The It Girl (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
Early adulthood and college is a precious time in a young person’s life, it is a special rite of passage for those lucky enough to experience. Unfortunately for Hannah her experience left her damaged and traumatized. The It Girl tells the story of Hannah Jones, a middleclass student at a prestigious college in the UK. She is roommate to April who comes from a wealthy family. April is fantastic -beautiful, clever, fashionable – an It Girl. Unfortunately, April can also be a bit of a bully. The friend group includes Will who becomes April’s boyfriend, Emily, Ryan and Hugh. April has the capacity for affection and is appreciative of her friend Hannah, but she can be cruel. She plays pranks that aren’t that innocent or funny.
This novel immerses the reader in Hannah’s story. She still agonizes about April’s murder. How it has transformed her adulthood. Ten years later Hannah is married to Will. They are preparing for the birth of their first child. She loves Will deeply and recognizes he has been a bright, shining star in her life. They get news that the man who was convicted of April’s murder (predominantly on Hannah’s testimony) has died in prison. He claimed to the end that he was innocent.
The reader is taken on an accelerating ride because Hannah can’t let it go that she might have been the cause of an innocent person being incarcerated. A journalist/podcaster friend of Ryan’s makes her confront what she remembers about that fateful night. Where she was previously avoiding any details of April’s murder, she’s now grudgingly looking at the details. She’s asking people what they remember or knew about April. She’s risking her relationship with her husband, who very much wants her to focus on her and the baby’s health and let the past stay in the past. There’s friction, which turns into suspicion. The end of the book is terrific – we are left with answers.
Ruth Ware has written a fantastic summer thriller that everyone should read immediately.
— Holly HendricksJuly 2022 Indie Next List
“This is the perfect summer read, it grabs you from the first few pages and engrosses you in its murder mystery. Problems and worries slip away as you delve deeper and deeper into the story. Isn’t that what we all need from time to time?”
— BJ Hegedus, Postalworks Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA
Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) One by One returns with an unputdownable mystery following a woman on the search for answers a decade after her friend’s murder.
April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.
Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.
Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.
“The Agatha Christie of our generation” (David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author) proves once again that she is “as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post) with this propulsive murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
About the Author
Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer. She now lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England. She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail (Toronto) bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; and Zero Days. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on Twitter @RuthWareWriter.
Praise For…
"So many flawed friendships, so many promising red herrings. . . . The pages just turn themselves." —People Magazine
“Ware once again demonstrates her literary claim as the 21st century’s answer to Agatha Christie with this ingeniously crafted puzzler . . . Fans of Golden Age mysteries like Dorothy Sayers’s Gaudy Night will love the book’s Oxford setting, while readers of trendy dark academia suspense novels, in the manner of Alex Michaelides’s The Maidens, will feel right at home. Top-drawer entertainment from a modern master of mystery.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)
"Ruth Ware’s richly-textured The IT Girl is at once an engrossing murder mystery while also a perfectly crafted and haunting examination of lost youth and the compromises of adulthood, as a woman unpicks the past secrets of her university friends to finally lay to rest her murdered best friend, the dazzling April. Reminiscent of The Secret History, Ware has surpassed herself with this gripping, absorbing whodunnit. I loved it! All hail the Queen." —Sarah Pinborough, New York Times Bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes
"Deliciously dark and utterly addictive — my favourite Ruth Ware yet!" —Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment and The Guest List
“Every Ruth Ware novel is a unique and unexpected gem and this one is no exception. A heady, tense, slowburn dream of a book, multi-layered and steeped in atmosphere and peril. I loved every page." —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone
“Ware develops both the reader’s doubts about and concern for Hannah as the suspense builds gradually under a masterful barrage of red herrings . . . Riveting.” —Booklist (Starred Review)
“This exceptional psychological thriller from Ware probes how much one can trust others—and one’s self . . . . Alternating past and present chapters build toward a gripping denouement as nicely chosen details bring each character vividly to life. This showcases Ware’s gifts to the fullest.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“As usual with Ware, the novel is well crafted—the setting, characters, and dialogue are all engaging . . . Delightfully readable.” —Kirkus Reviews
