This is a @netgalley read for me that I’ve been accepted and I wanted to thank @netgalley and @ruthwarewriter for allowing me this ARC.

This book was full of mystery, it was a slow start for me but once I got into the book and gave it a chance, it was brilliant. It’s very cleverly written, I didn’t even guess the culprit until the very end and then I wondered why.

I loved the ‘Before’ and ‘After’ chapters and the flashbacks that Hannah had throughout the book. How she had tried to move on but the past was being brought back up - she was re-living those memories.

It was a very in-depth, intricate book with lots of twists and turns. This is my first Ruth Ware and it definitely won’t be my last.

Ware is an excellent writer, but this was much less pacey than her usual books. It took a while to get going. It grew more exciting in the last two thirds, but then there's real HUH? out of character moment with one of the main characters near the end. It's added I presume to throw us off the scent, but it's a cheap trick and it really didn't sit right,

This one definitely had a slow start, and it took quite a bit of the book until I felt fully invested in the mystery (but once I was invested I was hooked). This story is so cleverly woven that you can really feel and understand Hannah’s motivations to uncover the truth even if it might destroy her and her family in the process. It’s really quite heart-breaking to see her desperation throughout!

I absolutely adored the flashback scenes and loved getting the chance to learn about the characters both in the present and past timelines. It really added to the story and gave you extra context and feelings of all the characters at the time as you tried to uncover the truth in the present day.

This book had so many twists and whenever you think you’ve figured out what’s going on Ruth Ware manages to twist everything with a new reveal so you’re almost back to square one. It was a really wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it if you're a fan of the genre. Plus, it has some dark academia vibes (set at Oxford university which gives such an eerie atmosphere), and has some really great conversations around class and earning your place at top universities vs having them given to you because of your wealth/status.

This was another great success from Ruth Ware and I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

*Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*

I love books set in the world of academia, especially when it's fancy places like this. What kind of ruined it for me was the wet and drippy protagonist we're supposed to root for, the useless and awful "friends", the contrived murder and the professor who is clearly sleeping with all his pretty female students.

Two big things that really bothered me:

April is not "pranking" people. She is being downright cruel and mean. Some of her "pranks" are bordering on mental abuse, and she should have been reported to the university a long time ago.

The other big thing ... Why, when Hannah accused him of murder, did Will laugh like a ... well, a murderer? It was so out of character for him and was clearly inserted as a way to make the reader think he *was* the murderer. Except ... he wasn't?! So a real out of character moment was used instead of something more clever.

Having read all that, you'd think I hated this book. I did not. Despite myself, I liked it. It was quick and easy and didn't require too much thought.

Didn’t like it too much. Had to skim through most of it.!!
Didn’t expect this from Ruth Ware. It was tough to finish this. The climax was dull and made no sense


Hoping to love her future projects

I usually love Ruth Ware’s books, but this one just didn’t do it for me. It was so repetitive, which made the book hard for me to get through. I didn’t like the characters and I just couldn’t relate to them, so I didn’t really care what happened to them. Like always, though, I loved her writing. She has a way of crafting together sentences to create a fitting atmosphere for the story, and drawing you into the prose.

Sadly, not for me! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author, for a chance to read and review this book.

Hannah has spent years trying to escape the night she found her best friend's body. But what happens if it turns out her testimony put away an innocent man? Is it her duty to find the truth?

This book had all of Ware's usual immersive and enjoyable writing style, but unfortunately the mystery was not up to her usual standard.
The structure and the potential was there; the pacing was good, the back and forth between past and present built up the tension really well, the atmosphere of both Oxforfd and Edinburgh were prevalent and used well throughout. The story, however, ended up falling flat.
The problem I think, lay in the suspects. Or rather the red herring that felt forced from the very start. I went back and forth on whether or not it could really be that obvious, but the problem was no other options were presented. Until the very end that is, where the reveal felt almost unjustified even in hindsight, purely there for shock factor.
This then, took away one of my favourite elements of a thriller, which is the guessing and the theorising throughout. I felt like there were not enough viable theories or suspects presented, despite ample opportunity within the dual timeline.

Overall, it was a quick read and Ware's writing style was able to carry me through it, but the ending ultimately dropped it to a three star.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

This is a psychological thriller about a murder that happened at at Oxford University to a rich, attractive It girl student - April Coutts-Clivedon

Hannah Jones is the main character, who joins the university and shares accommodation with April, but feels she's not really worthy to be there, and seems to have quite low esteem but becomes good friends with April (not entirely sure why) and all her pals, Emily, Hugh, Will and Ryan.

The book flits between the before and after. The before leading up to the murder, while they are all students, and the now being 10 years later where a pregnant Hannah Jones is married to April's ex - Will. Hannah is now wondering if the right person was murdered after she hears the convicted person has died in prison and starts to look into things and catch up with old friends.

It feels like quite a familiar storyline and is quite a long book, but is very well written and I did enjoy it and would definitely like to read more by this author. I didn't like the characters much and felt Hannah was too wishy washy to be true, but didnt detract from the book.

Lots of twists and turns and great suspense and ending.

This is the first book I've read by Ruth Ware so didn't start with any pre-empted ideas about the author and look forward to reading more.

A big thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The It Girl is my second Ruth Ware thriller and is completely different to the one I’ve read - One By One. The story follows our main character Hannah in two timelines - her present and 10 years ago in her university days.

10 years ago she discovered the body of her best friend. The murderer was convicted and sentenced. Now 10 years later questions and doubts are rising on whether the convicted killer was indeed the true killer.

I found it took me quite a while to get into this one. I think I found the 10 years ago time line a bit un-relatable in terms of setting and Hannah’s friendship group. Eventually though, I was absorbed in the story and found myself turning page after page trying to think of who, if any of the characters, could be the true killer.

Thanks to @simonandschuster for the copy of this book by @ruthware. Based around two students in Oxford, this is a twisty story that jumps in time between now and 10 years previously when Hannah’s roommate April was murdered in her college room. Well written with good characters I really enjoyed this and was hooked right to the end to see if my theory was correct! (It was 😝)

This was a really well written and thought out story packed with twists and turns which had me completely hooked from the outset.

Hannah and April meet at an Oxford college and become unlikely best friends as they are very different. They form a really close friendship and despite April sometimes playing cruel pranks everyone seems to love her, including handsome Will, who Hannah finds herself attracted to also.

Tragedy strikes and April is found dead, there is a likely suspect, a college porter who has been acting suspiciously all year. He is serving time now for her murder.

In the current time Hannah and Will are happily married and expecting a child. She cannot however shake off what happened that night and finds herself questioning what had really transpired.

The book had me twisting and turning to conclusions and I didn’t really see the end coming. Superb writing and great pace and build up. Highly recommended read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The 'It Girl' had everything but still ended up dead. When the creepy porter with the 'reedy voice' was jailed for her murder, it seemed to be a shut case. Until he died himself ten years later, in prison, and a journalist claims that he had been wrongly sentenced.

The story is told from the perspective of one of six friends who attended Oxford University together ten years ago, and the present. Chapters are titled 'Before' and 'After' with reference to the murder. Ultimately this is a tale of friendship and the complex behaviour within these relationships. As the book progresses it becomes more of a whodunnit.

The settings are Oxford and Edinburgh and these two picturesque locations are described well and Ware really gives a feeling of the places. The only issue concerns the brands mentioned, probably to indicate symbols of wealth or status, but to me, who is not into this kind of thing, it was just a little over my head. I got the gist though. Minor gripe!

This is an enjoyable read, engaging with distinct characters, Recommended for those who like the classic murder mystery style.

Hannah has lived life as quietly and anonymously as she can following the killing of her best friend, April, at Oxford University more than ten years before. Her testimony helped to convict and imprison the man accused of her murder. John Neville always maintained his innocence right up until his dying day. But Hannah saw him leaving their rooms right before she discovered her best friend's body all those years ago. She is certain it was him....but what if it wasn't?

Another absolutely gripping novel by Ruth Ware. I've enjoyed each one of her books and her new release 'The It Girl' definitely doesn't disappoint either. As with her other books, Ware has a special skill in feeding the reader small valuable clues and hints throughout the book that build to a surprising revelation at the end. As the tangles of the story unravel, I am always left in awe of the way she can keep me constantly guessing throughout her books.
The same can be said of 'The It Girl' as it shifts chronologically between Hannah's arrival at Oxford University as a young and innocent student to present day where she is living with the consequences of the events that played out a decade earlier.

Each of the characters are carefully and believability developed, including the eponymous 'IT Girl' and Hannah's murdered friend, April Clarke-Cliveden. There is a contrast of sympathy for this young girl unaware of the horrible chain of events that will lead to her death against some qualities of her personality that are unlikeable, such as her love of practical jokes and her condescending behaviour to others.

The main character Hannah is extremely likable and as a reader you are drawn into her quest through time to find the answers she needs to finally move on.

Highly recommend!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster UK, Netgalley and Ruth Ware for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this novel

The pacing was very well done, flitting between past and present seamlessly to gradually build up the mystery. The question of who killed April kept me guessing right until the end, which I loved as usually I can figure it out well before then. Overall a highly enjoyable read!

My thanks to Simon & Schuster UK for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The It Girl’ by Ruth Ware.

There’s nothing I find so compelling as a campus based murder mystery. Here Ruth Ware moves between the events of ten years previously at Oxford (Before) and the novel’s present (After) set primarily in Edinburgh.

Ten years ago Hannah de Chastaigne (nee Jones) had discovered the body of April Clarke-Cliveden in the Oxford dorm rooms that they shared. Hannah had been a key witness in the resulting sensational murder case. For years she has avoided the press though with the news that the convicted man had died, Hannah is haunted by the idea that she might be responsible for putting an innocent man in prison. Now living with her husband in Edinburgh and pregnant with her first child, Hannah needs to know the truth. She begins asking questions and stirring up the past….

In the Before chapters the friendship between Hannah and April is depicted from their meeting on their first day at Pelham College. April comes from a wealthy family, while Hannah has a more humble background. April is the dazzling ‘It Girl’, who draws Hannah and a select group of others into her orbit. These friends are Will, Emily, Hugh, and Ryan. We follow their lives right up to the fateful night. No further details to avoid spoilers.

Overall, I found ‘The It Girl’ an engaging whodunnit with well realised characters, excellent plotting, and a strong sense of place in both timelines. Once started, I finished it in a single day.

While this is only the second of Ruth Ware’s mysteries that I have read to date, it was such a positive experience that I definitely plan to read more of her mysteries.

April Clark-Cliveden is THE IT GIRL. She has looks, brains, confidence and money and is everything that anyone could want to be. And she was privileged enough to grace the presitigous halls of Oxford's Pelham College. But was it her brains that got her there? Or the substantial donation her father made to their library? Maybe a bit of both but April was definitely no ditzy blonde, despite the colour of her hair. She attracted people to her like bees to honey with her magnetic personality and despite her penchant for pranks, people loved her.

Hannah Jones couldn't believe she was at Oxford! The first of her family to do so and she had dreams of what this opportunity could mean for her...and the doors it would open. Oxford alone was prestigious and would therefore look good on her CV after graduating. She was shown to her digs on the fifth floor of staircase 7 where she walked in...and met April, who had already made herself right at home. Naturally April had claimed the largest of the two bedrooms (first come, first serve and all that) but Hannah was happy with her's which was far larger than the one she had at home anyway.

The girls fell into a friendship as April introduced her to friends already made prior to Oxford - Will and Hugh - with them made new ones in funny Ryan and spiky Emily. It was clear early on that April and Will became an item but Hannah couldn't deny the spark she felt whenever she looked at him. Despite this, Hannah loved her time at Pelham. The only drawback was a porter called John Neville. He was creepy and seemed to have an unhealthy interest in both Hannah and April.

And then one night, Hannah walks into their rooms and discovers April laying dead on the floor. And from that moment on, Hannah's life changes.

Fast forward to the present day ten years later and Hannah is now living in Edinburgh, married to Will and expecting their first child. After April's death Hannah never returned to Pelham, wanting to escape as far as she could and therefore never completing her degree. But she has found contentment working in a little bookshop that pays little but it's Will's job as an accountant that puts a roof over their heads and pays the bills. But Hannah likes it there.

Then she receives the news that John Neville, the college porter convicted of April's murder, has died in prison. Bringing with it, a journalist friend of Ryan's who contacts her and is investigating the possibility that Neville could have been innocent. And suddenly all the memories of the past resurface and Hannah begins to question if she had got it wrong ten years ago. Did Neville really kill April? Or had she just wanted to believe that because he was so insidiously creepy? But she had seen him come out of their building just moments before she discovered April's body.

Hannah's husband Will is far from happy that she is digging up old ground. As far as he's concerned, Neville was found guilty and convicted. Added to the fact that Hannah is six months pregnant and all her stirring up the past is causing her blood pressure to spike and Will worries it may harm her and the baby. But Hannah cannot let it rest. If Neville IS innocent then she owes it to him to uncover the truth...after all, it was her testimony that convicted him.

Her journey into the past leads her to York and back to Pelham itself before she can finally unravel the long-buried secrets of that night ten years ago. And more than that, could one of her friends be responsible for April's death?

A complex and engaging psychological thriller, THE IT GIRL throws us a trail of red herrings with twist after twist as we try to unravel the mystery before Hannah can. I thought I had it figured out but even I was hoodwinked until just before the final reveal when it began to fall into place and, despite its relative impossibility, I had then worked out the how and when but the why was a mystery. Until it wasn't. And then it all made an April-esque kind of sense.

The story is incredibly atmospheric with its Oxford setting and a slow burning build that goes a little bit too long, in my opinion. The book itself is a tad too long and many scenes were far too drawn out as if every last drop is being squeezed out. The format of alternating chapters BEFORE and AFTER did keep the pace going, but dragged it out a little on occasion as well. And yet it's this format that plays the story out best as events gradually unfold and we are drip-fed bits and pieces whilst trying to piece it all together.

The characters are well developed. It's easy to dislike April, which I did from the start. She comes across as privileged and entitled and expects everyone to follow her lead. She calls the shots and very pointedly too, I might add. She loves to play pranks on people, no matter the consequences and barely stops to put herself in others' shoes when she does so. She has a purpose behind every prank and that I find is incredibly cruel. I cannot believe Hannah could be friends with someone so shallow and often vicious. The other unlikeable character was of course, John Neville. He gives you the creeps from the start, always lurking, watching, stalking. He is patronising and creepy but does that make him a killer? That's the question Hannah finds herself faced with. I didn't like either April or Neville. Ruth Ware has drawn each of the characters carefully, giving us the right vibes we garner from both April and Neville. We are not meant to like them.

Overall, THE IT GIRL is a clever complex mystery that I enjoyed once I got into it though I did feel it dragged a little too long. The ending was a touch of class that brought everything to a satisfying conclusion.

If you enjoy Lisa Jewell, then you will love Ruth Ware.

I would like to thank #RuthWare, #NetGalley and #SimonAndSchusterUK for an ARC of #TheItGirl in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

The It Girl is the seventh novel by Ruth Ware and, like the ones before, it kept me engrossed from the first to the last page. The protagonist of the novel is Hannah Jones. Smart, bookish, a bit shy, raised by her middle-class mother, she is the opposite of rich, spoiled, vivacious, April Coutts-Cliveden and yet they became best friends on their first day at Oxford. Before the end of their first year, April was murdered and it was Hannah’s testimony to help the police find the killer and send him to prison.

Ten years later, Hannah is living in Edinburgh, working in a bookstore and married to one of her university friends, Will, and they are expecting their first child together. The news of the death in prison of April’s killer and a call from a journalist convinced that there is something missing from the investigation in April’s murder lead Hannah to revisit her first year of university and wonder if the real killer is still out there. It was not easy to be friends with April, she could be jealous and vengeful and her jokes were not always that funny. Was there someone else who wanted April dead?

There are so many things that I liked about The It Girl. First of all, half of the story is set in Oxford, one of my favorite places in the world. Also, I loved the dark academia atmosphere. And the narrative that switches between the past and the present. And the twists that kept me guessing until the end. And the unreliable and multi-layered characters.

The story is told from the perspective of Hannah Jones. I found it difficult to understand her friendship with April because they are completely different characters. April was mean and used to always have her way, while Hannah was kind-hearted and generous. Notwithstanding their unlikely friendship, April’s death and finding her body has completely changed Hannah’s life. Her testimony sent a man to prison, but what if he wasn’t the real killer? She needs to find out the truth.

Dark, suspenseful, and captivating, The It Girl is another masterpiece from the queen of crime Ruth Ware and I enjoyed every page of it. Highly recommended!

3,5 Stars

The story is told in two timelines. Hannah is married to Will and they are expecting their first child. They met as students in Oxford. Hannah was roommate to April and they became friends although April was a complicated character. She had it all, money, looks, charm. Everybody was drawn to her but she also had a mean and dark side. She loved to play cruel pranks on her friends. But after the first year at Oxford April was murdered. Hannah witnessed something and her testimony helped to put the culprit behind bars. Now ten years later the man, Neville, died in prison. He always declared that he was innocent. Hannah is still traumatized from the events and when a young man approaches her who wants to make a podcast about the case because he believed Neville, she is facing the fact that maybe she helped to imprison the wrong man.

I am not a huge fan of Ruth Ware although I read a few of her books. Like many fellow readers I am a huge fan of “The Secret History” from Donna Tartt. This book started my lifelong love for stories about universities, boarding schools etc. So the blurb of Ware’s new book triggered me and I decided I have to give her another chance. The book offers nothing new. It has the two typical female characters for this kind of books. A middle class girl is the first of her family to go to Oxford. There she meets a rich girl who is beautiful and irresistible. They become friends and gather some other interesting people around them. Hannah adores April and ignores all her flaws and cruel pranks because she is happy to be part of her circle. I’ve read similar stories before. But it still held my interest and there are a lot of red herrings. I was a bit annoyed by Hannah who let the murder of April dominate her life. She never finished university and ten years later she is still traumatized. I understand she found the body and she was the main witness in the trial but still I think that she clung too much to her misery. But, as I said, it held my interest. It is a slow burn and you have to have some patience when you read it. It is no match for “The Secret History” but still a decent book in this genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was a story about Hannah, a girl who joined Pelham College in Oxford, where she knew no one. She was roomed up with It Girl, April. April seemed to have everything - looks, money, and brains. Hannah and April soon became best friends. Even though April had an irritating side to her personality, where she pranked people often. And they were not small pranks, some of them were horrible. But she did them in the name of fun. One night, April is found dead by Hannah. And Hannah successfully helps to convict someone for her murder. Ten years on, and Hannah isn’t so sure the right person was convicted, so she starts to act detective in order to ensure she was right.

We read this from two timelines, before April was killed and after, so we also see the evidence and actions that lead up to that fateful night. The writing was excellent, and made the story really easy to read. The characters were all well written, although I did find Hannah slightly irritating, I found them all to be relatable in their own way. The story was full of twists and turns, and made for a good, solid, domestic thriller.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware.

I have read a stream of average thrillers this summer and then along comes Ruth Ware to remind me why some suspense novels can leave you reading late into the night.

The It Girl is an academic thriller set in Oxford. April was the first person that Hannah met when she arrived at Oxford. The ultimate It girl, bright and well known and she brings Hannah into her sparkling world at the beginning of their first term, by the end of the second term, April will be dead and Hannah is the one who finds her.

A decade later, the man convicted of April's murder dies and new questions are being asked about her death. Hannah delves back into the past to try and find out the truth of what happened to April and begins to realise all is not as it seemed at the time.

This built slowly but was nicely paced , each alternative chapter is set ten years ago and the dual timeline worked really well. Ware is a master of suspense and my interested was hooked, quickly . Well written, believable characters and some decent twists that kept me guessing. My only criticism, it was maybe a fraction too long.
Recommend.