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)

Great book

This one keeps you guessing until the end. So many twists and turns that you’re not sure what’s really happening until the very end. This is a must read.

Too Much

This book was just too much in a lot of ways. I found there to be way too much inner dialogue, and too much time spent justifying bad acts.
I felt that most of the character’s grievances with each other were very petty. The means not justifying the ends.
By the end, I just felt tired… it was all “too much”

So many turns!

This book had me on edge! Idk why but I couldn’t listen to this book fast enough. I highly recommend, the back and forth or present to past was annoying at first, but now I realized it needed to be for the build up! Not at all how I saw the ending, but holy moly was it good!

Narrator good story was okay

I love the author’s last two books. This one was not as good. Some parts dragged on too long. The narrator made this book worth continuing to the end.

Good, but not my favorite of Stacy‘s 

This was certainly a good book, with some twist and terms, but I would rank it third of the three that I have read of Stacy Willingham. I love Karissa Vacker’s storytelling! 

It was pretty good

Everything coming together at the end was the best part. It was a little boring until the last 3 chapters. I think maybe a little bit could have been cut out & it would have been better. But I am glad I gave it a listen & I do like this author a lot.

Incredibly descriptive

Loved how author made you feel like you were in the passenger seat of this book!

Great book! I couldn't put it down!

I clung to every word as the need to know more kept pulling at me as I read. What exactly happened to Eliza? Why does Margot hate Levi so much, yet is seemingly mystified by Lucy? Who is Lucy, and why does she have such a pull on everyone? Luck will certainly be necessary as the mounting questions are answered and everything comes together.

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.