I absolutely loved this novel. So glad I gave Willigham another shot, because I am LIVING for these twists! I want expecting all the turns of the last 1/4 of the book or so. Her dark exploration of female friendships is masterful and creepy as heck.
Narrator was fabulous!

<I>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur books, for the audiobook review copy. This free copy did not affect my review in any way.</I>

ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY was a very different read than Stacy Willingham's previous two books, and sadly, this one didn't really work for me. Willingham's gorgeous moody, atmospheric writing is lost on a college setting that once again is just full of drinking and drugs half the time complete with the same enigmatic, mysterious girl that the main character is weirdly drawn to. Not inaccurate for college but, snooze, boring, give us something else.

Stacy Willingham's books are slow burns, but the beginning of this book was just boring and drama, not tension and a cool slow burn that creates suspense. The first 15% is setting up at college which bored me completely and I almost quit the book because I didn't like how young adult everything felt. We could have skipped a lot of that, knowing how everything ends. Then until about 60%, it's a drama and grief while experiencing college with some very minor flashes to present-day that show a hint of the thriller side of the book. FINALLY at about 60-65%, we get some good, interesting reveals that make things more thriller, less college drama. There are many thrillers that follow this feel too, setting up drama for much of the book until the ending finally gets to the more thriller part. That's also never been my style. I end up quitting a lot of those books early on.

I also really didn't care for the characters. I didn't like Margot at all -- she was trying to find herself in many ways but nothing about her was endearing. Lucy was annoying and I don't understand why everyone liked her... but I guess such is the way when people are fighting for your affection. The other roommates are barely there and barely developed and I would have liked to see more group dynamic, at least. All of the frat boys were annoying.

The ending does have a twist or two that I partially saw coming but they were still a surprise... but it really didn't warrant the rest of the book. I would have MUCH rather spent the majority of the time in the book in the present day with the actual exciting part than spending all of the time in the past. The past could have revealed some things along the way and instead, we get to spend more time in the present feeling the suspense and tension that everyone must have been feeling.

Mostly, the setting and age range just didn't do it for me. I trusted Stacy Willingham to be able to write anything because I loved her first two books, and this wasn't a bad book but it definitely wasn't what I was hoping for. I felt a little better about it at the end, but there was just too much I didn't like.

If you enjoy books in a college setting, maybe this one will work better for you! It all just felt too young adult and mostly, I felt like Stacy Willingham's writing style just clashed with this atmosphere and vibe. Nothing really seemed to fit and it all felt like it was forced to work here. I'm sure people will love it but it just fell short for me.

In this captivating auditory journey, we navigate the intricate narrative of the book, unveiling its secrets at a deliberate pace, with each spoken word revealing a new layer of depth. Within the dialogue, one of the characters introduces a profound ethical dilemma — the concept of committing murder without facing legal consequences. This complex theme becomes a focal point for discussions on morality.

As the narrative builds with patience, a pivotal moment is unveiled, injecting dynamic energy into our conversations. Despite the challenging journey, this twist becomes the linchpin around which the entire audio experience revolves.

In summary, this literary work delves into controversy and moral ambiguity, offering a thought-provoking auditory journey. While the pacing may pose challenges for some listeners, the intellectually stimulating nature of the narrative ensures it leaves a lasting impression, sparking meaningful conversations in the echoes of its audio rendition. Ultimately, the book invites listeners to reflect on the intricate dance between choices and their profound consequences.

3.75/5 ⭐️
{audiobook}

Stacy Willingham has a way with prose that will always suck me in.
Only If You’re Lucky follows the story of Margot- the quiet one. The one who tragically lost her lifelong best friend before heading off to college. The one who gets caught up in the feelings of belonging and replacing what she once had. The one who gets caught up in the midst of murder, deceit and hard truths that were in front of her the whole time.

Things that worked for me
• the relationships depicted in the beginning of young women- transitioning from high school to college, ‘kids’ to ‘adults’. The types if friendships and needs within a female relationship that was so relatable for me that I got lost in my own memories.
• gradual build with hints dropped here and there, none too obvious
• begs the reader to ask themselves if they would go as far, if they could justify the results, or understand the reasoning.
• the end isn’t tied up in bows, it’s as imperfect as the rest of the story, but still satisfying.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #OnlyIfYou’reLucky

Only If You're Lucky is a must-read!

In Only If You’re Lucky, author Stacy Willingham weaves a compelling narrative that explores the complex dynamics of friendship, identity, and the consequences of unraveling secrets. The protagonist, Margot, evolves from a shy and cautious character to someone entangled in a web of danger and mystery. The author masterfully captures the essence of each character, creating a group of individuals who are both distinct and deeply interconnected. As the plot unfolds with the murder mystery and Lucy's disappearance, the novel grips readers with its suspenseful twists and turns. The exploration of loyalty, envy, and betrayal adds layers to the story, making it a tantalizing thriller. Stacy Willingham continues to demonstrate prowess in the realm of psychological suspense, solidifying their position as a gold standard in the genre.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you Stacy Willingham, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review! Only If You’re Lucky will be available January 16th, 2024.

I love Stacy Willingham and her writing style, she is one of my favorite thriller authors! I’ll be totally honest, I had no idea what this book was about. I saw that Stacy Willingham had a new book and immediately requested it. I enjoyed the narration and found the audiobook to be easy to follow along with.

The beginning of the book got off to a slow start in my opinion. The pacing caused me to take a little longer to get hooked. However, every time I thought I knew where this book was leading me, I found myself wrong and back at the drawing board trying to solve what happened. The ending did throw me off a little. I felt like there were a lot of twists thrown in and by the time the end came, it just wasn’t as believable to me. All that being said, I still really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what Stacy Willingham writes next!

“If you knew you could get away with murder, would you do it?”

This is a devious story full of jealousy, female friendships, dark academia, and how we don’t always know those closest to us as well as we think we do.

I have three copies of this book. A physical copy, an eARC, and the audiobook. And as soon as I saw that @karissavacker narrated this I kindly put all but the audiobook to the side because #duh. It’s #karissavacker, audiobook narrator extraordinaire. And as anticipated, she used her talent for voices and emotion to bring this story to life!

Only If You’re Lucky unwraps like a present. It’s a tad slower paced, delving as much into the relationships between these women as the mystery aspect of the story. But the twists kept twisting and I throughly enjoyed it.

Notable quote: “I used to get so lost in these imaginary worlds, slipping into another skin every time I parted their covers. The musty scent of the pages curling beneath my nostrils like an elixir that ripped me from one reality and implanted me into the next. 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.” 😌🥰

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham.

When the beautiful, mysterious, and enigmatic Lucy inexplicably befriends Margot during her freshman year of college, Margot is struck. Finally she belongs a crowd, and a sought after popular crowd at that. But then Levi enters the scene, a boy who Margot is convinced has something to do with the death of her best HS friend, and suddenly not all is as rosy in this intoxicating co-ed crowd, especially when Lucy goes missing.

I really tried to dive into this book, it has a strong start and a lot of elements that make a good psychological thriller. And there was a lot to enjoy, but it was still a bit too drawn out and muddled. Maybe had I read it, instead of listening to it, i would have had a different experience, but I could never quite fully sink my teeth into this story.

I read one Stacy Willingham book before this one, and it blew my mind, so I knew that I wanted to jump on this read as soon as I had the chance. This book centers around the relationship between four young women in a college setting, culminating in the disastrous disappearance of one of them and the murder of a frat boy living next door. So I was intrigued before I even started reading the book.

Once I started reading, I was amazed at Willingham's use of technique in building this story and the characters involved. We are introduced to the four young women, and get to know them both individually and as the roles they play within the group - Lucy, the fun and appealing magnet, Margot, the newcomer who wants to fit in, Sloane, the protector, and Nicole, the sweet, giver of the group. They interact with the frat boys who live next door, since they own the house that the women live in.

However, the presence of the men next door changes the dynamic between the women. Nicole is in a relationship with Trevor, the head of the fraternity, and one of the pledges is Levi, a guy from Margot's hometown who was involved with her best friend, who died under possibly suspicious circumstances. So there's already some intrigue that pops up early on in the story, and adds a new level of tension.

On top of that, it feels like Margot's obsession with first Eliza (her best friend from high school) and now Lucy starts to spiral as the story goes on. Levi's presence only seems to make it worse, especially as time goes on and the plot seems to thicken even more. Willingham explores the complex nature of relationships among young women, as they navigate the direction of their future, manage their course loads, build relationships, and decide who they want to be as adults, all while the larger society continues to treat them as irrelevant, emotional, or easy to dismiss. In some cases, that even happens within their own families.

I was caught up with watching these characters change throughout the course of the story, and seeing them figure out what was going on, even as I was figuring it all out with them. There wasn't a lot of action in the beginning, as we were getting to know the characters and how they interacted with each other, but the pace gradually picked up until there were plot twists appearing rather regularly. The last quarter of the book was impossible to put down, and kept me absolutely hooked. I could never in a million years have predicted the last twist, and it was done so beautifully. Stacy Willingham is an author not to miss out on!

Thanks to NetGalley for an audioARC. I really enjoyed this. I love a good academic thriller and this did not disappoint. I found the characters realistic and the plot (mostly) believable. I also found myself surprised multiple times throughout.

Summary: Only If You're Lucky is about four girls who live together near Rutledge College in South Carolina. Lucy is the ringleader of the group, Sloane is sarcastic, Nicole is nice and Margot is an introvert who was recently invited into the group by Lucy. Margot is trying to find her identity after losing her best friend, Elyza, three months after graduation. Margot had always imagined going to college with Elyza so she's thankful, and maybe even a little obsessed, with her new group of friends. The girls live next door to a group of fraternity boys and they have a lot of fun partying together until the middle of their sophomore year, when one of the boys is murdered and Lucy is nowhere to be found.

Stacy Willingham does it again! She's a must-read author for me and I've loved every single one of her books. Only If You're Lucky had me hooked from the very beginning and it was fun to reminisce my college years as I read this book, although I'm glad my college years were MUCH less eventful! I couldn't put this down and found it easy to read and listen to. My only complaint was that some of the ending felt a little far-fetched. Maybe I'm naive, but I couldn't believe that some of the things the girls did would actually happen in real life! Even though it felt a little bit dramatic, I was still gripped by this book from start to finish and will definitely continue to root for Stacy Willingham and all of her future books! Thank you for my advanced audiobook!

I loved it. I was thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. The main characters were well written and evocative. The plot carried along well- even though the book takes place over about two years with many flashbacks the pacing was good. It was a single POV but still showed us what the other characters were thinking. And the ending was great.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I’m sorry to say but this book is not one I would recommend.

“Only if you’re Lucky” was a slow burn. I was bored for most of the book, I just felt like “get to the point, have something happen besides MC memories”. I didn’t like the past and present timeline. Something happened that was horrible and it traumatized the MC but the reader can’t know about it for most of the book. I was over it, honestly if it would have been a paper book it would have went into my dnf pile but since it’s an audiobook and I could listen while I did other things I hung in there. (I want you to know I read the authors other 2 books and rated them 4 stars, so this book just wasn’t for me). Also it felt very YA.
I love the narrator, Karissa Vacker, she does such a great job. Her narration skills raised the overall rating of this story.
This story follows 4 college girls. One (Lucy) is missing, and we have a murdered college boy named Levi. The MC Margo has secrets from her past involving her dead BFF Eliza and Levi. It’s about friendship and the length you will go for your friends as well as saving yourself. Lots of college drinking and making mistakes.

Margot is a college student from a wealthy family and is grieving the death of her best friend who died just after high school graduation. With her death went all the plans and dreams they had for the future, so Margo is left to face college on her own. After spending freshman year basically alone, she is suddenly befriended by the charismatic Lucy Sharpe, who invites her to move into her off campus house and the proceeds to draw out Margot’s more adventurous side and soon Margot becomes a bit obsessed with Lucy but then realizes that there is much more to Lucy than first appears. Then a ghost from Margot’s past shows up in the form of Levi, the last person to see Margot’s best friend alive. Then when Levi is murdered and Lucy goes missing, everyone is left wondering if Lucy could have had something to do with it. But as we see the “before” and the “now” timelines play out, there are so many interweaving details and plot twist that are ingeniously crafted and executed that despite the slow pacing at times, the final shocking revelations were jaw dropping to say the least. Yes some of it was predictable, but most of if was not and for me, that was a refreshing change as I can usually see things coming a mile away and it takes away from the fun.
As well, the narrator did a fantastic job of keeping the story entertaining and engaging and I listened to the entire thing in one day while I was at work and didn’t want to take breaks to stop listening.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲
𝐁𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟏.𝟏𝟔.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑜𝑜𝑛!


This is one of those thrillers that you have to sit back and soak in the atmosphere - the toxic friendships, the boozy partying, and the experience of college life.

Margot went away to college to get away from the heartache and anger over the death of her best friend, Eliza. But then charismatic Lucy invites Margot into her world, and things take a wild and dangerous turn.

Especially when he shows up…the person Margot wants to be far away from. Levi had been there with Eliza, and now he is here - by Lucy.

Stories like this, with such manipulative people and toxic relationships, can be hard to read sometimes, but the author wrote these characters well. I did feel this moved a bit slowly, and the reveal at that end was not all that surprising. But I’m more character-driven, so I enjoyed watching these characters’ personalities interact. And the college campus and Greek life made for a perfect setting.


Thank you @minotaurbooks and @Stmartinspress for a gifted book.

🎧Thank you @macmillan.audiobook for the gifted audiobook.

I liked the mystery and thriller vibe of this book, as well as it taking place on a campus with a questionable friendship. It kept me engaged that's for sure!

I have been so excited for this book! This was one of my most anticipated books of 2024, but it fell a little short of fantastic for me.
🫠
The pacing for probably three quarters of this books was incredibly slow until it charges into high gear for the last quarter of the story. I was kind of bored for most of the book because a story about college girls livin’ their best party lives doesn’t really appeal to me.
🤷🏻‍♀️
However, I am a sucker for some good final act plot twists, and once this book picks up pace the twists and turns were giving me whiplash! Everything you thought you had figured out and had been predicting for chapter upon chapter IS WRONG!
😱
So, I’m landing on 4 stars for this one because I think the payoff in the end is totally worth the boring bits in the middle. A huge thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and the author for an audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lies, secrets, and murders...yes, plural. Margot, the main character, is in the middle of all. As the story of her best friend's death is slowly unraveled while Margot starts to heal with a new friend at college, Lucy, things are not as they seem. I absolutely devoured this novel! There were so many twists and turns, and Lucy was a great character! You wanted her to be the one to help free Margot from her depression over her best friend's passing. Lucy is larger than life and Margot starts to feel like her old self again. But is her old self what she really needs? This book will leave you guessing until the very end.

This story was so good because it felt real to me. The characters, the setting, and the writing overall was great. I listened to this one and I think this narrator is amazing!

I’m a big fan of Stacy and her ability to slowly unveil layers of her characters as the mystery unfolds. Combine that with a book about complicated female relationships and I’m sold. I read this book in one sitting and the twists got me right up to the end. The audio was captivating and kept me hooked.