Ivy League Mary is expelled from college and returns home disgraced. Then her old friend, Olivia, goes missing and Mary sets out to find out what has happened to her.

I had real high hopes for this one. It took a bit for me to get into it and then I was pretty sure I had figured out who did it about half way through although I didn’t know the why or how. This was twisty and intriguing but just didn’t suck me in like some other thrillers have recently. Overall a solid story but not my favorite.

This was a quick read but unfortunately I did not connect to it. I wanted to know what happened and enjoyed some of the suspense but felt I wanted more to the ending. I did not really like most of the characters and usually that is ok. I would have liked to have read more about Mary’s first three years at Cornell. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I am almost speechless. I mean, you know, as much as any bookworm can be speechless about a book they loved.

This one totally caught me off guard. I know it's overplayed to say it's like gone girl, but it's not the plot, its the unlikeable main character. She's gritty and course. It's reminiscent of Gillian Flynn's rough leading ladies. I guess I wouldn't go so far as to say Ivy League Mary is unlikeable but she's flawed.

She was the outcast in high school. And being an outcast doesn't automatically equate with being a tame and sweet wallflower. In fact, for Mary and her high school best friend Madison, they were just as unkind as the mean girls, with just a smaller audience. They were ruthless in the things they wished upon their peers. And then Mary was accepted into Cornell and things turned around. The local paper dubs her "Ivy League Mary" and the name sticks.

So when Mary comes home at the start of her senior year of college that's how she's remembered. Except she's home because she was expelled. And then her childhood-best-friend-turned-high-school-nemesis, Olivia, goes missing. It garners national attention and the police are getting no where. Until an arm washes up on the shore of the town lake.

It's honestly hard to gather my thoughts to describe the plot - Mary ping pongs through suspicion after suspicion and so will you. What unfolds is INTENSE. My eyes were glued to the pages, my heart was pounding in my throat as the suspense devolved into a horror story.

This is an interesting look into mental wellness, rape culture, toxic masculinity, and the double standard society imposes on women. I was left totally sated with this book. If you're a suspense/thriller/horror reader, you will not regret reading this one.

Mini

Mary is senior at an Ivy League College proving to herself and everyone else that she is is more than the chubby outcast from high school.  One day she lets her temper get away from her, and Mary finds herself back home living in her childhood bedroom in small town Minnesota.  She has lost it all, but nobody can know.  Not long after she's back popular high school girl Olivia Willand goes missing.  With nothing better to do after her grocery store job, Mary looks around for clues when an arm, not Olivia's, is found at a nearby lake.  Now she's out to get justice for the girl whose arm was found, the girl nobody cared to look for.

This one started off so strong!  Two missing girls from the same small town and the only one who cares about the missing girl from the wrong side of the tracks is Mary.  That was definitely my favorite thing about our main character.  She, along with a few other characters, were the only ones who wanted justice for the non-white/non-rich girl.  

This story had so many juicy twists and turns.  This person killed the girls! No this person did!  I will say I did not see the ending coming, and I felt it was a little rushed.  That doesn't mean you won't be flipping the pages to find out who the killer is and the reasoning behind it.

Thank you William Morrow, Author Catherine Dang and NetGalley for my #copy!

Pub Date: September 14, 2021

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang is her first debut novel but after you are finished you will think this novel came from a seasoned writer. This well written novel deals with real and intense issues. Peer pressure and bullying are the main focus but then adds murder and mystery for a well rounded read. Dang also adds depression, mental health and even racial inequalities to this page turning mystery. This complex story will keep you reading and turning those pages! As with the story, the characters are very descriptive and complex. I was even tempted to look ahead to see what was going to happen but I did restrain. If you are looking for a new author that will keep you on your toes then this is the book for you!

Thank you NetGalley, William and Morrow Scene of the Crime and Catherine Dang for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
#nicegirls #catherinedang #netgalley #williamandmorrow #arc

Nice Girls written by Catherine Dang

PUB DATE: Sept 7, 2021

Mary is a 22-yo who just started her senior year at Cornell. She was boring but smart “Fat Mary” all through high school until she became “Ivy League Mary”. But one very bad decision & she’s expelled from university and living back home with her father in Minnesota, working minimum wage. On the day she gets back, she finds out one of her old childhood rivals went missing & things get more sinister when another girl’s arm washes ashore at a local beach. What’s really going on here?

Catherine Dang’s debut psych thriller is fast-paced, thrilling & had me on the edge of my seat towards the end. Unfortunately for me, I already guessed the killer in the beginning & I never guess the killer! I had questions while reading this! Sometimes I want things to be realistic & things just didn’t add up. Why would anyone bury an arm a couple of days after it was found? Isn’t this a murder investigation – it should take months for it to get back home to the family. Why would anyone who has a hunting background bring a rifle for close hand to hand combat? You bring a handgun. It doesn’t take a genius to know that.

And what is up with Mary? I felt bad for her, she didn’t deserve to get kicked out of Cornell but she’s so dysphoric & self-loathing. She also messes up a few lives while she was at it. Like GIRL – GET IT TOGETHER.

While Dang dabbles with the realization that many people are never who they are on social media and how different poor black communities are treated by the police and society in general in comparison to rich, white communities, it didn’t really connect at the end. It just ended abruptly without any resolution.

I enjoyed the dark vibe that I’d expect from a book with this title and cover (which I love!). I do look forward to Dang honing her skills as a writer and I am sure to read her future books.
Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for this sending me this ARC!

Ivy League Mary. An overweight girl from a small town with only 1 real friend. She gets serious about school and gets accepted to Cornell University. There, she becomes an RA and is in her senior year when she attacks a Freshman. After that, she moves back home with her dad and works at a grocery store. Throughout this book, we see her navigating her life after getting into trouble and we find out exactly what happened to her. But also, Olivia, who was one of Mary's best friends when they were much younger is missing. Olivia was a popular girl and was becoming quite the big social media influencer. Mary soon discovers another girl has been missing, DeMaria and she believes that the same person may be behind it. Mary has her own issues and she starts not really knowing who she can trust anymore. She decides to find out who is behind it on her own. I really didn't know where this book was going to end up and that's what I love. I did feel like the "action" part was really rushed and felt a little off to me. I did like how it ended though. It left me thinking about a few things and wondering where Mary would end up.

This was an excellent debut novel. The author has a bit to learn, yet, but I believe her future books will be even better than this one. I will admit that I’m getting a little tired of all these college-based novels where the protagonist is weird and finds themselves involved in crimes or solving crimes. Still, this was an excellent read. I’m looking forward to the next book by this author.

I will say that Mary and her father didn’t seem completely believable, either one of them, and certainly not the two of them together. Did he care about her, or didn’t he? At times, it was really hard to tell.

Nice Girls is an easy read, but it did seem to bog down and repeat a bit at points. The ending was predictable; I had it down to two, out of many, potential people who could have been behind the murders. The book deals with racial bigotry, exclusion, and turning on friends.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Do you ever say to yourself, “I’m just going to read a chapter or two of this new book before bed” and then the next you know you’re a third of the way through?? That was what happened to me with Nice Girls!

Growing up as a chubby and awkward kid made Mary feel like an outsider in her hometown of Liberty Lake, Minnesota. Always feeling like she was destined for greater things, Mary focused on her academic achievements and was accepted to Cornell University. Now “Ivy League Mary” finds herself back in her hometown after an expulsion following a physical altercation. Feeling like a complete failure, Mary must come to terms with returning home and seeing familiar faces. Shortly after her arrival, Mary and the rest of her hometown is shocked to hear about the disappearance of Olivia Willand, Mary’s former childhood best friend. When Mary learns that another local girl by the name of DeMaria had also gone missing months ago, she can’t help but to think that the two are connected somehow. Trusting her gut feeling, Mary is determined to discover what really happened.

An addictive debut by Catherine Dang! I kept saying to myself, “okay, just one more” at the end of every chapter until I had to force myself to go to bed because I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. The suspense just kept building and building… I was anxiously awaiting to see what happened to Olivia and what Mary would be able to uncover. Unfortunately the big reveal of who was behind the disappearance was a bit of a let down. I felt like there was a part of the story where it became kind of clear who did it. That being said, the letdown didn’t ruin the story for me and I think a lot of people will also enjoy the story as a whole. I also wanted to say that I appreciated how Dang touched on the differences between the public and police responses when a pretty, young, white girl goes missing compared to when a young girl of color goes missing. If you’re looking for an engrossing book that you can't put down, then this is the book for you! I'm very excited to see what else Catherine Dang has in store for us!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, William Morrow and Custom House Publishing, and Catherine Dang for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. Nice Girls by Catherine Dang is available September 14!

After an incident at her Ivy League school, Mary returns to her hometown. She refuses to tell anyone but her father the truth about why she returned to the Minnesota small town. Within days of her arrival, her childhood friend goes missing, and Mary finds out she's not the only one. There's also a girl from the other side of town missing. Mary focuses all of her attention on finding out what happened to the missing girls.

At its heart, Nice Girls is about the mysterious disappearances of two small-town girls. However, the novel touches on "missing white woman syndrome," the disparity in police investigations and media coverage for missing persons based on race and gender, as well as her transition back to the hometown to which she never wanted to return. This story also weaves in the pressure for girls to present their best selves, high school friendships of convenience, and mental health. The layering of these additional topics makes Nice Girls far more intriguing and thought-provoking than the typical book of this type.

Nice Girls begins with slow-building suspense and concludes with a wild yet somewhat implausible ending to make it a solid 4-star debut!


Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Custom House for a digital copy to read and review.

Mary blew up her life in one rage fueled minute at Cornell, where she was a senior and now she's back in Liberty Lake, Minnesota, living with her father and working at a grocers along wit Dwayne, a former football star whose also home for unexplained reasons. This thriller was distinguished for me by Mary- a character whose story and anger comes out slowly. Her father, a patient and loving man, is baffled but supportive. Then Olivia, who tormented her in high school, goes missing. When body parts wash up on shore, turns out they aren't Olivia's but DeMaria's- who left behind a small son. Mary starts her own investigation, propelled in part by DeMaria's mom's pleas on the media for attention. It's twisty enough with nice little touches and red herrings. Mary's enthusiasm and inexperience cause problems but then she's also got an analytic turn of mind that, well, no spoilers from me. This is well written and paced and it kept me guessing. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A nice debut and a very good read.

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang is a moody, atmospheric tale of suspense. Although I figured out the culprit pretty quickly, I was still reading as fast as I could to see how it played out. There were many times when the suspense was thick and I felt Mary’s emotions leaping through the page. I enjoyed this book and will be looking for more by Dang.
When Mary is expelled from her Ivy League college, she is forced to go home to the town that she was hoping to leave forever. While there, it comes to light that her childhood friend has gone missing. Mary is automatically skeptical. That is, until another missing person’s arm is found. The town won’t be able to rest until they have answers but will Mary be ok with the answers?

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang was a pulse pounding, page turning, dynamite explosion! I was hooked from the beginning! The plot was delicious and moved at rocket speed. I thought the characters were deep and developed. I loved the drama and shocking twists and turns!

Thank you to Custom House/William Morrow for gifting me an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I'm a fan of a good thriller, but this one was underwhelming. The main character's sole source of motivation was her shame about being fat in high school, which made her seem petty and annoying in a way I don't think the author intended. I struggled through reading this one, and the ending was NOT worth the struggle - so many loose ends that weren't tied up and problematic assumptions the main character had about some of the other characters that the author never actually addressed. In the end, I appreciate what Catherine Dang was trying to do with this novel, but it simply fell flat to me.

I can't believe this is a debut. I am impressed and can't wait to read more from Catherine Dang!

I read Nice Girls in a 24 hour binge. I don't often do this with thrillers, despite my love for them. I usually take a few days to read them because it takes me a while to take in the characters and theme, but not with Nice Girls. I think this speaks a lot to Dang's talent as a writer. I found her style easy to follow and gripping from page 1. Short chapters and well-defined characters made this one a breeze.

I knew things were going to be great when we got a "reveal" 60% into the book. I know by now that just means the rest of the book is going to be explosive - and it was. I loved that this thriller was darker and contained a little more gore than I usually read. I thought we were tittering on the edge of horror a few times, but found it very refreshing. This isn't a flat domestic thriller or run of the mill psychological thriller.

The themes throughout are extremely, and sadly, relevant. I really related to the anxiety and depression representation from Mary. The social injustice and misogyny were infuriating. With so many unlikable characters, you're going to feel pretty emotional throughout the entire book.

Overall, if you can't tell, this was a hit with me!

Ivy League Mary is a wreck. She returns home after being expelled from Cornell in her junior year for volatile behavior towards a freshman. Her father doesn’t understand her and her mother died years ago. She has no friends left in town. She is forced to take a minimum wage job at a grocery store for the time being. Soon after she arrives home, one of her former classmates, Olivia, goes missing. At first, Mary is apathetic bc Olivia, who is now an up-and-coming Instagram model, was the typical mean girl in high school. Having nothing else to do, Mary investigates a little on her own and believes that Olivia has been abducted by a dangerous serial killer. Mary does everything she can to uncover the killer’s identity, but risks losing what’s left of her life in the process.

This one started out a little slow. I did not find myself immediately drawn to Mary, even though we’ve had a lot of shared experiences. Her character was just too unlikable throughout the story, even by the end of it. It doesn’t make any sense to me that when Olivia first goes missing, Mary could barely care less and then a few days later, she suddenly changes her mind and decides that she owes it to Olivia to find her killer and bring him to justice. Maybe this was an attempt to make Mary more likable; I’m not sure. I felt terrible for her father and really disliked that there was little resolution for Mary at the end. The author made a few weak attempts at sending Mary off on a more positive note, but I just didn’t finish the book feeling like Mary was ever going to be able to fix the mess she had made of her life.

However, I thought the climax was excellent! It was suspenseful and scary and perfectly paced. It just wasn’t enough to redeem the poor characterization, IMO.

Thank you to the author, WilliamMorrow publishing, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m sorry I didn’t like it more.

I loved the idea behind this book and I think the plot was wonderfully. I didn’t enjoy the writing as much but it was definitely still good.

3.5 stars

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang is a debut novel that delves into the darker aspects of girls’/women’s friendships and betrayals.
The story involves Mary, nicknamed “Ivy League Mary” by her old friends, as she returns home to Liberty Lake, Minnesota after a disgraceful incident at Cornell University. Her dad is disgusted with Mary’s actions, her mother is dead and Mary has many issues to confront in her past and present. She also gets involved again with some sketchy guys from her high school days. When her old friend, perfect Olivia, goes missing, Mary and the rest of the townspeople become engaged in finding Olivia. When another missing girl, DeMaria, is found dismembered and her death is not treated seriously, Mary becomes invested in solving her murder.
The book touches on themes of mental health, racial inequality, and self-esteem. I found the characters unlikeable, especially Mary, who had a whiny immature persona. The tone of the book is dark and depressing, although the writing is strong, so I would seek out future works by Ms. Dang.

Thank you to William Morrow/HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my unbiased review.

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang is a debut mystery/thriller that reminded me of a true crime type story—like some ripped-from-the-headlines, or Dateline, story. Mary returns to her small hometown in Minnesota after she is kicked out of Cornell. Upon her return, local girl Olivia Willand goes missing. As the community begins their search, another girl’s body parts wash ashore on the local lake. Even though Mary is trying to stay under the radar, she feels drawn to these missing girls and thinks they are connected. She begins investigating and finds herself in danger.

Through all the twists and turns, Nice Girls kept me guessing and questioning what I thought was happening. The story grabs you from the first chapter and doesn’t let up. If you like mysteries and thrillers, I would recommend Nice Girls.

Title: Nice Girls

Author: Catherine Dang

Publisher: William Morrow and Custom House

Reviewed By: Arlena Dean

Rating: Four

Review:

"Nice Girls" by Catherine Dang

My Opinion:

'Nice Girls' was one heck of a crime thriller with so many twists and turns that the reader will have to keep up with all that was going on, especially for Mary, who grew up in Minnesota, chubby unattractive, and poor. However, Mary was smart to get a full scholarship to an Ivy League college, Cornell, until she was expelled and now back home to Liberty Lake working in a grocery store while dodging questions about what had happened.

It wasn't long after Mary found a job at the grocery store she gets involved with a friend who seemed to have vanished without a trace, and for some reason, she wants to get involved. Also, there was a Black single mother, DeMaria that had also disappeared. Is this the work of a serial killer? Will Mary put herself into situations that will have her becoming the next victim? The story will suck one in as you continue to read.

The author really gives the reader quite a read because it seemed like all of these characters were flawed and emotionally damaged in one way or another. Was there anyone in this story to really like?

The story was somewhat fast-paced with a unique multi-layered plot that brought in characters from elementary, high school, and even college that brought in some emotional, dark, and even disturbing subjects. Having a disgraced student to missing girls who turn up dead will give the reader quite a web that will come out quite interesting. Unfortunately, that ending was something that you will have to pick up 'Nice Girls' to see how this ending was 'super cinematic and wild' that one will not see coming.

Be ready for a good read that had issues that explored bullying and racism.

Thank you, NetGallery, and William Morrow, for allowing me to read and give my honest opinion.