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The It Girl by Ruth Ware

1 review

lovelymisanthrope's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was on my radar because I am quickly becoming a Ruth Ware fan, but then it was announced that it is the Literally Dead Book Club pick for September, so I HAD to pick it up. "The It Girl" follows a young woman named Hannah. In college, she was paired to room with this amazing "It Girl" named April. April's personality was electric, and she seemingly had everything she could ever want, and more. Unfortunately, Hannah found April murdered in their dorm room. There were no leads on suspects except for Hannah's testimony that she saw porter John Neville leaving the dorm right before she came in. Because of some complaints John had against him, he was convicted and sent to prison despite a lack of evidence. Now it is almost ten years later, and Hannah is happily married to April's ex-boyfriend, Will and they are expecting their first child together. John Neville has made headlines again because he has passed away in prison, still claiming his innocence. Now Hannah is on a mission to uncover what truly happened so many years ago and find out what really happened to April.
 
Spoiler Although this book is only told through Hannah's perspective, the timeline jumps around and as the story progresses and Hannah learns more in the present, we are able to get more information about what happened while they were in college. I loved slowly seeing the story come together simultaneously in the past and present. I was also happy to see that Hannah did not "fall into" April's life and become the new It Girl herself. Hannah and Will had chemistry while April and Will dated, and Hannah never sought to replace April or take over her life. April is a really complex character, and it made it really interesting to read about her and learn more about how she was perceived by her friends. April was dazzling, strong, intelligent, and entirely enticing, but she was also mean, ruthless, and cunning. Hannah did not know April as well as she thought, and it really changed the narrative for the better as Hannah saw that April was just a girl, not an idol.
When the killer was revealed, I was shocked, and I really enjoyed the twist. I do think it may be polarizing, because we do not get a true motive from the killer as to why they murdered April, but I enjoyed the ambiguity of it! 
Spoiler 
I really, really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to continue to enjoy Ruth Ware's backlist until her next novel comes out. 
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