Only If You're Lucky

A Novel

By: Stacy Willingham

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

"Reader Vacker does a remarkable job.... Mystery and true crime fans will be drawn in and ultimately satisfied by this complex, tense tale read expertly by a talented narrator."—Booklist on All the Dangerous Things

A sharp and twisty exploration of female friendship from the New York Times bestselling author of A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things.

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.

From the author of A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things comes a tantalizing thriller about the nature of friendship and belonging, about loyalty, envy, and betrayal—another gripping novel from an author quickly becoming the gold standard in psychological suspense.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

©2024 Stacy Willingham (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Willingham offers taut storytelling and a heroine with compelling vulnerability.” (Booklist)

"Willingham is a writer to watch.” (Publishers Weekly)

Slow go

This is a super slowwwwww burn of a novel, It took 90% of the story for anything to really happen. I love Karissa Vacker so I went against some of the other reviews and just grabbed it but I should have listened to the others. This is nothing we haven’t read already- no real twists I didn’t feel coming.

Love the twists

This book kept me on the edge of my seat! Loved the suspense and great narration!

Meh.

So whiny. Not a compelling who submit. And the readers voice. No me gusta at all.

It was ok!

Didn’t love the ending but I’m sure it will be satisfying to some. I felt that Lucy was deeply misunderstood and anyone who looks at her with a trauma-informed lens would make sense of her actions in the context of her story. Not excusing her actions, definitely a complex character, but annoyed with how naive the main character is and other roommates; they were very easily manipulated and take very little responsibility. They seem to place most blame on Lucy. Not my favorite, feels quite privileged.

Couldn’t stop listening!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved the characters and all of the twists and turns! It was a wonderful read and I couldn’t stop listening to it! So good! Highly recommend!

Soooooo Good

Narrator killed it. One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to. The way the writer dangles the possibilities in your face will make you not want to put it down till you know the truth.

meh

not this authors best book but still entertaining. karissa vacker is amazing as usual. solid 3 stars

Everything I anticipated and more

This was such a new vibe and setting for Stacy’s writing, and I loved it. Only gave 4 stars because it was a slow burn and often times a lot of inner monologue. Anyways, I’ve had the pleasure to listen to all 3 of Stacy’s audiobooks and have loved every single one. Contrasting with other reviewers (we all have different taste) this is MY FAVORITE of hers. I loved the fun college setting, the friendships, and the end was a twist I never would have guessed (although I’m not the best predictor).

Despite having to wait for the almost 1 hr mark for answers, I love the way Stacy writes and how punctual she is when describing her stories.

Give it a listen! Also great job as always Karissa Vacker!!

Slow start

I'm not sure if the twists at the end made up for the very drawn out set up.

So twisty!

Really enjoyed this. full of twists, a few I didn't see coming at all! great read