“Everyone wanted her life
Someone wanted her dead

It was Hannah who found April’s body ten years ago.
It was Hannah who didn’t question what she saw that day.
Did her testimony put an innocent man in prison?

She needs to know the truth.

Even if it means questioning her own friends.
Even if it means putting her own life at risk.

Because if the killer wasn’t a stranger, it’s someone she knows…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The It Girl by Ruth Ware. The It Girl will be published by Scout Press later this week (that’s Thursday 4th August 2022) and will be available in hardcover, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free ARC of The It Girl but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Sabah at Scout Press for sending me a proof copy.

Confession time! Despite being a crime reader and despite many (MANY!) people telling me how much I would enjoy Ruth Ware’s books, The It Girl is in fact the first book I’ve read by this author. I know. I’m ashamed of myself. But I have righted the wrong and all is good with the damppebbles world once more. And what a fantastic experience it was (I know, I know – you told me so 😂).

Tragedy struck the Pelham College community ten years ago when It Girl, April Clarke-Cliveden was discovered dead in her room by roommate and best friend, Hannah. Hannah still mourns the loss of April to this day and is shocked when the death of April’s killer, John Neville, is reported. Neville’s death brings the story back into the spotlight and a dogged journalist to Hannah’s door. The journalist believes that Neville was innocent, turning Hannah’s world upside down as her evidence and her evidence alone sent Neville to prison. Hannah reaches out to her college friends for comfort but they reveal some startling truths which send Hannah in a spin. Because if Neville didn’t kill April, someone else did…

The first thing I need to say about The It Girl is that I adored the setting. Pelham College is a fictional Oxford college but it could be based on any number of real life colleges. It felt so authentic, so true to life. I can say that because I worked at an Oxford college for many years and everything the author included about college life, the set-up and the workings was spot-on! All the terminology came flooding back and it was lovely to step back in time and experience it all over again in fictional form (of course, ignoring the creepy porter and the tragic death which are both present in the book!).

The story is told in the past and the present. In the past the reader gets to meet April and experience the events which led to her death. And in the present we watch as Hannah slowly realises that she may have sent an innocent man to prison and if that’s true, the biggest shocker of all, that April’s killer is still out there. Ware’s characters were very well-written and I really enjoyed the group dynamic between the friends during their time at Pelham. But the more I got to know them in the present-day setting, the less I trusted them. I was determined to solve the mystery before the reveal but I failed miserably. My jaw hit the floor, my gob was well and truly smacked! What a fantastic ending, high tension and completely unexpected. I loved it.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The It Girl is a gripping, hugely engaging and eminently readable mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved spending time in the company of Hannah who grew on me more and more as the story progressed. I enjoyed the journey Hannah took from being certain about Neville’s guilt to realising that perhaps things weren’t quite as she remembered to obsessively following leads which eventually lead her somewhere she never expected to be. A setting I’m incredibly fond of which brought back happy memories, well-defined and interesting characters who all played their part perfectly and a gripping storyline which had me glued to the pages. As I mentioned, this is the first book I have read by Ruth Ware but it certainly won’t be the last. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The It Girl. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware was published in the UK by Scout Press on 4th August 2022 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | Book Depository | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop |

Ruth Ware grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in North London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. She is married with two small children, and In a Dark, Dark Wood is her début thriller.