Reviews

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham

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rachsull's review

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3.0

Good writing, boring plot. Middle portion felt like a hostage situation until it picked up at the end.

readwithallison's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No

3.0

oceanwriter'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Stacey Willingham is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Normally I struggle to connect with characters this age and in this setting, but I was absolutely absorbed into this story.

Margot’s college experience isn’t what she’d imagined it would be after the death of her best friend after high school. She muddles through her first year. Toward the end of her first year at college, she befriends Lucy, whose allure has Margot under a spell. When Lucy invites her to live with her and a couple of her friends off-campus, Margot accepts. Margot’s friendship with Lucy feels like a rebirth of sorts. No longer does she feel like she’s only the shadow of her childhood best friend. She’s become part of Lucy’s circle. Partway through sophomore year, a neighboring fraternity boy is killed. When Lucy suddenly disappears, all eyes turn to Margot, Sloane, and Nicole.

I ate up the dynamic between Margot and Eliza as well as Margot and Lucy. The relationships (and the characters in general) were so intriguing. The setting was a good match with the personalities.

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drhollyg's review

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3.0

It actually kills me that I didn’t love this book - her others are incredible and Stacy is one of my top authors, but this just drug on way too much and was very monotonous. I felt like the whole book coulda been done in 100 less pages easily bc nothing happened for 3/4 of it. Ugh

iuliaisreading's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

ky_cloud's review

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ellenwm's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I think maybe I was just hoping for a dark, twisty “John Tucker must ACTUALLY die” vibe, but the plotting and messages of solidarity just weren’t there. In the first half I thought this was cruising to a strong 4 stars, but idk…. I was somewhat underwhelmed with the ending. It’s not that I saw all of the twists coming, there were surprises. It’s just that nothing was gasp-worthy. But oddly it felt sort of low stakes for a murder mystery? The investigation in the “now” chapters felt like an afterthought and the threads were all tied up too quickly and easily. Maybe it’s more of a me problem, but I have a hard time with MCs who never gain any self awareness.

I really enjoyed the real feel of the store-brand College of Charleston setting and half expected a major drug ring to pop up in the fraternity. The depictions of how difficult it is for some to transition to college and find their “place” were good. Most of the time I appreciated the exploration of the complexities of female friendships: intense bonding, complicated love, longing for popularity, frenemies, rejection, protection, possessiveness, obsession, diverging experiences creating a wedge.

Will read future books from Stacy Willingham though because I loved “All the Dangerous Things.” Perhaps it set too high a bar.

Content Warnings