot wait to see this climb the charts.