The It Girl

I’ve read several of Ware’s books and have enjoyed them. I enjoyed this very much at the beginning—the setting at Oxford and the premise of a possible miscarriage of justice. But halfway through the book it became a bit formulaic. So many thrillers now go back and forth in time and there’s the usual building up of suspicion on the part of the main character toward her husband—is he the murderer?The ending isn’t really very twisty; I actuallly had thought the person who turned out to be the murderer would probably be the murderer right from about 30% in. I can’t say why without spoilers but this book just wasn’t quite as satisfying as Ware’s usually are.

The plot to the end almost sets up a well deserved suspicion that Will, Hannah’s husband had done it, and judging from response of “what do you think?” towards Hannah’s interrogation, the readers are left with impressions of certainty, That of course collapsed shortly after Hugh’s strange actions. However that earlier reaction still hanged in the air, why Will responded in that way if he was innocent?

4/5 I love the journey this book took me on! I went from loving to hating characters and for majority of the book I had no idea what was coming. Ruth always has a way of making you feel so immersed in the story and this is no different.

I love listening to Ruth Wares book as audiobooks. I’ve made it my goal to read all of her books before the end of the year, I only have 3 left lol. This book really took me on a roller coaster.Imogen Church does such an amazing job with the voices and really making them come to life.

I zipped through this book fairly quickly as I do love suspense / murdery stories. This one was okay for me. More than anything I felt a lot of anxiety reading it because of Hannah’s constant overthinking and need to hash over the events and “ find the killer”. After a while I was more like, “ oh, come on already!”I’m giving it four stars because it’s not my favorite but I didn’t dislike it

I couldn’t wait to read Ruth Ware’s newest book The It Girl and I am happy to report it did not disappoint. This book was everything I was hoping it would be.Hannah Jones was excited to start a new chapter of her life at Oxford. Hannah and her roommate April Clarke-Cliveden became fast friends, and rounding out their friend group was Will, Emily, Ryan, and Hugh. These six friends formed a close bond and were enjoying their time at the university. That is, until April was murdered at the end of the second term. The school porter, John Neville, is found guilty of April’s murder, mostly due to Hannah’s testimony. It is now ten years later and Hannah and Will are married and expecting their first child. Hannah has done all she can to try and put the past behind her and now that John Neville has died in prison, she can truly move on. But when a journalist contacts Hannah and presents evidence that John Neville may have been innocent, Hannah’s world and all she thought she knew is about to come crashing down.I loved how Ware presented this book in a dual timeline. One timeline was during Hannah’s time at Oxford and we got to see the events that lead up to April’s murder unfold. This was my favorite timeline. I really liked getting to know Hannah, April, Will, Ryan, Emily and Hugh and watch their friendships form. I especially liked learning more about April and how she was not the nicest person all the time. That just made the suspect pool increase for me. The second timeline is in the present, and in this timeline, we follow Hannah as she tries to come to terms with the fact that she may have been wrong about John Neville. Hannah is determined to figure out what actually happened the night April was murdered. I really loved her determination on uncovering the truth; even when she did not like the direction it was taking, she still pushed forward. Hannah owes it to April and to John Neville to make sure the right person pays for the crime.I was all over the place on who I thought murdered April with all the twists and turns this book had. The more information Hannah uncovered in her quest to find the truth, the more my suspicions of everyone grew, especially when we learned of some of the mean things April did. By the end of the book I was on the edge of my seat, especially when it was revealed who the killer was.I really don’t want to say too much because I think you need to go into this book not knowing anything. But if you are a fan of Ruth Ware, then I think you will love The It Girl.

At its heart this novel is a classic whodunnit focused on the murder of a student at Oxford University. The story is told from the perspective of the roommate (Hannah) whose witness testimony is key to the conviction of a college porter. Ten years later the porter dies in prison having always professed his innocence. Hannah begins to doubt the safety of his conviction and starts to look into the events of the past.Five potential perpetrators are presented to the reader - four university friends and a lecturer. Some hints were dropped but they could just as easily be red herrings so I wasn't sure who to suspect. First I was thinking it was one person, then another, then back to the original and so on. I went round in circles all the way through, trying to second guess the author and not succeeding. It had an Agatha Christie vibe and I found it compulsive reading. The solution came as a complete surprise resting as it did, on a breathtaking bit of trickery in true Christie style. I was impressed at the author's ingenuity.The original conviction made on the basis of a shadowy silhouette in the dark was an obvious plot weakness. I found Hannah's attraction to Will unconvincing since it was based almost entirely on his looks and I thought the attempt to ramp up the tension at the end with a 'cliff-edge' finale was unnecessary as the elegant solution was in itself satisfying. These quibbles aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will look for more from this author.

Having enjoyed her other books, I was pleased to come across this one and bought it instantly. So I began to read to discover the main character, Hannah, was still in anguish over what had happened years ago. The story then switches from now to then. The lead up to the final reveal of 'who dun it' seemed to take for ever, I carried on reading, leaving out huge chunks of writing, simply to see if my theory on who was responsible was correct or no. Also Hannah was blaming herself for everything, letting people down, when in fact what had happened was not her fault at all, I found that extremely irritating and wanted to keep shouting at her to stop it. I finished it a day ago and in hindsight the plot did unfold cleverly, but while reading it felt thin. However will still keep a look out for other books from her.

I wasn’t fully into this book, the plot was good but I think it could have been better and I felt like Hannah could have been developed much more as a main character - she did get on my nerves a bit and seemed to be the stereotypical hysterical pregnant woman much of the time. I think many of the characters were underwhelming to be honest and needed more development. The twist at the end was okay but I think perhaps a little too far fetched, and then seemed to wrap itself up in all of 10 pages. Overall, I enjoyed the book enough to finish it, but I probably wouldn’t read again.

Rating: 4.4/5There is something almost irresistibly appealing about a mystery or drama set within the hallowed walls of academia. So, when Ruth Ware, one of the most consistently impressive mystery writers around, decides to set a novel in the surroundings of a fictitious Oxford University college, I was always going to make sure that I read it at the earliest opportunity ... and it certainly didn't disappoint. Ruth Ware has delivered another fine example of contemporary mystery fiction.I won't rehash the core plot here - there is adequate information in the official marketing blurb to get you started, without running the risk of any annoying spoilers from me. Ruth Ware once again makes full use of the potential presented by her chosen atmospheric setting. She invariably selects appealing backdrops for her stories, but unlike some less accomplished writers, she doesn't waste the capacity it has to add to the overall impact of the narrative. If you have read this author's work previously then you would also expect her to paint well-rounded, credible characters and that is precisely what she provides.Ruth Ware is an exquisite storyteller. In this instance the events alternate between events around ten years ago at Oxford University and Hannah's current life in Edinburgh. The switches in time frame are handled nicely and the reader is able to see the relevance of earlier happenings as the full picture gradually develops. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, along with some skilful misdirection.Regular readers of the genre may well piece together the various bits of information and work out the solution before the official reveal - but whether you do or not, it really doesn't matter. One of the things that I like and admire about Ruth Ware's mystery writing is that she is always completely fair with the reader. There are no rabbits being pulled out of hats, nor sudden, incredible developments that couldn't have possibly been foreseen. All of the clues are there for the astute reader to pick up along the way, or else to be acknowledged and appreciated in hindsight ... and that is just the way a proper mystery should be constructed.

Very well written. Guessing right to the end. Very exciting ending and well worth the wait. Really enjoyable characters and setting.