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chandie's review against another edition
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Murder
Moderate: Rape
daniallreads's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Rape, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death
RTC!!!meganashlee27's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Drug use
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
beesneysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The beginning of this book feels so insanely slow, but the twists and turns at the end gave me WHIPLASH
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Death
Minor: Car accident
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