This page has spoilers for The It Girl! If you haven’t read it yet, and somehow landed on my spoiler-y comments, go back! Read my main spoiler-free review of The It Girl first, or just read the book.

But, if you have already read the book, and you want to talk about reactions, let’s go!

First, I thought the Instagram part was a really brilliant red herring. It’s like the Chekov’s gun for 2022 thrillers — if a missing person has a social media account, there must be a picture with a previously-ignored clue by the end of the novel. That’s just the rules of suspense fiction right? So every time Hannah looked at April’s old Instagram, I was reading so carefully for the hint. Was there going to be a suspicious baddie in the background? A check-in that contradicted her memories? Something that shouldn’t be there? I was so sure it wouldn’t just be Hannah looking at old photos of her old friend.

 Unfortunately, my other spoiler is that I guessed the killer much too quickly. Did you guess it too? I like to be able to figure out a bit of a thriller. I feel like that means the author is great at dropping hints and I’m great at working it out. In fact, if I can’t figure any part of it, I kinda feel like, oh, I guess that’s technically possible, and I shrug instead of enjoying the surprise. (I’m looking at you, The Maidens.)

But I don’t like guessing it too early, because then I’m waiting for a Big Twist that never comes. In The It Girl, their Oxford friend group was too small to have a long list of possible suspects, so it wasn’t really complicated to figure out the killer. Hugh was the only person with the opportunity to kill April, so I was already suspicious, and then he was the only one pointing a finger at Will, plus I was never 100% sure what he was doing in Edinburgh…

The motive, though… that was the real surprise for me!

Me, sitting on my bed reading a dramatic moment: Yes! I’m finally gonna find out why!

Hugh, on the cliff, waving a gun around: nah, I’m not some stupid Bond villain, why would I tell you anything?

Me: DAMNIT!

I was not a fan of the funeral fakeout scene at the very end, it just felt cheap to have such a vaguely outlined scene with a gotcha. But other than that, I was satisfied with the ending. It seemed like a good resolution to Hannah’s whole story and Will’s character arc, too.

Anyway, I really liked The It Girl, let me know what you thought!