I’ve got a bit of a confession here. I know I like Ruth Ware’s books but I’d kind of…put this one off. The title made me think it was going to be about wealthy people living Instagrammable lives – not that I have a problem with that at all, but I kind of need to be in the right mood.
I was wrong and should have read the blurb.
This book is actually about a murder at a fictitious Oxford University college. It centres on Hannah and the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of her discovery of the body of her roommate, April, in their shared rooms. April is the ‘It Girl’ of the novel’s title, bringing champagne, designer clothes and luxury furniture to their digs, but this is much more the story of a friendship group and a university experience gone tragically wrong.
In the ‘before’ sections, we see Hannah arrive at Pelham College and start to get to grips with Oxford University life – complete with rich girl roommate, creepy college porter, sleazy professor and a whole host of Oxford traditions and lingo to master. Her friendship group grows and the tension rises as we get nearer to the fateful night when April is killed.
These glimpses at university life are cut through with ‘after’ sections in which Hannah is living in Edinburgh years later. As she becomes increasingly concerned that her testimony jailed an innocent man, she is forced to re-examine the events of the night of April’s death. This means not only confronting the fact she may have made a disastrous mistake, but also reinterpreting her friendships and relationships from her Oxford days.
Because if she got it wrong ten years ago, it means a killer is still on the loose…
I liked the setting of the story within an Oxford context – the ‘before’ sections were particularly engaging and has me scouring every word for details of what could have subsequently gone wrong. Ware perfectly captured the sense of arriving at university and feeling out of your depth when everything is so unfamiliar – doubly so for Hannah with the Oxford conventions, In that regard, Hannah was a sympathetic and relatable central figure – even though some of her decisions (especially in the ‘after’ sections) were slightly ill-advised.
I found lots to enjoy in this novel, even though I identified whodunit quite early on – I just couldn’t see the how! I thought it was cleverly plotted and it did keep me reading, even though some of the early stages felt a bit slow compared to some of Ware’s other books.
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys closed circle crime novels – there is a limited cast of suspects here and they are an interesting bunch. The university setting is well done and Hannah is a likeable character to follow through her toughest times.
If you’d like to buy a copy of this book, please use my affiliate link below – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases!
Header photo by Ben Seymour on Unsplash
