Only If You’re Lucky
Only If You’re Lucky
By: Stacy Willingham
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2024]
“I crave it more than I’ve ever craved anything: the kind of friendship that I once knew so well, not comfortable and contained but something messy and maniacal and real.”
This was my first Stacy Willingham book and it didn’t do much for me. However it seems like this book might deviate from her normal writing so I still plan to at least read A Flicker in the Dark.
The setting of this book was Rutledge College in South Carolina. But it reads like a series of college party scenes rather than anything remotely nostalgic or relatable to me. The characters and setting and events are everything that was absent of my college experience and it was not enjoyable for me to read.
I could maybe still enjoy the book if the suspense at least was there, but it was a slow-burn read told in ‘before’ and ‘after’ chapters giving small teases that manage to keep you interested. But I grew tired of reading about everything that happened when they were drunk or high or hungover.
I will say that the ending twists did save it a bit (I liked the accident, mistake, necessity aspect) but unless this is a scene you find interesting or engaging, I don’t think the twists are worth all that comes before.
Basic Premise
The book begins with the knowledge that we have a dead body— a frat boy pledge named Levi Butler— and a missing girl— a bold, brash, and unpredictable college girl named Lucy.
And that’s how the chapters divide- before and after.
“Levi is dead, Lucy is gone, and someone has to pay.”
Margot’s college experience doesn’t start the way she had planned it. Her best friend, Eliza, dies three weeks before they were supposed to attend Rutledge together.
Freshman year is a blur of grief and depression, but one girl— Lucy— sticks out, elusive and magnetic, the object of a lot of rumors, and a reminder of Eliza. At the end of the year when Lucy invites Margot to live with her and her friends Sloane and Nicole, Lucy jumps at the chance.
“being loved by Eliza was like a sudden hit of adrenaline— a gateway drug, something addicting and freeing that left you craving your next hit the second she stepped away. And if Eliza was adrenaline, that makes Lucy something even more. Something more addicting, more dangerous. Something that I probably shouldn’t be dabbling in— but at the same time, something impossible to refuse.”
But we find out that Lucy might have picked her for a reason. And Sloane and Nicole for that matter.
“nice Nicole and studious Sloane and malleable Margot.”
And so this book asks the question: How far would someone go for friendship and belonging? What happens in a house full of potentially toxic friendships?
“Sloane is trying to tell me that, if I’m not careful, Lucy will… turn me into something I’m not. She’ll twist me and mold me until I’m unrecognizable, transforming in her hands like soft, wet clay. She’ll shape me into whatever she wants me to be. Something useful to best fit her needs, a deliberate instrument of her own design. But here’s the thing Sloane doesn’t know: I want to be changed. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, really: for someone to scoop me up and tell me what I’m supposed to be.”
So where is Lucy and what really happened to Levi?
Comments
I didn’t really find any of the characters likeable. It’s just kinda unimaginable to me that someone could be so malleable and easily manipulated to do whatever someone tells them to do. Or even in this case, willingly being pulled in to something clearly not right.
I don’t find that kind of personality relatable or endearing; I find it annoying. Have your own mind.
I just find it not only hard to believe, but hard to read when someone is so taken in by someone who is clearly a toxic type of person; obsessive friendships are alien to me. And when it’s drawn out for so long and detailed as the primary aspect of the book, it’s exhausting.
I know the college party scene is probably part of a lot of people’s college experiences, but it had nothing to do with mine and reading about it was a bit repulsive. At least if there was something redeeming about it then its place in the book would have purpose and development. But it was just the perfect storm of dysfunction to facilitate more problems, manipulation, and stupidity.
There just wasn’t anything appealing to reading it. As I started it I was wondering if I was going to like it, and as I continued, my engagement level never really went up.
The title of the book comes from this line:
“You’re only young once, and only if you’re lucky.”
I liked the title, but I’m not sure if this is the strongest line. Does it mean you’re only young if you’re lucky? Haha. I think it means that hopefully you don’t die. But I just think it’s a bit clunky of phrasing and they should have picked a different title or tied it in stronger than this.
I did think it was interesting that the house the girls live in that’s right next to the frat house is based on Willingham’s own college experience and housing. The shed and the crawl space were the same, but the rest of the story, people, and relationships were fictional.
Recommendation
Most of my dislikes of this book had to do with the characters and setting. I didn’t have issue with the writing style and I did like the twists. I also appreciated that there weren’t a million f-bombs.
So I am definitely willing to read another one of her books. From what I can tell they deal with adults which is a better story line for my interests. I think I’m picky about college-related books. (Though I’m not sure I can read All the Dangerous Things because I have a hard time with child abduction/death type of stories)
‘Only If You’re Lucky’ was not for me, but could easily be a hit for others if they don’t have as strong of feelings as I do about the morally ambiguous character types and setting.
[Content Advisory: 18 f-words and 28 s-words, a lot of drinking, smoking, drugs, and the college party scene; moderate sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book just released January 16, 2024. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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