Reviews with content warning for Rape - Only If You're Lucky

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham

43 reviews

astoriareader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

SYNOPSIS

Margot grew up in the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and she is starting her freshman year at Rutledge in South Carolina. Prior to starting college, her BFF, Eliza, died.
In the summer before sophomore year, she befriends a trio of girls, Lucy, Nicole, and Sloane. She moves into their rental home, which the girls rent from a fraternity that’s adjacent to the rental.
At the beginning of the book, there is a time jump to middle of sophomore year, where Lucy is MIA & something has happened to a frat boy next door. The police are investigating.
What happened to Eliza, Lucy, and the frat boy?

MY THOUGHTS

This is Willingham’s third book, and so far, I’ve read all three & love her writing style. This one, however, was my least favorite of the three.
This was a slow burn with multiple timelines. The chapters are short & digestible.
The characters weren’t very likable, and there’s a lot about toxic friendships.
The ending was okay. It wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t great.
Side note: the cover of the book was really pretty!
I did think this was a compulsive read. I ended up finishing in one sitting because I wanted to see what happened.
The reveal of the mystery about what happened to Eliza was predictable, and I expect readers of the genre to feel the same way.
I enjoyed the book, and it is well-written.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️suspense/thriller. slow burn. college setting with short, digestible chapters. toxic friendships.

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cait_reads_and_drinks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thank you Minotaur Books for the advanced digital copy!

Okay, I’ll be honest, this one started off slow. There was a lot of building things up and I just wanted things to start happening. And then they did. There’s a lot of red herrings, which I expected because I feel like that’s kind of the author’s MO, but the twists were solid and did not disappoint. Margot’s internal critiques and insecurities felt way too familiar to early college Cait and let’s just say I’m glad things worked out differently for me 😂

While I think the book probably could’ve been more engaging in the beginning and definitely could’ve have gotten the same effect in less pages, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who loved Flicker In The Dark or likes stories where you don’t know who to trust.

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chandie's review against another edition

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3.5

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erincaitlin97's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Definitely a slow build that kept me guessing the whole time. The way that everything tied together at the end was absolutely insane and unexpected. I loved watching the way these friendships were built, and the blind loyalty they all had for one another.

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hheartbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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daniallreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

First read of 2024 & she's a G O O D I E

Thank you St Martins Press, Minotaur Books & NetGalley for the early copy of this book. Stacy Willingham's newest publishes January 16th! Get your pre-orders in now!

***Big heads up my sweet souls!*** Please check your trigger warnings before you read this. She covers a lot of heavy topics including underage drinking to rape.

Stacy Willingham's thrillers get better every year! Her style is MUH JAYM!

I am a sucker for a university setting when I dive into any genre. I get so much nostalgia from the anxiety of starting a brand new life + the chaos dorm-style living. Willingham set the stage with the main characters lounging on the college lawn & studying from their textbooks which made me miss college so heckin much. I loved the friend groups nefarious hijinks + the tiny acts of rebellion they took part in. Living through these characters eyes really helped me step right back into my early twenties.

Willingham captured the freedom of university living well in this thriller and I think that's one of the reasons why this story enraptured my bookish attention.

The setting gripped me but in Willingham fashion, her newest didn't disappoint when it slapped me right in the face with some bomb.com twists. I was not ready for this book, you guys.

BUT I can see a lot of people being underwhelmed with this story solely because of how overdone the "it girl" having a mysterious past + the toxic college setting has become. I will say that frequent thriller toe-dippers will have an easy time figuring out a few of the twists in this one so don't go into this one thinking it's going to be this psychological...mind boggling... life changing story.

It's just a good ol' fast-paced & binge-worthy palate cleansing thriller.

I have a few "icks" that I will update my review following pub date to keep this with minimal spoilers. <3

If you were a fan of "In My Dreams I Hold a Knife" by Ashley Winstead or "His & Hers" by Alice Feeney, you're going to want to scoop this suckah up!

🎳 Mean Girls with a Mystery Flare
🍺 College Nostalgia
🎓 Toxic Friendships
🔍 Quick Read
🎳 Good Versus Evil

Shout out to my friend, Bethany (@illstoptheworldandreadwithyou), for buddy reading with me & dealing with my late night word vomits.

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lostinthepaigeofabook's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

While I really enjoyed this book, I loved her first two more. The character development was spot on and the twists were epic. I didn’t see anything coming, yet it was like a giant jigsaw puzzle finally coming together in the end with a whispered WOWWW. The pacing was a little slow for me at first, but my interest in the characters had me ok with it. An excellent puzzler of a thriller. I loved every minute, just won’t read again.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook! The narrator was fantastic!

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clairebonney's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.25

3.25 stars - this one hurts me so much to rate so low (per my rating scale), but I think many people will really enjoy this novel!

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whenimreading's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

3.0

Only If You’re Lucky follows Margot and a group of young college women after a shocking student death and their roommate’s disappearance, featuring alternating timelines showing their lives before these events.

After enjoying Stacy Willingham’s first two novels, I immediately wanted to read her third installment. I love Karissa Vacker’s performance more and more each time. She has great narration delivery changing voices to represent different characters and the ability to build tension throughout the book.

I liked the college setup and Autumnal atmosphere from the opening chapters. However, I expected a little bit more from the plot. Jumping between timelines and going back to the past seemed too repetitive and slow to build. It lacked the investigative aspect and thrill I enjoyed from previous books. The novel also skews a tad young - jealousy, obsession, mysterious secrets, and wanting to fit in - it was reminiscent of Pretty Little Liars.

Overall, it’s a pretty average slow burn book, slightly predictable with a large reveal towards the very end.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the gifted audiobook to review.

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