The It Girl by Ruth Ware
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 423
Start Date: January 3rd, 2023
End Date: January 12th, 2023
My Ratings
Overall: ★★
Character Development: ★★
Ending: ★★★
Spice Level:
Suspense Level: đŸ”ª
Tear Jerk-ability:
Put Down-ability: Easy
Readability: Easy, Quick Read
Summary In My Words
Hannah Jones takes off starting her first year of Oxford University. She meets her flat-mate, April Clarke-Cliveden, who is the exact opposite of her; a beautiful extrovert who is always pushing the boundaries....both in good ways and bad! The book flashes between Hannahs past...which includes the murder of April....and present day Hannah; set ten years later. Everything is fine in Hannah's world, until one journalist brings Hannah new evidence that calls into question what she actually saw the night she found April's lifeless body. It was Hannah's testimony....her sole testimony....that convicted April's murderer; a creepy college porter named John Neville, who borderline stalks Hannah during her collegiate career. It's not until then, Hannah vows to push past her insecurities to find if she did, in fact, get that night wrong......If she got who killed April all wrong.....
My Thoughts - Spoliers Ahead, Read at Your Own Risk
This is an author I read a lot from, so I was excited to start this one! It took me longer than I had expected to get through it, honestly. I think that was primarily because, to me, the book felt like it took a long time to get to the main plot of the story. I felt that the character and story development gave me a lot of details I didn't need in order to proceed with to the plot. Even when the story was established, certain events were way too wordy and, quite frankly seemed unnecessary. Personally, I felt like Hannah was very self absorbed, always playing the victim, and using the trauma from her past as an excuse for her behavior and inability to cope with the present. I found her written character very hard to read about, which is probably why I struggled to finish the book.
It was about 3/4s through the book before I felt the story actually picked up. Everything the author was eluding to in regards to the "plot twist" was that Hannah's now husband, Aprils then boyfriend, Will, had actually killed April due to Aprils promiscuity and cheating. For me, this was so predictable and anti-climatic that it made finishing the book even less fun. Now, the actual twist was unexpected and a surprise ending, even though it ended similarly as some of her previous books. For me, I felt the ending felt was "thrown in" last minute as the author saw the direction the book was taking and didn't want to write another "tragic" love story ending in scandal. I do appreciate that the author did not divulge the killers true motive in the book, though she did have Hannah come to the revelation of the true motive at the very end. Overall, the book was well written and tied up the loose ends....but sometimes readers want to be left with questions, right?
What do you think?
In the before chapters, what kind of reaction did Aprils behavior trigger for you? At the same time, how did Hannah's choices leave you feeling?
What was your impression of Hannah and April's friendship? Did it feel natural and authentic to you or did it seem as if April found a pet to play with in Hannah?
It seemed as though the relationships Hannah had outside of Will were those that benefitted her in some way. Do you feel like that was behavior subconsciously adapted from April?
It seemed that Hannah played the victim throughout the entire book. Did you feel as though the trauma of her roommates murderer contributed to that mentality?
I can't wait to read your thoughts on "The It Girl"!
Next Book: "A Flicker in the Dark" by Stacy Willingham
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