The It Girl is only the second Ruth Ware novel I’ve picked up, and it certainly won’t be the last. Ware is a bestselling author for good reason: She knows exactly how to pull you into a psychological thriller and keep you there. I bought this book wanting something absorbing and atmospheric, and it delivered on every front. So, what is it about?
‘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…’ (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon UK.)
The story centres on Hannah, whose life was shaped, and shattered, by her time at Oxford University. She quickly bonded with April, her charismatic, privileged, and sometimes infuriating roommate. When Hannah discovers April was murdered in their accommodation, her testimony helps convict John Neville, a creepy college porter that Hannah has had several run ins with. But a decade later, Neville dies in prison still protesting his innocence, and Hannah is ultimately left questioning everything she thought she knew and everyone they were close to at that time. Hannah is now with Will, April’s former boyfriend and the couple are expecting their first child, not exactly an ideal time for everything to resurface.
The narrative switches between university life for this set of friends and the present day, set a decade later. One of the things I loved most about this book was the atmosphere created, I really felt like I was there at Oxford University, immersed in its traditions, social circles and tensions. The dual narrative worked really well in gradually revealing details about the past while building suspense about who ‘dun it’ in the present day, if Neville really was innocent.
April herself is a great character that you’re drawn to but won’t always necessarily like. She’s privileged, magnetic but sneaky and can rub people up the wrong way. April heads up a friendship group that is tight but also complex and secretive, and it was great as a reader to try and work out who could be trusted and who had a motive to kill April. Ultimately, I never guessed the outcome, so it was great to get to the reveal,with plenty of red herrings built in along the way.
Overall, The It Girl is a cleverly plotted, atmospheric thriller full of secrets, shifting loyalties, and slow burn suspense. It’s engaging from start to finish, and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys psychological mysteries.
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