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amandabales's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
College settings in books somehow simultaneously bring me comfort and anxiety. I can only read so much of them. It felt like this one dragged on a bit too long - too many Eliza flashbacks. Switching between the before and after affected the pacing. I also didn’t really like any of the characters. So many toxic individuals obsessed with drinking, partying, and each other…
With that being said, I didn’t see the twists coming. It was a quick read and there were some enjoyable moments. I could vividly picture what was happening in the story. I’m still a Stacy Willingham fan, but I recommend her other books over this one.
With that being said, I didn’t see the twists coming. It was a quick read and there were some enjoyable moments. I could vividly picture what was happening in the story. I’m still a Stacy Willingham fan, but I recommend her other books over this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Grief, Alcohol, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, and Animal death
dietriche's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.5
Stacy can do no wrong!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Death
Minor: Abandonment
katiecummings1981's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
I found the book repetitive, slow and although I finished it, I struggled to do so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Stalking, Eating disorder, Murder, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal death
astoriareader's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Drug use, Stalking, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Car accident and Infidelity
amandaglowgetter's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Only If You’re Lucky is fundamentally a thriller about friendship between young women, and how far we’ll go for our friends. I really connected with the main character, Margo, and I think that a lot of people will too. That feeling of not quite belonging, of being on the outside, looking in, of being in a friendship where the affection feels asymmetrical… Margo gets wrapped up in the lives of her charismatic besties to the point where she wants to be more like them and less like herself, and I think that that expresses our desire for belonging when taken to the extreme.
The book starts a bit slow, but I guess that’s to be expected when you have to build background story for characters. It quickly picks up and the mystery and how all the pieces connect kept me reading. Willingham is queen of the twisty thriller, and this delivers exactly that.
Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advance review copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault
clairebonney's review against another edition
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Death, Eating disorder, Stalking, Infidelity, Animal death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Animal death is a deer and the description is extremely graphicwhenimreading's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Murder, Grief, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Rape, Stalking, and Drug use
theoceanrose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Death, Grief, Alcohol, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Infidelity
tallhousecookies's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Stacy Willingham for the opportunity to review a digital ARC of this book. What a fun ride.
Margot is swimming in grief; her best friend died under mysterious circumstances 3 weeks after their high school graduation. She’s spent her entire first year of college merely surviving, looking at the fun from afar. Taking special interest in three girls on her hall: Nicole, Sloane, and the magnetic Lucy Sharpe.
So when, at the end of the school year, Lucy asks Margot to room with the three of them for the next school year, Margot jumps at the chance to start truly living again. What happens from there is a series of twists and turns that end up becoming fatal.
Overall, this was a really fun read. I’m personally drawn to stories about female friendship, especially when they turn sour, so this book was right up my alley. This is also my first Stacy Willingham book and it made me want to move her other titles up on my TBR shelf. There were multiple twists that I genuinely didn’t see coming. Some of which were brilliant additions and others seemed to have been thrown in order to wrap up the ending. With that being said, if you’re a thriller lover this book is not to be missed.
Margot is swimming in grief; her best friend died under mysterious circumstances 3 weeks after their high school graduation. She’s spent her entire first year of college merely surviving, looking at the fun from afar. Taking special interest in three girls on her hall: Nicole, Sloane, and the magnetic Lucy Sharpe.
So when, at the end of the school year, Lucy asks Margot to room with the three of them for the next school year, Margot jumps at the chance to start truly living again. What happens from there is a series of twists and turns that end up becoming fatal.
Overall, this was a really fun read. I’m personally drawn to stories about female friendship, especially when they turn sour, so this book was right up my alley. This is also my first Stacy Willingham book and it made me want to move her other titles up on my TBR shelf. There were multiple twists that I genuinely didn’t see coming. Some of which were brilliant additions and others seemed to have been thrown in order to wrap up the ending. With that being said, if you’re a thriller lover this book is not to be missed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Rape, Blood, and Sexual assault
_thelitlibrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.25
3.25 stars
-
Grief, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape
-
For as long as everyone remembers, Margot and Eliza have been the closest of friends. That is until Eliza tragically passes away three weeks after graduation. Having planned their entire lives together, Margot finds herself alone at Rutledge College. Although Margot vows to herself to live the life Eliza deserves she can't help but isolate herself during her first semester. That is...until she meets Lucy Sharpe. The two of them are polar opposites, Lucy stands out in a crowd and draws people in.
When Lucy offers Margot a room in her off-campus house, she can't seem to figure out why. Suddenly Margot is pulled into a lifestyle that isn't hers, it's the life that Eliza would have wanted. It doesn't take long before Margot's past starts catching up to her and forces her to come to terms with reality. This one was such a slow burn to me, but I think it's what the plot needed. I loved trying to piece everything together and figure out what was going on.
The book flashes between the past and the present, and we find out that a college frat boy next door has turned up dead, and Lucy is missing. Immediately we start to wonder how the two are connected, I would say that this book really starts to pick up at the 75% mark and becomes really thrilling, it seems that the end is filled with twists and turns that you don't see coming! From the start, we know that Lucy isn't what she seems and Margot has been told multiple times to not trust her (coming from Lucy's friends) but uncovering the truth was truly shocking.
-
Grief, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape
-
For as long as everyone remembers, Margot and Eliza have been the closest of friends. That is until Eliza tragically passes away three weeks after graduation. Having planned their entire lives together, Margot finds herself alone at Rutledge College. Although Margot vows to herself to live the life Eliza deserves she can't help but isolate herself during her first semester. That is...until she meets Lucy Sharpe. The two of them are polar opposites, Lucy stands out in a crowd and draws people in.
When Lucy offers Margot a room in her off-campus house, she can't seem to figure out why. Suddenly Margot is pulled into a lifestyle that isn't hers, it's the life that Eliza would have wanted. It doesn't take long before Margot's past starts catching up to her and forces her to come to terms with reality. This one was such a slow burn to me, but I think it's what the plot needed. I loved trying to piece everything together and figure out what was going on.
The book flashes between the past and the present, and we find out that a college frat boy next door has turned up dead, and Lucy is missing. Immediately we start to wonder how the two are connected, I would say that this book really starts to pick up at the 75% mark and becomes really thrilling, it seems that the end is filled with twists and turns that you don't see coming! From the start, we know that Lucy isn't what she seems and Margot has been told multiple times to not trust her (coming from Lucy's friends) but uncovering the truth was truly shocking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, Grief, Child death, Murder, Violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Rape