Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The It Girl

First time reading Ruth Ware. I downloaded this as an audiobook buddy read with my husband on a road trip. Even playing at 1.25 speed, I found it long winded and a lot of moments repetitive. The overall mystery was just okay but I think the audiobook format really had me rolling my eyes through this. I think if I'd been reading it myself I would have read a bit faster and derived a bit more enjoyment from it as a light, easygoing mystery, but as is, it was too overdrawn and took us weeks to finish.

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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2.25

Finished reading: July 2nd 2023

“Don’t let yourself get caught up in what-ifs. That way madness lies.”

WARNING: it's unpopular opinion time again!!

I somehow tend to have a love-hate relationship with Ruth Ware's books. Some of her titles are on my list of favorites, while others fail to hit the mark completely instead... I tend to love her gothic thrillers most, so part of me was a bit hesitant to pick up The It Girl because I wasn't sure how I would react to it. Most people seemed to enjoy the story and I did like the sound of the blurb, so I still had hopes that I would enjoy it... But in the end it just wasn't ment to be. I think part of the issue was that the pace is considerably slow, and it took a LONG time for anything substantial to happen. Add the fact that I didn't like any of the characters, which is always an issue in a character-driven story, and I struggled considerably to find the motivation to keep reading. Sure, we have the mystery around April's death, but I honestly couldn't care less who did it and I personally thought she had it coming. Hannah was very frustrating as a character, both the past and present chapters. The It Girl is mostly a story of toxic friendships, characters not standing up for themselves, infidelity and a not exactly credible hunt for the truth in the present. By the time things got a little more tense near the end, I had already long given up on the story... And I didn't find the reveals exactly worth the wait either. In short, The It Girl was overlong, way too slow and had a disappointing cast of unlikeable and frustrating characters. This is probably one of my least favorite Ruth Ware stories to date... I do hope she will return to the gothic thrillers at some point, because otherwise I might just have to leave her books be in the future.

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paperkindle's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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sortvip's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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jesssuth04's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.25

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kamrynkoble's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

This was a solid thriller! I listened to it on audio, and I loved how the narrator brought each character to life, especially across multiple accents (mainly British, so that’s fun).

The dark academia setting was great. The main success here is the author convincing me that multiple different characters were actually guilty. The end was QUITE the trip.

I wish I was more connected to the main characters, especially Hannah. It did drag some and I don’t think it needed to be quite so long. But all in all this was atmospheric and really kept me guessing/surprised.

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allison_elaine's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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funofme's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

This was such a weak story, lots of repetition of the same thoughts over and over. I really did not like the main character. The mystery was an enticing who-dun-it but there should have been a lot more meat on the bones. I like the structure of the ending & the before and after method of storytelling. I will always read ruth ware though because despite all of this, it was stilly a comfy read.

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