I loved this book!!! I love the first person perspective from Amb and I loved the “then” and “now” alternating chapters. Every chapter was a twisty shock of mean girls horror over and over again! I had heard such great things from other advanced readers that I was really afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype so I was beyond blown away that it totally surpassed everything I was expecting! It was a crazy hot mess that I just couldn’t put down and never wanted to end!!! Definite 5 stars from me! I highly recommend GIRLS!!! I can’t wait to see what Laurie Elizabeth Flynn cooks up next!!!

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for allowing me the incredible privilege of reading this one in advance!

A young woman is surprised to receive mysterious notes about her college reunion that link back to a traumatic event that took place her freshman year. As she returns with her husband hesitantly, she realizes her former best friend and other classmates have their own versions of what happened that night and someone is trying to bring it all back.

This book will appeal to a lot of women, especially the friendship-crime kind of genre but I didn't really know what to do with it. It reminds me of 'Social Creature' but that book made sense. It's not the writing or the plot but just the sheer cruelty of it all. It's just a bunch of sociopaths being moronic. Actually, I even have a hard time believing that this is something that could happen.

More importantly, It's paints young women as such horrible creatures but does nothing to explain any of it. No backstory or reasoning, just chaos and half-baked wisdom that would only work for a very small portion of white feminism. At some points in the story I thought ok, now all of this will begin to make sense but then it's just more craziness.

It's like ... a terrible lifetime movie, but one that someone actually put effort into and took seriously. I'm sure the lifetime people know their movies are ridiculous, that's the point right ? 🤷‍♀️

Spoilers*

Missing from the book and what I didn't understand:
•Why does Ambrosia find herself so attracted to Sloane's particular band of behaviors? What happened to make her feel this way?
•Why does Sloane do absolutely anything she does? What happened to her as a child/adolescent that makes her treat people this way?
•Why does Ambrosia's husband leave her so quickly? There was no lead up to him being that unhappy with her in the first place?
•Why does the police not even suspect Poppy? How can there be absolutely no forensic evidence to what happened?

Wowza, I absolutely loved this chilling, but realistic read! The ending made me angry, but I think that means it’s one heck of a book! Well written, intriguing, twisty as heck, chills to the bone, and thrilling! Very unique, realistic, with some real problems that many face as the major theme! Recommend to all! Make sure you clear your schedule and do not start before bedtime, as it’s one that’ll have your mind spinning, body in chills, and holding your breath! Can not wait for more by this author!

Will make sure to buzz it up and use low Amazon reviewer number on release date!

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE GIRLS ARE ALL SO NICE HERE by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn in exchange for my honest review.***

The title is a lie. The Girls Are All So OPPOSITE OF Nice Here.

Ambrosia begins freshman year at Wesleyan University determined to leave her insecurities behind. She ignores her roommate Flora and other nice girls in favor of the alluring Sloane “Sullie” Sullivan a mean girl on steroids. Sullie uses guys and young women to hurt and humiliate them, and Amb is only too eager to be Sullie’s follower.

Ten years later, Ambrosia does NOT want to attend her college reunion, despite her younger husband Adrian’s eagerness. No longer friends with Sullie, Ambrosia hasn’t completely left behind her mean girl ways. When threatening letters compel her attendance at the reunion and Adrian’s practically insistence on going, Ambrosia reluctantly agrees to attend.

Told in alternating Then and Now chapters, THE GIRLS ARE ALL SO NICE HERE is nonstop intrigue. Laurie Elizabeth Flynn’s poetic prose doesn’t contain a meaningless word. Reading her words feels like hearing a beautiful melody or watching an elegant ballet in their beauty. I could read Flynn’s words even if the story didn’t measure up.

I appreciate Flynn’s ability to create a loathsome character like Ambrosia that’s as sympathetic as she is devious. I need characters to root for, and I could both cringe at her actions and hope for her salvation. I’ve written plenty of reviews complaining about character without redeeming qualities that made books unreadable. Ambrosia’s insecurity showed her vulnerability. She didn’t think she could fit in with the popular girls yet wanted to social climb over the young women who were eager to befriend her. The draw of Sullie’s friendship has something that Ambrosia feels will improve her life. Oh how wrong she is.

THE GIRLS ARE ALL SO NICE HERE was one of my most anticipated 2021 books. After reading, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is now an automatic preorder.

3.5/4 stars for this mean girls thriller. I really liked Amb and couldn't get enough of her. I enjoyed the current reunion timeline more than the before even though that's where the story took place. The twist at the end I never saw coming!
This was my first book by this author and I'd totally read more.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

The Girls Are All So Nice here was unputdownable and dark and complicated in all the best ways, with strong characterizations and compelling twists. I hope it's just the beginning of Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's work starting to get the recognition it deserves!

To be honest, I would pick up anything L. E. Flynn writes. Her tone and her style just calls to me. I absolutely adore her YA thrillers, so I couldn’t wait to pick up her first adult thriller. So, I I opened the e-book arc, and I see she will be doing a book tour, four stops, and one of them will be DC. I’m thinking “hey if the books any good I’d love to go out check it out, only about an hour from me, could be fun!”

Fast forward six hours. It is 3 AM, I have to be up in three hours, and I just finished the book. I literally could not put it down. There is something about the “mean girl” type books that I am crazy about. Give me all of the catty and bitchy high school and college girls doing terrible things, and I’ll always read it. And it’s a thriller on top of that? Totally my recipe for success. And this book was absolutely no exception.
This was my first 5/5 read of fall, and I’ve already recommended it to anyone who would listen. I totally foresee this on all the must read lists for 2021.
In conclusion, I’ll be the one totally fan Girling at the DC book date. It was that good.

I'm so glad I requested this! I'm super picky about my thrillers, but believe the blurbs--The Girls Are All So Nice Here was fantastic. It's like if Luckiest Girl Alive had actually been a good book. Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is an amazing writer and I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing about her, and I'm going to look for her YA titles now (I do read a fair amount of YA but her other work wasn't on my radar, which is surprising because if it's half as good as this she should be much more well known).

Fast-paced, nuanced and terrifying. These are characters that will, for better or worse, stick with me for a long time. A must for thriller fans.

The transitions from when Amb was in college vs. the current reunion were smooth and well-done. Even though Amb and Sully are "mean girls" that you don't necessarily want to care about, you still get sucked into the drama and want to see how it will all play out. And ooh what an ending.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I have to say what an edge of the seat thriller and OMG that was a debut?! I love stories about things gone wrong at college and this did not disappoint in any way. This was such a good book you must read it!!

Spoiler alert: they are not.

This is a story about the depths of moral flexibility we explore to for the friends that we love... and the friends that we hate.

I loved this book at points & felt deeply uncomfortable at others because it depicted the dynamics of toxic friendships so well. That feeling of loving someone so much that you let yourself be treated in a way you would normally quickly disengage from? So well done here. I typically prefer linear story telling but in this case the dychotemy between young college Amb, who just wants to become someone interesting & older adult Amb, who just wants to forget about who she became is well structured and clearly delineated.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫 rounded to 5.

Thank you Netgalley & Simon & Schuster for this e-Arc! It will be available at bookstores everywhere on March 20th 2021!

Wowza! Another brilliant, deliciously juicy, gripping mean girls at college theme conquered my mind from the first chapter!

What makes this story unique and different from the other mental abuse, bullying stories? Well this time our narrator is one of those means girls: ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to meet with Ambrosia Wellington! She did something really bad and hurt someone: there is no turning back from that deadly mistake and she has been paying her dues for 10 years.
She is mostly laying low, not chasing her acting dreams but working full time as PR job, married with five years younger, easy going, naive, college dropout husband who loves to spend his time on couch , playing consul games instead of chasing his writing dreams.

But that’s okay for Ambs, at least she’s away from accusing, prejudged looks of people from her school circle. She thinks she left her past behind. Till she starts getting invitations for 10th year reunion of her college and her husband dearest Adrian finds out, pushing her to accept the invitation.

But the person who sends her invitation also wants to talk what happened 10 years ago which will open can of worms and destroy her secluded, safe life she’d built in small apartment in Astoria/ Queens forever.

I’m not gonna give so much clues that usually do at my reviews. The main things attracted my attention of this story are intriguing, captivating writing style going back and forth between past and present/ reunion.

The chapters were riveting, keeping your attention intact, making you question what those mean girls involved in and which one is the worst to be blamed on.

Ambrosia awakens different feelings inside you. You just want to decide between punching her face or caressing her hair to soothe her. You hate her, you want to shake her by grabbing her shoulders, you want to scream at her face , you pity on her, you disgust her, you feel sorry for her and finally you understand her motives, her way of her thinking, her dilemma, why she did things and why she’s so insecure. It’s well portrayed anti-heroine.

And of course Sloane/ Sully was hell of a mean girl! And Flora, a sweet-swoon-soft girl like she belongs to a romcom.

It’s a great written story about betrayal, lies, insecurities, relationships, rape, friendship, manipulation, mind games, deadly secrets.

I enjoyed characterization and story’s development. Twists are predictable but ending was still satisfying and well played.

I’m giving my five blazing psychological thriller, meanest,ugliest,most dangerous mean girls stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon&Schuster for sharing this fast paced arc with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I love this kind of story. A secret between two friends that someone has found out about and the person of course wants revenge. Who could it be and will ultimately the true friends end up being destroyed by this secret? I absolutely loved this book I would highly recommend it to anyone that likes a good psychological thriller

4.5 stars! I cannot believe that this was a debut novel! I love stories about college aged friendships for some reason, friendships that happen in a college or school setting. The Girls Are All So Nice Here fits that bill and so much more. We follow Ambrosia in her 30's, who has just gotten an invitation to her 10 year college reunion. She's nervous to go, but why? As the story moves along, we are taken back to the past to Ambrosia's freshman college year with her roommate, Flora, and the campus wild party girl, Sloane (Sully). We follow Ambrosia's choices, and basically who she chooses to develop into by the choices she makes and who she befriends. These choices end up having their consequences..not only only in the past tense of the story, but also the present. This novel was a wild ride that took me on a vicious, crazy cycle of toxic friendships and lies. The final twist at the end, I would have never guessed. I look forward to more from this author!

I received my copy from Netgalley, and would like to thank the publisher and the author for my advanced review copy in exchange for my honest opinion and feedback!

This was a great thriller. I couldn't put it down and I finished it in a few hours. The mystery is well done and I did not see the ending coming.