A review by minimicropup
The It Girl by Ruth Ware

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Narration 👌: Perfection. Character voicing wasn’t over-the-top, emotions of the characters were captured (which breaks up the more repetitive parts in the writing). Easily listenable at different speeds. 
 
Atmosphere 👍: Created through thought and dialogue. Tone and writing style are direct, descriptive, and sentimental. 
  • Set in Oxford, UK for the “Before” chapters. Mainly in dorms, halls, and pubs so over time I developed familiarity for certain places along with the MC. The “After” chapters are set in Edinburgh, Scotland. 
  • People, places, and things are well described so don’t have to work overtime on the imaginings, but there’s still room for creativity (and no imagination smashing later in the book).
 
Main POV 👍: Limited third party narration of one MC while attending Oxford (“Before”), and ~10 years later as a married adult expecting a child (“After”). We are deep in their mind and only their mind…prepare to hear every thought they have.
  • Our “Before” MC is considerate, humble, loyal, forgiving, naïve, self-doubting…and a little “dense”! They are in their first year at Oxford University assigned to a charming, spontaneous roommate they admire and bond with quickly.
  • Our “After” MC has the same personality but is now cautious (bordering on avoidant) of anyone beyond their spouse, co-workers, and friend. They are expecting a child and struggling with some health issues related to the pregnancy and stress.
 
Cred Rating 👍👩‍🎓🧑‍💻: Plausible to Plausible-ish. 
  • Realistic touch of true crime journalism putting pressure on witnesses. Accurate portrayal of toxic friendship dynamics and how they can form. 
  • The whole situation relied on our MC being blind to HUGE red flags near the end (girl, have you ever heard of the police?!)…but that is pretty consistent with her throughout the story! 
 
Growls and Howls 🐺: 
  • The more atmospheric (and interesting) parts are the “Before” chapters. The “After” chapters drag on and become repetitive about Hannah’s pregnancy experience (dizzy, sweaty, sore…we get it!) 
  • Unsupportive spouse trope is overdone in the “After” chapters. Hannah’s husband is acting controlling, dismissive, and does that “pat-pat you’re just pregnant-hysterical, honey” thing. I imagine this was done to create tension and suspense. It just didn’t have to be done SO often.
  • After the villain reveal I felt like we were reading a totally different character in a way that broke the story (the sudden evil-grin-rubbing-hands-together-cackling energy was a total 180 and a bit OTT). 
  • The villain may range from aha-validation to twist for you, but I enjoyed it because there was a sprinkling of small, justifiable red flags throughout the book. I would alternatively suspect and dismiss certain characters and it had me starting to feel as confused and dense as Hannah (🤭).
 
Reading Journey 😊🫠: European road-trip. Sometimes you’re enjoying the drive and scenery at a leisurely pace. Other times you just wanna get to your destination; screw the scenery and leisurely pace when you’re stuck in slow-moving traffic while exhausted. 
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
  • Slow-paced narratives based on dialogue, thoughts, and monologue
  • Dark academia vibes (death of a roommate, academics behaving badly)
  • A tiny touch of “Good for Them” (villainous victim/bullying revenge)
  • Light commentary on classism, access to education based on generational wealth rather than merit, familial $$ control and pressure on College students
  • Whodunnits and red herrings
  • Slightly ambiguous endings…we get the who, where, how, for all the crimes, but why is less clear 
 
Vibes: 🤓🤔😬
 
Content Heads-Up: Numerous descriptions of pregnancy, panic attacks, and anxiety. 
 
Format: Audible
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