Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The IT Girl by Ruth Ware Narrator: Imogen Church
Published by Scout Press, Simon & Schuster Audio on July 12, 2022
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 432
Length: 13 hours
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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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. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the second, April was dead.
Now, 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.
I have to tell you I was worried for Hannah from the start. She’s pregnant and all the stress isn’t good for her, plus she is digging into the past and bringing up things other people want to be finished. It’s not she’s TSTL but she pushes it.  She lets her emotions take her dangerous places when she needs to be working in her head, because she is naive but very smart.
When the convicted killer dies, there are reporters and others who come forward to ask questions because he always claimed his innocence. He was creepy and did some questionable things but was he a murderer? Hannah keeps talking to people and learning more about that time. She misses April and cared about her. But she continues to learn more and more about April and why some people didn’t like her and how she might have ended up dead.
As usual for this author, it’s a twisty journey and emotional journey as you root for characters and their totally natural responses to good and bad situations. It’s great because not everyone is all good or all bad. Which makes it harder to know what’s true and what’s deflection or outright lies. It’s another winning read to boggle the mind and drag my heart around.
Narration:
I’ve enjoyed this narrator before so I was happy to have her narration again. I ‘m not knowledgeable about different inflections and dialects but the voices felt authentic. I thought the male and female voices were comfortable. We are mostly in Hannah’s point of view so that was a fit as well.  I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Imogen Church
Born in Scotland and raised in England, Imogen trained as an actress at The Drama Centre London, under Christopher Fettes, Yat Malmgren and Reuven Adiv. Since graduating several moons ago, she has worked extensively in theatre, film, commercials and comedy sketch work and she works regularly as a voice artist; she also spent several years underground enjoying success as a deliciously naughty cabaret artiste, making people laugh and generally being rude.
As a screenwriter, her first screenplay won the 2009 award for Best Feature Screenplay at the Reel Women Film Festival in Los Angeles.
About Ruth Ware
uth Ware grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in North London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. She is married with two small children, and In a Dark, Dark Wood is her début thriller.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 22-COYER
I can’t wait to get to this one. You’ve mentioned a lot of elements that I love in Ware’s stories and Imogen Church is one of my favorites. Great review, Anne💜 I’m starting this one later this week.
Thank you Jonetta. I enjoyed it a lot. I hope you do.
I’ve got a couple of her backlist on my wish list pile. Eventually I will get to them and it sounds like her latest is fab.
Thanks Sophia. I want to read more of her backlist too. I’ve only read the newest few.
” It’s great because not everyone is all good or all bad” I love a good set of complex characters.
Yes that is the way of realistic characters. The black or white ones can be cliche. The gray are the real people.
How would you rate this one compared to her other books?
I have only read 3 or 4, but this one is a better one. They all have that messy view of people at their best, normal and worst moments. I may be getting used to her style a bit more.
This sounds excellent. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I want to get to a Ruth Ware book someday soon.
They are character studies, psychological thrillers and usually twisty. I like the well-developed charaters.
I don’t read suspense, but I do enjoy hearing about good books. This one sounds great.
These books are character studies with the psychological providing the suspense in the mystery.
This was one of my Book of the Month picks for July so I’m thrilled to hear how much you loved it. I usually have really good luck with Ware’s books so I’m excited for this one.
Thank you. It’s one of the better ones of hers I have read. But I have enjoyed all of the ones I have read.
I almost picked up an ARC of this one, but I had too many to review. I’ll request a library copy because it sounds good! Great review, Anne!
The audio is great too. I hope you love it too. These are character stories which may them suspenseful and twisty.
I know of the author but I don”t think I know of this book
Well this book is new this week. I really enjoy her work and wish I could find time to read more of her backlist, too.
I love a good twisty journey and emotional journey
I think you will enjoy Ruth Ware books.
I preordered this one and got my email that it was delivered this week – and of course my life is chaotic right now so I don’t know when I’ll get to it. Maybe when we finish our buddy read. It’s a definite priority for this month as both Ruth Ware and Imogen Church are favorites. Glad you enjoyed it and I’m very curious about Hannah!
Hannah almost feels like an unreliable narrator but that’s not what she is. It’s the twisty way Ware builds the characters showing them good and bad and building to the truth. It’s a character-driven psychological thriller and she is well versed in them. I always feel uncomfortable while reading but they are excellent.
I have only read one book by this author so far but I do want to read more. This sounds like a good one to pick up!
I really enjoyed it. I think Ware is the master of character-driven psychological thrillers. It’s all in the characters and the emotions. Stunning.