This book just wasn’t what I was expecting I guess. It’s mean girls but not. I just can not read about mean girls anymore. Other than that, this book was suspenseful and I read it very quickly.

Lovely Girls was the first book I read from Margot Hunt. This year I tried to read Mystery/Thrillers, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this book.

Lovely Girl tells the story of Kate Tuner who moves to Shoreham, Florida with her daughter Alex, after the sudden death of her husband/Alex's father. While Kate makes fast friends with a trio of fellow moms, their daughters take an instant dislike to Alex. After a few things happened to Alex, and Kate receives a series of chilling warnings about the clique of moms from other parents and neighbors. As it becomes harder for her to ignore the malicious undercurrent she senses among her new friends, Kate grows increasingly unsure of who to believe—and who to trust. This book has a lot of potential, but there are some characters that I feel need to be explored more. Overall, this book recommended for who want to easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely Girls by Margot Hunt was such a great book, I’m excited for it to come out into the world! From the first chapter, I knew I was going to love it. There is a “Mean Girls” element to this, combined with suspense that kept me glued to the pages and devouring the entire book in record time. Its twisty and engrossing, a must-read!

After the sudden death of her husband, Kate Turner is looking for a fresh start for herself and her teenage daughter, Alex. They relocate to the beach side town of Shoreham, Florida, where all is not as sunny as it seems.

Although Kate makes fast friends with a trio of fellow moms, their daughters take an instant dislike to Alex, who attempts to document their bullying in her video diary. Kate brushes off Alex’s concerns—until she receives a series of chilling warnings about the clique of moms from other parents and neighbors. As it becomes harder for her to ignore the malicious undercurrent she senses among her new friends, Kate grows increasingly unsure of who to believe—and who to trust.

As small-town gossip weaves a harrowing web of jealousy, deceit, and betrayal, Kate and Alex discover that whether you’re in or out, the status quo can turn on you deadly fast.

Out on March 1, 2023

After the unexpected death of her husband, mom Kate Turner and her teenage daughter Alex move from Buffalo to small-town Florida, where they aim for a fresh start. While Kate makes friends with three moms fairly easily, Alex has a harder time adjusting with their respective daughters and their bullying -- girls who make Regina George look like a saint.

Without giving away too much, this novel is a quick-paced read that kept my attention at all times. While I wouldn't classify it as one of my favorite summer reads, I would recommend it to others who are looking for an easy read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In this chilling story from USA Today bestselling author Margot Hunt, a mother and daughter try to start over in an idyllic town only to get caught up in cliques, mind games…and murder. After the sudden death of her husband, Kate Turner is looking for a fresh start for herself and her teenage daughter, Alex. They relocate to the beachside town of Shoreham, Florida, where all is not as sunny as it seems.

Short chapters ensure this is one of those books that you just keep doing that 'just one more chapter' thing which for me kept turning into ten. The girls in this book bring a new meaning to the word 'mean' and their parents are like something you have probably never encountered. I really like Kate as a character along with her daughter Alex. The book explores themes of friendship, social media and women's relationships. Some of these will have devastating consequences for those involved and I found the book very hard to put down. There are many unlikeable characters but these enhance the story and make the book work. All up a great book with a satisfying ending. Recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, much appreciated.

3.5 stars.

The book reads quickly and the writing style is good (except for the strange parts of the description of the teenage daughter filming herself). However I found all characters one dimensional. They are either bad or good and with very little growth. Some additional characters added no value to the story, like the neighbor or the love interest.

The therapist of the teenager daughter to me seemed quite unethical: encouraging her to film other people with her phone (secretly) and not reporting the crime. In the end, the message is quite confusing. If a mean girl commits a crime, then they get punished but if a "good" person commits a crime, then it is okay?

Thanks Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of an honest review.

I loved the storyline, but I guessed the ending about halfway through! Good dialogue and development of characters.

I could not put this book. The characters could go from nice to cold as ice in a matter of seconds. I would DEFINETLY recommend!!

3.5 Stars

Kate Turner and her daughter, Alex move to Florida for a fresh start after Alex's father died in a car crash. But that fresh start turns sour. Alex meets three mean girls at school, who bully Alex relentlessly. To cope with her dad's death and the bullying, Alex starts a video diary. The diary does not only capture her true feelings, but what she saw too...

This was an extremely quick read and a first for me by this author. The author has a way with words that makes you devour a page in seconds. This is definitely a mean girl trope (which I don't think I like) and doesn't become a thriller (imo) until after the 2nd part. This book definitely pulled out emotions from when I was bullied in high school! I'm sure everyone can find a moment they can relate to in this book.

This book also has the making to be turned into a Lifetime movie. I can just see it... if you like Pretty Little Liars, Lifetime, and Big Little Lies, this book would be up your alley! 3.5 stars for me, I will be looking at other books this author has (I heard they are much more lighter reads).

Thanks to Netgalley and it's publisher for a free copy of this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication: March 1, 2023

This is my first book by Margot Hunt and I struggled with this book. It's a typical run of the mill domestic thriller with the mean girl trope. Nothing really new to this type of genre but I still wanted to give it a try.

I think what really turned me off to this book was the mean girl trope and the excessive bullying. I'm personally not a fan of either of those pieces in a mystery/thriller. This book also gives off Big Little Lies vibes so I'm sure if a reader enjoyed that book, they would enjoy this read.

I would like to say that Hunt's writing flowed and was easy to read for me. I just personally couldn't get pasted the tropes mentioned above.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. The build up was slow but the end was not at all what I expected. It was a pretty good book just needed a little less build up in my opinion.

Falls apart at the end; well written & great story until then. I wanted to like this one but I struggled to finish it.

After the sudden death of her husband, Kate Turner is looking for a fresh start for herself and her teenage daughter, Alex. They relocate to the beachside town of Shoreham, Florida, where all is not as sunny as it seems.

Although Kate makes fast friends with a trio of fellow moms, their daughters take an instant dislike to Alex, who attempts to document their bullying in her video diary. Kate brushes off Alex’s concerns—until she receives a series of chilling warnings about the clique of moms from other parents and neighbors. As it becomes harder for her to ignore the malicious undercurrent she senses among her new friends, Kate grows increasingly unsure of who to believe—and who to trust.

As small-town gossip weaves a harrowing web of jealousy, deceit, and betrayal, Kate and Alex discover that whether you’re in or out, the status quo can turn on you deadly fast.
___=___

This was an enjoyable read, although a bit predictable. Easy to read and got me through the weekend.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.

The beginning setup was intriguing, but the further I read the more frustrated I felt. Both the main characters- Jules and Amber were insufferable. I felt nothing for either of them and then we go into a plot of a serial killer that has been stalking the community.

I just wasn't invested in any of it and wasn't even interested in what happened to Isaac! He goes missing, everyone is acting bizarre, someone has lost it, and who cares? Not me. Every single character annoyed me and the ending was just nonsensical.

Kate and her daughter Alex have recently moved from Buffalo, NY to Shoreham, FL after the death of Kate’s husband/Alex’s father. The death was particularly hard on Alex as she was with her father when he died. Alex is less than thrilled about the move and per the suggestion of the therapist she was seeing in NY, Alex begins a video diary of her life to help her get her thoughts out in the open. When Alex is caught filming a group of girls who go to her school, she is branded as a “pervert” and bullying commences. These “Mean Girls” are savage and do everything in their power to make Alex’s life at school a living hell but when Alex begins to fight back, things go from bad to worse.

Kate is hoping for a fresh start for Alex in a town where no one knows their past. She is quickly asked to join the Homecoming Committee which is run by a group of women with a reputation for extreme bullying and questionable parenting tactics. Kate finds them to be genuine and inviting and quickly joins their social circle. Of course, these women happen to be the mothers of the girls who have been bulling Alex. Kate quickly begins to suspect that she should not have put her trust and friendship in the hands of these women but did she learn too late?

Wow, this was a great read! I found myself having a hard time putting the book down. The story is told from the point of view of Kate and Alex (via video diary). I think the video diary chapters were so well written! I feel like that idea could have been executed poorly but the author did a wonderful job and I was excited whenever I got to one of Alex’s chapters. I felt like both characters were very relatable and I was rooting for them the entire time. While they both has their struggles throughout the book, I found their thought processes and reactions were very genuine which is refreshing in the thriller/suspense category. It was a pleasure to read this book and Margot Hunt will definitely remain on my always read list :)

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an excellent psychological thriller! It vaguely reminds me of mean girls, if mean girls included their mothers, the writing is great and the characters are sadly very believable, when I say sadly I don't mean that in a bad way I mean it is sad how realistic the characters are compared to teen girls today. And then can we talk about the twist?? I'm not going to give it away because you definitely need to read it yourself but OMG, mind-blown! Do yourself a favor if you like psychological thrillers and or mean girls movie, go get this book ASAP! Thank you to net Galley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I feel as though lately I have been spotlighting a lot of famous authors BUT how cool is it when we uncover a “new to me” author and feel as though we just unearthed a Diamond .

Well, this author sure as hell executes a novel with the sharpness of Diamond . Margot Hunt, I am so happy to have found you.

Lovely Girls

Talk about character development! Hunt creates characters you will love to hate! The depth of deception was mind blowing. Talk about some mean mean girls.

The twist? Well, you are going to have to pick yourself up a copy! These lips are sealed and this is a no spoiler zone!

Name of Book: Lovely Girls
Author: Margo Hunt
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Thriller Suspense
Pub Date: February 7, 2023
My Rating: 2.5 Stars

Content warning: Bullying, salutatory rape, and IMO there is also excessive teenage profanity.

After her husband was killed in an auto accident, Kate Turner and her teenage daughter Alex relocate to the beachside town of Shoreham, Florida eager to start a new life.
Soon Kate becomes friends with Genevieve Hudson, Ingrid Nord and Emma Thacker~ three moms who also have a daughter Alex’s age~ Genevieve ~ Daphne’s mom; Ingrid is Callie’s mom and Emma is Shae’s mom.
Alex was a ranked tennis player at her high school in New Jersey and Daphne, Shae and Callie are all on the tennis team. Only these girls aren’t the average clean- cut All American type girls. They are ‘mean girls’!

We later find out that Ingrid is a psychologist and her doctoral thesis advocated parents to raise their daughters to be bullies!!! The parents actually reward their daughters when they are unkind to others.
Certainly sounds ridiculous but it is what it happening.


Story kept me curious as I was hopeful something good was going to develop: which, of course, the opposite happened.
As a HS Guidance Counselor I was aware of Moms and daughters behaving badly: apple – tree!
I understand wanting your daughter to be strong but rude bully behavior is not the answer. One must take responsibility for their actions; plus the profanity is a definite lack of any respect!

This is my second Margo Hunt novel. I was attracted to her writing as I am a fan of psychological thrillers. I read and liked "The last Affair" but was disappointed in this story.

Additionally I was hoping in the ‘Author’s Note’ Ms. Hunt would offer some resources ~ such as websites, organizations etc., that offer help for not only the bad behavior but solutions for those being bullies via mean girls’ cliques, manipulation, and individuals being harassed by ‘mean girls’ or others ha through social media.

I will give Ms. Hunt another try but will check first that it is a psychological thriller!

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early uncorrected proof.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 7, 2023

A highly enjoyable dark and sinister read with echoes of mean girls. The characters were well developed and the plot unfolds in a very engrossing way. Enough twists to keep you hooked and reading long after bedtime.

This book is a whole trip! It’s kind of like Mean Girls if the moms were just as mean and cliquey as their daughters, but it doesn’t have the comedy aspect that Mean Girls does, this is much more dramatic and intense

After the death of her husband, Kate moves with her daughter Alex from Buffalo to Florida, which Alex is not happy about. The first girls Alex meets from her new school are the “mean girls” and it’s so much worse than she could imagine starting a new school would be.

I’m not always a fan of books based on high schoolers since the drama is pretty annoying but most of this book is told through the eyes of the mom as she deals with the weird dynamic of the mean moms and conversations with her daughter. There are also video diary the daughter recorded. This also wasn’t ordinary high school drama… especially once a murder occurs. It kept me hooked the whole way through and I’d highly recommend this book to anyone that likes intense drama.