I’ve read several of Ruth Ware’s books, and thought they were ‘just ok,’ but I think The IT Girl is one of her best. The novel is a mystery set on a college campus in Oxford, England and does switch between two time periods . . . but the story is told by the same narrator throughout. I had no trouble keeping the characters or the time periods straight.
Hannah Jones is a freshman looking forward to her university years. She meets her roommate, April Clarke-Clivedon, upon arriving on campus. Hannah is rather shy and cautious. April is very bright, very outgoing and sometimes very mean. They have a small group of friends and are almost to end of term finals when Hannah discovers April – murdered. In the second timeline, Hannah is ten years past that gruesome event, but still haunted by April’s death. Was the convicted man really the killer? Why would someone want April dead? Who else might be hiding secrets about that night?
I liked the character of Hannah, even though her indecisiveness was frustrating sometimes. I also liked most of the other characters and kept switching my suspicions about who might have been April’s killer. The story bogged down just a little in the middle, but I really wanted to find out the truth and couldn’t quit reading until I did. I’m glad I kept going, because the ending was surprising and had a great twist! If you haven’t read books by Ruth Ware, try The IT Girl instead of one of her other novels!
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