By Carly Smith
Content warning: murder
Set in Oxford, UK, and alternating between the early 2010s and present day, The It Girl takes readers into the mind of Hannah Jones, a former college student who found her roommate April dead in their dorm room. Convicted of her murder was John Neville, who, in the present day timeline, recently died in prison. John, once a porter at the college, had rubbed Hannah the wrong way several times over the course of her freshman year at Oxford, and having watched him leave the stairwell of their dorm shortly before finding April lifeless, Hannah was certain he had committed the crime. After a nudge from a friend of a friend, Hannah starts to dig further into April’s death. With evidence missed during the trial, new clues come to her attention and she starts to second-guess herself. Did Neville really kill April, the smart, talented, beautiful, rich student whose life most people both revered and resented? After joining forces with someone equally as invested in April’s death, Hannah sets out to unveil the truth.
Ware does a spectacular job of building the characters in the novel and consistently supports their respective demeanors and quirks through dialogue and narrative. Hannah is surrounded by a group of friends at college, each with their own personality. Hannah herself is somewhat naive, quite well studied, and very basic. April is outspoken, brazen, carefree, and clever. They are friends with Ryan, the funny one, Will, the hard-to-read one, Emily, the quick-witted one, and Hugh, the meek one. Also in the mix is Dr. Myers, a tutor who fancies the attention of the female college students he works with, and John Neville, the awkward, creepy porter.
From chapter to chapter, the reader is presented with evidence that makes a number of characters seem culpable. Through Hannah’s recollections and new information from a journalist, Ware sprinkles clues that, at one time or another, point the blame to several different people, all of whom seem equally plausible. I was impressed by how subtly Ware includes hints relating to the true circumstances surrounding April’s death.
Suspenseful, captivating, and ingenious, Ware will have readers unable to put down the book. Crafted with descriptive language that will make you feel as if you’re in Hannah’s friend group on campus, The It Girl takes readers on a thrilling ride with many heart-stopping moments. This book is appropriate for adults who enjoy thrillers.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.