I was so excited to read this--I loved Willingham’s other books, but sadly this one was a letdown. It pains me to write this review. I wish I could recommend this book, but I just can't. Willingham's first 2 were some of my absolute favorites, but not this one. I found both storylines to be boring. The ending was exciting, but overall, this one was disappointing.

This was a fun read! I finished it so quickly. While the characters weren’t very likable, I couldn’t stop listening because I was so intrigued with the story. Several twists I didn’t see coming! Margot is trying to escape her memories of her best friend dying shortly after their high school graduation, and moves in with a new group of college girls she barely knows. Then one of the fraternity boys connected to Margot’s past who lives next door is murdered and one of Margot’s new roommates disappears. Is it possible that these events are somehow linked to her past? While I enjoyed this story and sped through it, I will say I enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark more.

Thanks to Minotaur books and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest feedback!

Thanks to Macmillian Audio for an advanced audiobook copy of Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham.

I loved her first two books so was eagerly anticipating this one, especially on audio but unfortunately Only If You're Lucky was more underwhelming for me. It is kinda boring for the first half of the book and then the last quarter makes up for it and just pushes this over to a 4, but a majority of the book is barely a 3 star.

I don't want to give too much away but it feels like a generic thriller and not the magic that Stacy Willingham wrote with her first two books!

There is something about Lucy Sharpe that snags everyone’s attention, and Margot can’t help but feel drawn to her. After a freshman year centered around studying and staying in her dorm room, Margot is surprised when Lucy offers her a room in an off-campus house starting that summer, but she quickly agrees to join Lucy and Lucy's two closest friends, Nicole and Sloane.

In many ways Lucy reminds Margot of her longtime best friend, Eliza, who passed away shortly after high school graduation. With Lucy by her side, Margot starts to experience more—more laughs, more parties, more friendships.

But things aren’t picture perfect. Partway through Margot’s sophomore year, one of the frat boys next door is found dead, and Lucy is nowhere to be seen.

I loved this one. Told primarily in sections labeled before or after, with a bit of now, Only If You’re Lucky weaves together the details that led to the boy’s death and Lucy’s disappearance, dropping nuggets and clues along the way. It’s a dark, and at times intense, psychological thriller filled with a “murky combination of right and wrong”. I especially enjoyed the literary references peppered throughout the novel.

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version of this one. Karissa Vacker captures the characters with her vocal choices and performance, bringing to life “malleable” Margot, “nice” Nicole, “sarcastic” Sloane, and bold Lucy. Listening to the audiobook, you can feel the emotion, the hesitation, and the unease leap off the page.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

It is a rare occasion that a book has a twist so sideways that I do not see it coming 👀 Only If You're Lucky did just that. It is a perfectly paced story, a slow but consistent burn that reached it's peak at just the right moment. A story about friendship, and desperation, Stacy Willingham gives the reader just the right information to make you feel like you have enough to answer the question of who did it, only to sweep that away repeatedly, and leave you craving the end to put your mind at rest. Once I started this book I couldn't stop until it was finished, leaving me facing another Willingham induced sleepless night, that was more than worth it. @stacyvwillingham

Thank you netgalley and Stacy Willingham for my advanced reader audio copy.

I really liked the last Stacy Willingham book I read, but this one fell flat. It has four friends in college together but one has a sad past, one isn’t telling the truth, and the other two… I couldn’t really tell you much about them.
Speed in this book didn’t pick up until after half way through and though it was set in college, it seemed more of YA drama. The ultimate connection and turns were fairly interesting but not all together shocking.
I absolutely loved the narrator and would love to hear more from her!

Stacy Willingham kills it yet again with her latest mystery, ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY, where we follow Margot, a reserved college student who is befriended by the enamoring and larger-than-life Lucy Sharpe. The book opens and gives us a glimpse into two mysteries: Lucy is missing and her roommates all seem to know where she might have gone - so where is she? And Margot remains haunted by the death of her childhood best friend but the details of how she died, and who was involved, are feeling less and less clear.

Stacy Willingham has a such a talent for character building and creating people who burst with empathy and realness on the page. I was rooting for Margot, and her roommates the entire time.

This was a fantastic mystery that will be a hit in 2024, if my fortune telling skills don't fail me.

Thank you for providing me with an advanced copy of Only if You're Lucky. I really enjoyed this audiobook. Carissa Vacker does an excellent job with the voices and character development. This story follows Margot in her Freshman and Sophomore years of college, trying to reinvent herself after the death of her high school best friend. Margot befriends, Lucy, and her world begins to open up to the new experiences Margot is desperate to have. I enjoyed the mystery and twists in this novel. While some where fairly predictable, there were still several that I didn't' see coming. The plot was well connected and moved at a quick pace. This was a solid, quick read.

Margot envisioned rooming with her best friend Eliza in college, but when Eliza suddenly passes away Margot goes off to college alone. Living in an all-girl dorm on campus, Margot struggles to make friends outside her college assigned roommate. When she catches the attention of the mysterious Lucy Sharpe, and is then invited to live in a house with her and her friends, Margot jumps at the chance. The house is owned by the fraternity brothers next door and when a guy from the town Margot is trying to escape shows up as a pledge, everything goes awry.

This is my second book by Stacy Willingham and it definitely isn't what I was expected. You'll still find an unreliable narrator, twists and ah-ha moments but Only If You're Lucky felt young. If I could pull out the plot points and skip over the childish antics of college kids spinning knives, drinking until they black out, and playing truth or date; my rating would be different.

Unlike All The Dangerous Things, I found the ending of Only If You're Lucky to be a far bigger stretch from reality. I liked the premise of the book and I liked the main quote, "If You Could Get Away With Murder, Would You Do It?" but I struggled with the overall execution.

The narrator did a great job!

Thank you Macmillian Audio for the gifted ALC.

Margot lost her best friend Eliza the summer before college. After her first year passes in a blur of grief and classes, she’s invited to move in with the mysterious Lucy and her friends in a house off-campus. Her new friends, and the fraternity boys next door, help her start to find her own life again…until Levi shows up to pledge the frat. Levi, the last person to see Eliza alive.

I loved Stacy Willingham’s first two books, so I was very excited to receive an ARC of this one! A twisting mystery, told in alternating timelines, this one definitely had some twists I didn’t see coming. The mystery of Lucy and her bad girl reputation, contrasting with the goodness of Margot the girl who just wants to fit in, was really interesting. A great page-turning suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced copy of this book!

Only if you're lucky is another great read by stacy Willingham! I've loved each and every one of her books so far! Thank you so much for the ARC and allowing me the opportunity to give an honest review.
I won't give a review of what the book is about as you can read that feom other reviews. I'd highly recommend this book to all my friends and any readers who throughly enjoy misdirection, unreliable narration, crazy plots and a generally amazing story line!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for granting me access to this audiobook!

Good slow burn about college students who are navigating life through different obstacles. Margot, the protagonist, starts college in a new city in which she was supposed to start her adult-life with her best friend before she tragically passed away. She meets Lucy with whom she develops a quick and intense friendship. Lucy reminds Margot of her dead friend, Eliza. Although Margot wants her relationship with Lucy to be as perfect as possible, she quickly realizes Lucy is hiding things and things might not be as they seem.
I liked the plot of the story and did not expect the final twist. I truly thought Margot was innocent and that Lucy was responsible for everything that went wrong in Margot’s life. I was really caught off guard by the ending. Great read!

Stacy Willingham returns following All the Dangerous Things and A Flicker In the Dark with her latest haunting thriller, ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY. A dark, twisty, and mind-bending tale exploring toxic female college friendships, expertly narrated by the fabulous Karissa Vacker!

When you‘re young, you can get away with anything . . . ONLY IF YOU YOU‘RE LUCKY.

Margot meets Lucy Sharpe at the end of her freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Lucy is everything, from bold, beautiful, addictive, and dangerous.

Margot is shy, reserved, and plays it safe. Lucy is her opposite. When she asks her to room together, Margot is over the moon excited.

Soon, Margot lives off-campus with three other girls: Lucy, Sloane, and Nicole. They rent the fraternity house from the boys next door, courtesy of Nicole's connection with Trevor, a leader of the fraternity club.

Margot's BFF, Eliza, died three weeks after graduation, and now Margot and Lucy have become best friends. Margot had planned to attend the same liberal arts college in South Carolina as Eliza had intended vs. what her parents had planned for her.

Then, in the middle of the sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door was brutally murdered, and now Lucy is missing.

The author carefully unravels the relationship between Margot and her former friend, Eliza. Margot becomes fearful when Levi (Eliza's boyfriend) moves in. He was the last to see her alive. What happened to Eliza?

From good vs. evil, inner demons, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY is psychologically rich, atmospheric with plenty of twists, envy, secrets, betrayal, loyalty, and obsession crossing into dark academia.

Alternating between past and present, the captivating mystery unravels. ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY is a little different than the author's previous two books, whereas this one is geared more toward YA and in the tune of Megan Miranda, Kate Alice Marshall, and Jessica Knoll.

A favorite author, you are always in good hands with Stacy Willingham, and each of her books is unique and a pro at tackling any topic.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for generously providing a digital and a listening copy of this standout book and audio for my honest opinion.

I highly recommend the audiobook, and Karissa Vacker brought the voices alive with her stellar performance. #SMPInfluencers

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Jan 16, 2024
My Rating: 5 Stars
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One of the best books I’ve read. This had a great twist at the end that I never saw coming; however it still made complete sense to the reader.

I have been such a fan of Stacy Willingham's work, and every time there's an opportunity to apply for an arc of their new books, I do it and I'm not disappointed. I rarely read thrillers/mystery anymore, but this one kept me interested and I managed to finish it relatively quickly. Only If You're Lucky does lean more mystery than thriller, but I found myself intrigued by the story and wanting to put all the pieces together to discover what was actually happening.

Only If You're Lucky features Margot, our FMC is a college student who is obsessed with her former best friend Eliza who died tragically before they were supposed to head off to college together. While in attendance at college, Margot is reclusive and finds herself becoming obsessed with a girl named Lucy who reminds her of Eliza in every way. Suddenly Lucy disappears and Margot's obsession grows exponentially.

This story is messy, and full of secrets. I put together where the plot was going early on. There are quite a few twists that aren't necessarily *shocking* but I still found myself surprised. I truthfully didn't care for Margot, she was boring and her reasonings for being obsessed were a little weird. There are a lot of plot twists towards the end, some believable but some were stretching a bit. I think this was a great mystery all in all, definitely kept my attention and is riddled with unlikeable characters who are absolutely terrible to each other. This was a solid thriller, not my favorite of Willingham's, but I still liked it nonetheless!

The audio was incredibly clear and was easy to follow. I enjoyed the narrator and think she did a fantastic job!

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for the early eARC in exchange for an honest review. Available January 16th!

I really enjoyed this author’s previous two books, so I was excited to read this one. It was a decent read, but I can’t help but compare it to her other novels. It was much slower paced and lacked the suspense I was expecting. The mystery itself was good, very twisty and unpredictable, and the writing itself was great. I just didn’t like it as much as I was expecting. If you haven’t read her previous books, you might like this one better than I did. Just be prepared for a very slow burn.

3.5/5

ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY
Stacy Willingham

This is my third experience and third success with Willingham. I'm not only a fan, I am a follower.

Do you know who your friends are? Would you trust them with your life?

Eliza has been dead for nearly a year. Her absence consumes Margot. It’s all she can think about. Not her family, or her friends, or her studies. Then she meets Lucy at the end of her first year. Lucy shines bright for Margot who could use a little light in her life.

After some time, Lucy asks Margot if she’d like to move in with her and a couple of roommates. Margot agrees and soon becomes enraptured by Lucy’s world and those that surround her.


For most of the reading experience, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of misdirection. Unable to hold onto anything substantial. Everything felt like a lie, and I became used to the mistrust. The checking twice. The rehashing. The second-guessing.

I loved every second of it.

I know five minutes into ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY that I will pick up Willingham’s next one. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed Karissa Vacker’s performance. The writing is quick and fluid. Combining Willingham’s writing with Vacker’s narration equals a win every time in my book.

As much as I liked ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY, I admit it has its flaws. It felt rushed. The storyline gets a little muddled towards the end and perhaps there was too much to settle at the end of the day. The characters, although memorable, don’t feel fully fleshed out and the story has a lot to do with interpersonal dynamics which felt incongruent.

Even with its flaws, I consider it a success. I enjoyed my reading experience and look forward to whatever Willingham does next! It comes out tomorrow, January 16th, 2024. Look for it where books are sold.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy! It was a pleasure!

ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY…⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was one of those books where I thought I had figured out the ending and I was preparing to be bummed based on predictability. HOWEVER, I was wrong and was absolutely blindsided. The twists shocked me and it’s really hard to shock me as of late. Will definitely be recommending to anyone as this is one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year

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

Margot is shy, careful, never the center of attention. Lucy is bold, daring and dangerous, just like Eliza, Margot's best friend from high school who died three weeks after graduation. When Lucy sets her sights on Margot, the two become roommates and fast friends, along with their other roommates Sloane and Nicole.

When one of the frat boys from next door is found dead and Lucy disappears, the lines between friendship, lies, truth, envy and betrayal are all drawn.

This book was perfectly fine. It was entertaining and had some twists along the way, but none of them were jaw-dropping for me. I loved how the author jumps back and forth between then and now, before and after. It kept me engaged and wanting to keep going.

While the prose was great, going back to games of truth or dare and spin the bottle seemed more YA than I was anticipating.

Overall, an enjoyable psychological suspense that kept my interest.

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and the author for this advance copy.

I give this a solid 3 stars because of the drama towards the second half/ending of the book.
I listened to this audiobook. I think I would’ve actually read the physical book faster…I couldn’t really get into the story the first few chapters because of the narrator’s voice, but that’s just my personal opinion.
The plot is definitely a slow burn and slower paced too. A big dramatic ending to make up for it! If you’re a fan of Stacy Willingham’s other books, you will like this one once you get invested.


I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and the author for this copy.