ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY
Stacy Willingham
This is my third experience and third success with Willingham. I’m not only a fan, I am a follower.
Do you know who your friends are? Would you trust them with your life?
Eliza has been dead for nearly a year. Her absence consumes Margot. It’s all she can think about. Not her family, or her friends, or her studies. Then she meets Lucy at the end of her first year. Lucy shines bright for Margot who could use a little light in her life.
After some time, Lucy asks Margot if she’d like to move in with her and a couple of roommates. Margot agrees and soon becomes enraptured by Lucy’s world and those that surround her.
For most of the reading experience, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of misdirection. Unable to hold onto anything substantial. Everything felt like a lie, and I became used to the mistrust. The checking twice. The rehashing. The second-guessing.
I loved every second of it.
I know five minutes into ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY that I will pick up Willingham’s next one. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed Karissa Vacker’s performance. The writing is quick and fluid. Combining Willingham’s writing with Vacker’s narration equals a win every time in my book.
As much as I liked ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY, I admit it has its flaws. It felt rushed. The storyline gets a little muddled towards the end and perhaps there was too much to settle at the end of the day. The characters, although memorable, don’t feel fully fleshed out and the story has a lot to do with interpersonal dynamics which felt incongruent.
Even with its flaws, I consider it a success. I enjoyed my reading experience and look forward to whatever Willingham does next! It comes out on January 16th, 2024. Look for it where books are sold.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy! It was a pleasure!
ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY…⭐️⭐️⭐️
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS
Araminta Hall
Are you ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS? If not, I bet you know one.
Cole is ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. His nails are always trimmed and clean, he’d never order for you in a restaurant (unless asked to of course), he’s thoughtful, listens, and hangs on to your every word. He has recently moved from London to a little cottage along the coast where he is trying to recover from a deeply emotional breakup. There along the coastline, he meets Lenora, and the two form a relationship as alluring as the cliffs that surround them.
At the same time, two young women are doing a charity walk that has them traversing the very same coastline where Cole and Lenora live. What happens when their paths intersect will surprise you and is the plot for Araminta Hall’s, ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS.
Hall livened up my December, put a smile on my face and singlehandedly reinvigorated my love of reading all within around 300 pages. It’s twisty and mind-bending and I couldn’t get enough.
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS is one of the good ones. It is so cool to see someone living out their passion as Hall does here. The writing is smart, the characters are memorable and distinct, and it has great, spot-on commentary running throughout. There are parallel levels of entertainment in ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. It’s thrilling for the novice and reads like candy for the experienced.
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS is one of the best books I’ve read from 2024 and we are just getting started.
Thanks to Netgalley, Zando, and Gillian Flynn Books for the advanced copy! It was a pleasure!
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
P.J. Tracy
Botox, earthquakes, and caviar for breakfast are just a few of the things that make her latest novel, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, so very L. A.
After a celebratory party an esteemed actor, Evan Hobbes, careens over the side of a cliff to his untimely death. Evan hasn’t been having the best of times lately. A damaging video has been circulating that implies his participation. Which is the last thing he needed.
Now he’s dead and on the case is LAPD detective Margaret Nolan.
We catch up with Nolan and follow along as she unravels the mystery of Evan’s death.
This is the first book I’ve read by P.J. Tracy. I did not feel that the writing or the story offered me much as a reader. There were no characters to connect with which is fine. I love a great unlikeable character. However, there is no one to root for in the book. Including Nolan, which is unfortunate.
Outside of those things, I did not feel there was anything to take away from the novel. I did not feel inspired to continue in the series and I feel that I will soon forget most things about the book. I do not recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy and the opportunity to provide feedback!
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW…⭐️⭐️
