I read The Death of Mrs. Westaway a couple of years back and loved it so much that I fancied I had found another new favorite writer. Obviously, this fancy didn’t last very long as I waited so long to pick up another book from her.
Still, I had high hopes for The It Girl since my previous stint with a Ruth Ware book was so successful. Were my high hopes met? Well, yes and no.
About The It Girl
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. During their first term, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily. By the end of the second, April was dead.
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.
~ Synopsis from GoodReads
My Review
What I remember liking so much about The Death of Mrs. Westaway is the novel’s atmosphere – the house, the characters, and the knowing nod to Christie. The It Girl is very different. It feels a bit like Donna Tartt-lite.
It’s also a very thick book taking the time to develop the main character Hannah (which is a weakness, IMO, as she’s not very likable or intelligent). The story also unfolds slowly, with Hannah trying to recollect the past and figure out whether she has made a horrendous mistake.
While I liked the book overall, it didn’t wow me as much as I expected. Very quickly, it was obvious that there were two primary contenders for the role of the killer. And if you have read Christie, the twist in the book will be pretty obvious. The only surprise to me was the motivation.
Still, despite the predictability and the ease of guessing the killer, I enjoyed the reading experience.
I would have liked it more if the book had been less drawn out, if Hannah had been a little less of the naive ingenue, and if her choices had not gotten under my skin so much.
