Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Only If You're Lucky - Stacy Willingham

Only If You're Lucky is the third book from the talented Stacy Willingham.

Four women, all with very different personalities, backgrounds, strengths and weaknesses, are rooming together in a house on the campus of their college. Well, some of them have weaknesses. But Lucy seems to have it all - a natural leader, people are drawn to her - male and female and her strong personality. But is she really the person she lets you see? The answer to that question is pursued by Margot....

Willingham takes readers along with Margot as a guide, an interpreter, a detective and more. It is her narrative we hear and see. The timeline flips back and forth from past to present - a story telling style I really enjoy. Things get more convoluted - and downright dangerous for more than one character.

 An excellent plot, strong characters and well described settings. Another five star read from Stacy Willingham! 

I chose to listen to Only If You're Lucky. I was quite happy to see that Karissa Vacker was the reader. She has performed the previous two books from Willingham and did a fabulous job. And she's done the same with this latest. She speaks clearly, enunciates well and is easy on the ears. I am so impressed at the voices she has come up with for the characters - male and female. They're absolutely believable and suit the character speaking. The voice for Lucy was so perfect. You can hear and feel that 'extra' Vacker puts into her readings. She has captured Willingham's plotting and does an excellent job of capturing the emotions, action and undertones of the book. Vacker is certainly on my list of favorite narrators. Hear for yourself - listen to an audio excerpt of Only If You're Lucky.

2 comments:

Kay said...

Luanne, so glad to hear your thoughts on this new Stacy Willingham book. Really looking forward to reading/listening to it.

Luanne said...

I've liked her previous books, so this one was an easy choice.