Quick take
Crackling with tension, this campus mystery follows the fracturing of four college friends after a murder.
Good to know
Psychological
Slow build
Nonlinear timeline
Female friendships
Synopsis
Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can’t say no―something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious.
And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered... and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.
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Why I love it
Chandler Baker
Author, Cutting Teeth
I admit that in some ways I feel about Stacy Willingham the way fans of a once-obscure-now-mainstream-popular band must feel. Give me some credit! I’ve been a fan since the beginning! But in truth, so many readers were instantly captured by Stacy’s talent the moment she stepped onto the scene with her runaway success A Flicker in the Dark. And over the last three books I’ve loved watching her star rise higher and higher in the thriller world. With the release of Only If You’re Lucky, a novel about the heady feeling of burgeoning female friendship, she is destined to please her most hardcore fans and bring in a legion of new ones.
Only If You’re Lucky follows Margot, a shy freshman at a liberal arts college in South Carolina still reeling from the death of her high school best friend. When Margot meets Lucy, she’s instantly drawn to her. What Willingham does best is to capture perfectly the scary, beautiful, intense feeling that so many women can relate to of falling head over heels in platonic love with a new female friend. But what starts as a promising new relationship and a fresh start for Margot quickly turns dark when a frat boy is murdered and Lucy goes missing, leaving Margot squarely at the center of the fallout…
A singular entry into the dark academia canon, I can’t wait to see readers’ reactions to every last twist!
Member ratings (4,982)
Carey O.
Lodi, OH
The author is a master of her craft, hiding clues in plain sight. She cherry-picks landmarks on the journey, enough to keep you going but not sure if you’re on the right path. Perfection ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Melissa C.
Scituate , RI
@stacyvwillingham is a must-buy author for me and I was very excited this was an add on on BOTM. I liked the dual timeline of “before” and “after” Lucy goes missing. I also enjoyed the pacing at whi
Nate B.
Clarion, PA
A slow burn but very engaging, and with characters that all felt distinct and memorable. And that ending! Omg what a whirlwind of reveals. This author has cemented herself as an auto buy for me! 5⭐️’s
Ashli C.
Banner Elk, NC
Stacy Willingham quickly became one of my new favorite authors with her debut of Flicker in the Dark. This one wasn’t quite as “can’t-put-down able” as her first two books, but still a great read!
Nicole R.
Floral Park, NY
Stacy Willingham’s books always hook me in from the start! I did not see the twists in this one coming at all which was very exciting. A really great psychological thriller if you’re looking for one!