"We need to talk about what we did that night"

The Girls Are All so Nice Here was a delicious little thriller about two best friends from college who have both been lured to their class reunion. Told in the style of Then and Now, it alternates between what happened in their freshman year and the chilling ending to their friendship, and then now, at their reunion.

Why do we love stories about mean girls?? Ambrosia Wellington and Sloane Sullivan are two of the most awful girls, and they are extremely unlikeable. I always wonder why people ever wanted to be friends with girls like that, and why people let them get away with so much awfulness!!

It was a nice, light, quick read. The end was a little bit predictable, but still so good!!

CW: apparent suicide, murder, bullying

This was kind of a difficult read. The main character drove me nuts but I didn't completely hate the book either. Here's what I liked and disliked:

what I liked:
- the mystery-ish element
it was gripping and compelling enough to keep me wanting to know how things were going to end (and i really just wanted to make sure the culprits got their comeuppance)
-time jumps
the book alternates between the "then" and "now" leading up to the reader finding out what happened in the past and how it's dealt with in the future. I liked that the author went this route with the plot as it really was a driving force for the novel in a good way; I wanted to know what happened next in the past but was then taken to the present and wanted to know what happened next in the present only to be taken back to the past!
-the comeuppance / ending
I liked the way things wrapped up; it was satisfying for me after having to deal with such unlikeable characters throughout and they really got what they deserved; thank God, because i was ready to throw my e-reader across the room several times while reading this, which brings me to...

what I didn't like
- the MC (in the past, although I didn't like her much in the present either)
she was SUCH A DESPERATE WANNABE and I did NOT understand where this stemmed from. We're not given much detail into her past except that her high school boyfriend cheated on her. I get how this would make a person incredibly insecure and draw up some walls, but it just didn't make sense that she wanted to tear down someone SO badly and hated someone just because they were nice and well-liked. I just didn't understand her attitude and where it came from. A lot of people (myself included) are cheated on and become insecure and wary of people but they don't go out of their way to hurt someone for literally no reason.

The author seemed to try and frame this as the MC hating the person the MC low-key wanted to be and be perceived as: nice and well-liked. So I just don't understand why the MC just wasn't a nice person...she could've become well-liked. Instead, she allowed herself to become someone she wasn't in order to gain the attention of someone who always had attention (although they weren't well-liked). What made it worse was that the MC KNEW what she was doing was wrong but she was just that desperate for another character's attention and for WHAT reason?!?!!

-"toxic friendship"
this book was dubbed as an examination of toxic friendships and it was...but it just made no sense to me. I didn't understand why the MC was so obsessed with being hurtful towards one person in order to impress another. The way this theme was executed just didn't work for me. It may have been more believable to me if it was junior high/high school...but in university? no. And ESPECIALLY not ten years later when the characters are in their 30s. Like you cannot seriously still be dying to impress someone, especially after they were willing to leave you hanging high and dry. The stupidity and desperation jumped out and it was so cringy and difficult to read about as someone nearing the end of my 20s. If anyone I knew behaved this way at our big age, I'd literally laugh out loud at them.

Overall, the only thing this had going for it for me was the dual timelines (even though, I hated the past timeline) and the ending. At least that was something.

2.5 stars

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with an e - copy of this book to review. I read this book over the course of two evenings. It was such a fast paced read for me and had me hooked from the first few pages.

It's honestly hard to review without giving too much away! The story goes back and forth between the present and ten years previous at college. The main character Ambrosia Wellington gets invited to her college reunion and doesn't want to go for obvious reasons. While she was a student there, something terrible happened that she wants to forget and that her current husband knows nothing about.

This story had mean girls vibes, but in a much darker way. The girls were definitely not at all nice here. This story was loaded with shady and manipulative characters who you love to hate. The story was twisty and dark. But I will be honest and say that parts of it were a little predictable. If you like thrillers, I would add this one to your list!

'The girls are all so nice here' is a dark mystery at a campus where the girls, are definitely not as nice as they say.

I found the story to be intriguing, I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. The ending was satisfying. Overall, I think the plot was very well done. I wish the characters were more fleshed out. I didn't really care for any of them which it hard to feel anything when they were going through a tough/bad situation. Some of the side characters were forgettable and just seemed to be there for the plots sake. I think this a strong debut and I will 100% pick up Flynn's future works!!

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC copy of The Girls Are All So Nice Here!!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: March 9, 2021
When Ambrosia Wellington receives an invitation to her ten year college reunion, she thinks nothing of it. Except attached to it is a handwritten note that says, “We need to talk about what we did that night”. After ten years of keeping secrets, Ambrosia had thought that her mistakes had been forgotten, but it seems that someone is out to make sure her secrets get revealed. Although initially eager to decline the invitation, Ambrosia knows she must face the demons of her past and figure out who is behind the note. Could it be Sloane “Sully” Sullivan, her best friend from back then who could make anyone do anything? There are only a few people who know what happened that night, and now Ambrosia knows she can’t trust any of them.
“The Girls Are All So Nice Here” is the debut adult fiction novel of YA author Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. Fraught with tension and suspense, “Girls” is one heck of a debut!
Although the premise isn’t new or novel (for some reason, authors love to write about the dirty goings-on of co-eds or prep school elite), it is definitely thought-provoking and real. Ambrosia is surprisingly relatable, and although I expected to dislike her, it is difficult to not see some parts of myself in her and to connect with her in some way. Luckily, sociopathic Sloane was a little less relatable for me (and yes, this is a good thing), but I definitely know a few girls just like her and it was definitely not difficult to see how the plot played out, with Sloane stirring up the mix.
Told from two time periods, both in the present day and ten years ago when Ambrosia was at college, the story is full of nail-biting suspense all the way through to the tragic and powerful conclusion. The ending is well-developed, believable, and it wraps up all the unanswered questions (although I have to say it did leave me more than a little bit uncomfortable, but in a purely enjoyable way!)
“Girls” is an emotional and heart wrenching evaluation of how women and girls treat each other, and the disastrous consequences that can result when females judge, berate and belittle one another. Thought-provoking and exceptionally relevant, this is one novel that will stay with you.

Absolutely loved this week! I was immediately drawn in and left wanting more. Not only was I curious to find out more about the party girls and their antics, but I also never expected the underlying love triangle and the steps one is willing to take to get what she wants.

Just when you think it's going to end one way everything gets flipped around. I was totally surprised by the ending! My favourite kind of ending.

I've already recommended this book to all my girl friends and my book club for it's release in March!

Flora was the perfect girl who cared about others. Amb was the room mate who only cared about herself. Sully is the dorm mate who affects the lives of both. While not my normal read - too much sex and drugs for me - this book was so well written that I continued reading. The suspense builds consistently and although I didn't like all the details I definitely enjoyed the ride.

Your parents should be worried about who your friends are!

Ambrosia receives an invitation to her college reunion. A place she does not want to return to. The person who sent the invitation wants to discuss what happened at the college ten years ago. The thing that made Amb not pursue her dream of acting, hiding away with a public relations job and a husband who has no idea what transpired ten years ago.

The way these girls treated each other was horrifying but believably written. When Amb returns for the reunion, being pressured from friends and her husband who are not in the loop, another nightmare begins for her.

This was an enjoyable read. I completed it in one sitting since I had to know how it ended. This is not a predictable thriller and the protagonists are women. Some not so good women.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for sharing this book for an honest review

I really wanted to love this one, it's getting a lot of hype, which I love to see. I didn't hate it by any stretch but I couldn't ever quite buy into it. It felt, to me, like each chapter revisited the same event but added one more layer to it each time and after the first few revisits to the same scene, I started to feel a little impatient with it. It didn't hit its stride for me until the end, which was satisfying (no spoilers!) in its own way, but I think the problem was that I wasn't particularly rooting for anyone along the way because none of the characters felt as flushed out as I would have liked. In this category of book, I'd put this one firmly in the middle of the pack.

I first want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. And while I am so grateful for receiving this copy, I sadly didn’t like it . I found the writing to be just okay, but the plot was what got me. It was predictable and pretty repetitive at times. The characters were all various types of “mean girls” and I get that they were not meant to be liked, but they were borderline annoying too. I like a good villain just as much as the next person who reads psychological thrillers but I found these characters to be shallow- not a lot of depth to them.
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Writing a novel takes a lot of work and I often feel guilty when I don’t like a book BUT there have been plenty of books I didn’t like that others loved. So perhaps I was not the right audience for this particular one!
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Www.Instagram.com/hey.readers

I got an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.

From the resume I thought this would be a good gripping suspense with a lot of twists and turns and crazy intense characters but what I found is a story filed with mainly shallow petty characters that were tapping on my nerves more than anything and an ending that left me disgusted.

The whole story turns about the school reunion of a class of student among which one of the freshman girls didn’t make it out of alive and those who were responsible for her death. The idea was good but the result was not at all what I expected to find. Then again, I have a tendency to guess who the bad ones are and who did what, which happened to me midway through.

Still, a good story.

Through the use of two different timelines, the reader is transported back-and-forth to Amb’s time in college and to her 10-year reunion, which she is prompted to attend when a mysterious note arrives, summoning her to discuss an incident in which she was involved. The novel is dark and the characters are, purposely, despicable. It’s a page turner that could impact the reader’s faith in humanity and the goodness of people.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

Why do I keep getting linked to these "girl stories"? I thought this was going to be a murder mystery. Instead I get a tea party recount of the old days at college.. While written well enough, better than most the drivel offered recently, there is nothing worth recommending other than a "simple airplane read".

Wow! I'm sorry to say I was not expecting this to be so good, and I was pleasantly surprised! Usually the opposite happens to me, so I am quite excited. This novel is ALIVE. The main character, Ambrosia, is raw and real. Being in her head feels real and at times, disturbingly familiar. We spend the novel switching from "now" (current day, 10 years after university; Ambrosia is married and living a fairly mundane seeming life) and "then" (her freshman year, where as an insecure teen she befriended the wildest girl in her dorm, Sloane 'Sully' Sullivan). Back then, Sully was up for anything, ready to shock anyone and eager to take Amb along for the ride. Amb, wanting to fit in, goes to the extreme to impress Sully in an effort to be accepted and admired in turn. This extreme takes a bad turn and 10 years later, someone wants Amb to pay. And the ending!.... well, the destination is worth the journey.

The use of prose is visceral and draws you into the novel so you feel and see what is happening, just as Amb does. The author is adept at making us feel just a bit sorry for Amb, even as she does horrible things. We can feel her insecurity and desperation. We hear her talking herself out of being a frail victim, even while taking the opposite stance doesn't feel natural or normal for her.

These girls are mostly horrible here. But I think everyone can think of someone they knew just like Sully or Amb: girls so pathetic in their desire to be different, brave and worldly that they just come across as deplorably outrageous and actually naive.

I liked it a lot. I did find it to be a bit long, with Amb and Sully's stories taking just a bit too much time and not enough time with some later characters, who I wanted to know better. Overall it was great and I would recommend it. Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received this book free from Netgalley for an honest review.

Okay at first I wasn’t quite sure of this book but then the author starts letting. The reader know information and there was a bit of a twist that wasn’t too shocking but I also was reading thinking something else. Then there was the twist at the end. I really did enjoy this story. I’d recommend it for sure.

WOW! This was the best novel I have read in quite sometime. The characters were very real. I will be recommending this to anyone who will listen. Bravo

3.5 stars

The characters’ sensibilities are on the young side for me, but I still found myself reading this one quickly and with interest. The story is told from Ambrosia’s point of view, moving back and forth between her undergraduate years and 10 years later when she is newly married. Something terrible happened when Ambrosia was in college and she doesn’t want her husband to find out. But she feels compelled to go to her 10 year reunion. In general terms, it’s easy to see where the story is going. But Ambrosia’s personality and the clever end throw a bit of a wrench in the predictability of the story. This was good enough — a case of the right book at the right time. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an advance copy.

* I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley *

TW: suicide, sexual assault, drug/alcohol use

(trying to avoid spoilers!)
3-1/2 stars.
A dark story with hints of, [book:The Basic Eight|10997], [book:The Secret History|29044], and [book:Dangerous Liaisons|326768]. Maybe a bit of backstabby drama reminiscent of, "The Hills". So if you like those, you will probably like this one. It's not a fun read, it's dark and a bit sad. All the characters are assholes, but it is a book about villains so again, if that's your thing, dive in!

You have read the blurb so I'm not going to rehash it. Basically, a bunch of narcissists who can't deal with their own shit are thrown together in first year uni and seek to destroy what they will never be/have. Jealousy, hate, revenge, backstabbing, selfishness -- it's all here. I KNOW everyone wants perfectly PC, well-behaved females in books, which drives me insane because it's just not realistic and it's boring. People are flawed, that's part of life. And oh boy, every character in this book is messy. It is an interesting story but I honestly felt so disconnected to the characters it was hard to care what happened to them. Ambrosia is the same jerk as a grown, married woman that she was in first year uni. This character does not grow AT ALL, which is very unsatisfying. In fact, none of them grow or evolve as people. But hey, once a narcissist, always a narcissist.

The story was interesting but I felt it took a long time to get to the point. So much hinting but the dangling carrot thing was tiresome after a while. And Ambrosia's obsession with Sully? It was a lot of talking about it without really explaining it, if that makes sense. Ok, Sully was sooo alluring and sucked everyone in but I wasn't feeling it. I needed more actual examples I guess (show, not tell). And Ambrosia's obsession with Kevin, perfect example of limerence. None of it was real, she was just grabbing at breadcrumbs and ignoring the obvious despite evidence. The whole thing is just sad and painful. But again, if this is your kind of thing, you will love this book!

If you're looking for a thriller that is different, try this one. How is this thriller different than others you ask? The main character is a mean girl - she bullies and hurts someone who thought the world of her.

This book definitely kept my attention and brought up so many emotions. There were times I hated Ambrosia and other times I wanted to help her.

I thought it was a great read that tackled betrayal, lies, "friendship", mean girls, rape, insecurities, bullying, and secrets.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for giving me a copy of this book!

We all knew girls could be vicious. This book showcases the cruelty of cliques and the drive to bring down a girl for simply being too nice. The saddest part of this book was the fact that stuff like this happens and it happens alot. Okay, maybe not to the extent of the revenge sought and gained in the end but I almost wish it did? Couldn't put this book down and the end...wow .. amazing read.


Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGally for fulfilling my request to read this ARCread.