Who would know that college life could be full of dark, obsessive desires and full of murderous thoughts and ideas.
Throughly enjoyed this read ,kept me hooked right to the end.

A slow burn of a psychological thriller. I lost interest quite early on but think the subject matter might suit a much younger audience.

Stacy Willingham has another great book under her belt.

This is a slow burn thriller, where every aspect of the story can be read in multiple ways - facts are indeed revisited several times, the meaning of words and actions shifting as new information is brought to light. I loved this way of developing the story, as it added an intriguing dimension that made me go back and forth to see if I could figure out what really happened.

The characters, not very likeable but authentic in their flaws, are well developed and interesting enough to really make you want to know what is going on in their lives, and how it all ties up together at the end.

The story has some great twists, and although I found it stagnated a little in the middle, it picks up towards the end and I read the last 30% holding my breath, it was impossible to put down.

A great thriller I recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollinsUK for an arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A very slow book with nothing happening and seems to go nowhere, just could not keep you interested.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review

This was very different from Stacy Willingham's first two books but just as engaging. It has all the ingredients of a great psychological thriller with a murder investigation surrounding four college students buried in secrets.

I enjoyed the book and liked the slow-burn feeling. She writes so you think you're on the cusp of figuring it all out but all you get are more questions.

While I didn't love the protagonist, I did like how college life and friends were portrayed. Can't wait for her fourth book.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the e-copy!

3.5/5

Another excellent book from Stacy Willingham. It was unpredictable and fast-paced, with the tension building and building to a fantastic and unexpected ending. I had no idea where this one was going and thoroughly enjoyed the outcome. I look forward to the next one! Recommend!

This is a story about college students in the United States, how they have their unchosen leaders, the sense of belonging, forming friendships, testing and discovering each other. Oh, and of course, doing regretful bad things brought on by too much drinking, drugs, sex and partying.

The tale is from the perspective of one girl who has moved far away from her hometown to have a fresh start following the death of her best friend. She is immediately taken in by another enigmatic girl who reminds her of her late friend, and that comparison goes throughout the whole book. However, where the story starts she is missing and the police are investigating her disappearance. They inform the group that they recently questioned their leader over the death of a boy from the frat house next door.

A rather slow and uneventful book with dull and unpleasant characters, with repeated mundane details appearing too frequently. Cleverly, these details become significant at the end, even if sometimes credulality is stretched a little. One of the dark secrets is a tad predictable but there are other revelations that save this over long book. At around four hundred pages long, a hundred could be cut without damaging the story.

A change from Willingham's previous books, but a great read for the young adult market, particularly in America.

What a good story this is. Really well written, very clear when moving from the past events to the current and with a few twists that you wouldn't see coming.

Have read one of this author's previous books which I really enjoyed and will be looking out for her future books.

This is a story about students in an American university, their story is complicated and confused buy their past but essentially it is about student life. Disasters happen which will affect their lives for ever. I wondered if is should be badged as a young adult story.
I was not really interested in their student thinking and the endless drinking and partying through the complications were. Clever.

Perhaps my expectations were just too high after loving Willingham's A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things, but this book was a huge disappointment.

Only If You're Lucky is a departure from Willingham's previous style and stories, this time focusing not on adult women in their thirties but on a bunch of college students. The result felt much more YA than the author's past work and I did not enjoy it nearly as much.

It is also much slower burn, to the point where hardly anything happens outside of college kid shenanigans-- alcohol, drugs, boys --until the last few chapters of the book. A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things were far more urgent intense mysteries about a serial killer and a missing child, and this book never came close to that level of tension.

The author tries to do that intense-bordering-on-toxic female friendship thing, but far too many other authors have done it better, in my opinion (Megan Abbott, Louise O'Neill, Abigail Haas, to name but a few) and here I found it hard to understand Margot's obsession with Lucy. We were told how interesting Lucy was, but I never felt we were really shown it.

Then we come to the climax of the novel. The first twist I suspected early in the book, and the next few I just found very hard to believe. That whole big reveal part was really out there and wacky, and relied on a bizarre and way too convenient coincidence.

I'll read what the author writes next as I loved her first two books, but this one didn't work for me.

The settings and the slow development of characters and their interactions are what make this book. I very much enjoyed seeing this aspect of college life through their eyes. The house and its location is central to the story. Margot is a great character and I thought her emotions came across really strongly. I was intrigued by Eliza, as well as by Levi and his role in the plot. Lucy herself is very well-written. As the pieces come together, you'll wonder why you didn't see it! A great thriller, a fast read and one that will keep you engrossed.

I did finish this book and enjoyed parts of it. However it felt very slow in the middle and I found the characters all pretty unlikeable. The pace did pick up toward the end with some unexpected twists.

This story started out captivating. I wanted to know who Eliza was but also Lucy. How they two connected.
By just over half way I found myself losing interest. But I also found myself a little confused by the past and present stories being connected.
The ending left me a little underwhelmed. It just didn't feel like it ended.

This book would probably be great if a young adult was reading it. I requested this book as I thought it would be the kind of book I’d enjoy. Categorised as General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction with reviews such as hypnotic and addictive meant it ticked the boxes for me.

However reading it was painful. Set in America the main characters are young college girls. It was such a slow read, didn’t grip me at all and was too easy to put down. It did eventually get going towards the end but too late for me. That said I would absolutely recommend it to a much younger reader which is why I’ve rated it three stars instead of two..

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I loved Willingham’s debut novel, “A Flicker in the Dark” so when I was offered the chance to read this one I absolutely jumped at it. I love a dark, twisty thriller and this definitely had all the twists! By the halfway mark I thought I’d figured it out and I was right in my thinking but there was so much more to it than I had thought!

This is a very difficult review to write actually because so much of what I loved about it comes from the twists and I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone so I’ll try and be brief!

Willingham’s writing is perfect for this type of book. The story is told from Margot’s point of view and split between before the death and disappear and after, with most of the action taking place before until right near the end where the plot threads almost merge. I love this style for a thriller, getting to see glimpses of the future and then going back to see how we get to that point is brilliant.

There were also some really beautiful descriptive passages. One section particularly resonated with me, talking about how Margot feels about reading and how it transports you into another life.

The characterisation is spot on and I could picture all the characters in my head as I was reading.

I absolutely love a twisty thriller so this was perfect for me. I particularly love it when I don’t figure out all the twists and I was definitely open mouthed at some sections of this.

I would highly recommend you head out and get a copy if twisty thrillers are your bag too.

I was recommended this book by a reviewer friend and the blurb intrigued me, so in I went. I hadn’t any experience of this author, and the writing is pleasant enough, carrying me along.

But after the first chapter or two I really struggled. The characters are bland, the whole thing so similar to other titles of this sort, and I really couldn’t bring myself to care about them. I did try, but after waiting for a good part of the book for something interesting to happen, I had to DNF. Disappointed apologies to NetGalley.

Margot went to college in South Carolina for a new start. It's a chance to get away = from her small town, her family, and the memories of her dead best friend. She gets her wish when the enigmatic Lucy invites her to join two other girls in a shared house for their second year. But as Margot gets to know the girls, she begins to realise that something is off about Lucy, she's not quite as she seems.

Lucy Sharpe is a larger than life character. She reminds Margot of her best friend Eliza, who had passed away. Margot and Lucy become close, and Lucy invites Margot to live in the houseshare with two other girls. But then the young boy next door is murdered, and Lucy is missing.

There's not a lot of action taking place in this story. There's more character building and a bit of drama, rather than the thrilling read I thought I was going to get. But I did like and care about what was happening to the characters. I did like the way the story ended. All the loose ends were tied up.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter and the author #StacyWillingham for my ARC of #OnlyIfYoureLucky in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read and enjoyed this authors previous two novels and was looking forward to this one. Overall , I enjoyed this novel but it felt a little different to her previous work.
The book starts strongly but then meanders for the first half. I like Willingham’s writing style so was compelled to keep reading even though I wasn’t sure where the book was going or even what genre of book I was reading. There are YA vibes to this one, not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I’d anticipated.
The second half of the book was stronger, the pace picked up as the various strands come together and there were some twists and turns as the book concludes.

A decent enough read but I didn’t enjoy as much as the authors previous two. Definitely an author to look out for though and I’m looking forward to her future novels.

3- 3.5 stars

I gotta say, I was quite disappointed with this. I was really excited when I received an advance copy, but that soon evaporated. I really enjoyed Willingham’s other two novels, so this was an easy sell for me. However, it definitely didn’t measure up to expectations. I found it incredibly long winded and tedious, repetitive and carried by an unlikable character. Some plotsies afoot in the last third, but good grief, it was work to get there.

This won’t prevent me from reading more from Willingham in future, not at all, but this book was definitely not my cup of tea at the end of the day.

Stacy Willingham has become my favourite author after I read A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things, I was so happy to receive the ARC of this!

The reason I love Stacy Willingham books is the prose. So atmospheric and flows like a calm river with just a little bit of mysteriousness. And this book didn’t disappoint, so if you’re a fan of her writing, you’ll enjoy this!

Did I enjoy it as much as her previous books? Sadly no. I don’t mind slow storytelling, but this seems just a bit too slow. Nothing happened until last, and I felt like there wasn’t enough tension built up to it. So the pace felt a little bit off.

But I was intigued by Jekyll and Hyde reference and it provoked thoughts on human nature. Stacy Willigham is good like that.

So while it doesn’t have the most compelling plot, I enjoyed it a lot, especially her writing. I look forward to reading more by her in the futute!