Now I can see why this book was nominated by readers in the Goodreads Choice Award Best Mystery & Thriller category last year—it’s a killer psychological thriller! The It Girl is told in alternating before and after chapters beginning at Oxford University (did you know Oxford comprises 39 separate colleges?) when freshman Hannah Jones meets her new roommate. April Coutts-Cliveden is sophisticated, wealthy, the ultimate “it” girl.
“She had the kind of beauty that hurt your eyes if you looked at her for too long but made it hard to tear your gaze away. It was, Hannah realized, as if a different kind of light were shining on her than on the rest of the room.”― Ruth Ware, The It Girl.
April also has a malicious side, and by the end of the second term, she is dead.
Fast forward ten years and John Neville, the man Hannah helped convict of killing April, has died in prison. When a journalist contacts her, claiming Neville was innocent, her world is upended. What really happened that night?
Ruth Ware’s book is beautifully written with great flow and pacing, and I flew through the pages. She created unforgettable characters—the good, the bad, and the downright evil—and crafted a twisty plot rife with trauma and tension. If you prefer audiobooks, you might want to take a pass; the before and after construction is confusing. The book, though, is terrific. 4 stars.
** Thanks for NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this novel. The opinions are my own.