The It Girl Review

by Ruth Ware

Rating: 4/5

April Coutts-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 second, 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.

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Ruth Ware is an author I enjoy. But her books can be a bit hit or miss for me. I never know if I’m going to enjoy them, hate them, or just feel a bit indifferent towards them. But I can’t not be intrigued by her books!

This one, though, I very much enjoyed! This kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. 

We follow Hannah, who was the best friend of April, the It girl at Oxford, who was found dead in her dorm. A decade later, Hannah is approached by a journalist who has discovered new evidence in the case. Now Hannah is questioning what she knew happened.

The story bounces between two timelines, the present and the past, the weeks leading up to the murder of April. And even I found myself fascinated by April. She was such an enigma. Her actions to everyone around her were puzzling. Oftentimes selfish, but also affectionately caring when she chose to be.

I feel like with so many murder mysteries under my belt, I should be able to figure out the whodunit. But this truly had me perplexed. I couldn’t have been more wrong about who I thought did the deed. I focused on the wrong things and overlooked several details that should have told me who it was. The reveal was incredibly shocking for me. And as I said, afterwards, the answer felt so obvious! I was surprised I didn’t see it coming! But I loved it.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good thriller murder mystery!