A psychological thriller that follows two former college best friends who return to their ten-year reunion. Ambrosia and Sloane’s toxic friendship lead to negative consequences for many, including death of a roommate. At the reunion, someone wants the truth and revenge for what happened their freshman year. This is a story of two girls going too far, giving into peer pressure and not realizing the
consequences of their actions. No clues here because it is one of those books is better to go in blind.

A shocking and disturbing book narrated by one of the girls’ alternating between present and her freshman year of college. This book takes mean girls to another level! I enjoyed the quick read and those who enjoy dark and twisted should check it out.

Ambrosia is secretive of her life in college when she was a partier. She was always trying to fit in and impress other girls, especially her friend Sully (who is the cookie cutter terrible person and bad influence.) Surprise, surprise, things go to far and have long lasting consequences.

I love a campus novel and wanted to love this one but it was not good. The girls were so outrageous and predictable, I didn't find the "I know what you did in college" letter trope interesting, even the character names were bad. Some might like this kind of "thriller" but I did not. 2.75 stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the copy for review.

“best friends never forget”

thank you to netgalley and simon and schuster for my advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review of “the girls are all so nice here” by laurie elizabeth flynn.

ambrosia “amb” wellington receives an invitation to her ten-year college reunion and has no desire to attend…until she also receives a note that says, “we need to talk about what we did that night.” trying to hide her past from her husband proves harder than she thought as shocking secrets are unearthed by someone who wants revenge for what amb and her former best friend sloane “sully” sullivan did during their freshman year. what ensues is a thriller about ambition, a toxic friendship, and deadly desire.

let's just get one thing straight: the girls are definitely NOT so nice here. this book was like a more disturbing and grown-up version of pretty little liars meets mean girls with a feminist and #metoo spin. i know that might make some readers hesitant to pick this one up because we don’t always want to read about things that are too close to things happening in reality. but i think the author wrote this book in just the right way, getting the message across without obscuring the plot with buzzwords and jargon.

every thriller has its flaws, and this one is no exception. sometimes it seemed a bit far-fetched or similar to other thrillers i’ve read, but there were still some unexpected shocks and twists that kept me tearing through this one. it also made me realize that thrillers often take place in a house, neighborhood, or cabin in the middle of nowhere. so i really dug the college reunion setting paired with the chapters alternating between past and present on campus. it felt nostalgic to read about amb going back to her alma mater. and the blurbs are right…there is a killer final twist!

if you’re a thriller lover, i recommend reading “the girls are all so nice here” despite it being a bit cliché. it was a quick, graphic read that used societal issues in a clever yet thoughtful way.

The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is a sassy, spicy and twisty thriller full of college-girl drama and very, very dark secrets. Told from the perspective of the protagonist, Amb, in "then" and "now" timelines - then being college days 2007 and now being present day 2017 ten year college reunion - this story unfolds in meticulous, complicated layers. It will keep you hooked and guessing. 

I've seen it said in reviews over and over and I totally agree - this is your college-aged rendition of "Mean Girls." If you can't stand catty, girly drama then steer clear of this story. But if you're up for it and want to enjoy a wild ride with lots of mystery, you will enjoy this one. This is a solid mystery thriller with a good amount of suspense. 

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Laurie Flynn for a copy of this book for review!

Mean girl alert! This book takes mean girls to a whole new level. A dark, twisted level. This book draws you in from the beginning and you want to find out what happens next. There are a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing and hooked. I will say the writing style was a little off for me, which made me have to focus a little more to keep going, but it wasn't enough to take away from the story.

Ambrosia and Sully go to their college reunion and start receiving menacing notes. The story switches between the reunion and their freshman year of college to tell the plot from multiple timelines. I enjoyed getting to see things play out from both sides. This book will keep you on your toes.

4.5 stars !! wow! this book was intense! this books covers all the things that we try to prevent our kids from going through- bulling, mean girls, suicide. definitely a book about how people form themselves to be something to fit in, and turn into the people they hate they most.

Ambrosia Wellington, our main character, is a "nice girl" turned mean. This book follows her on two timelines, now and freshman year-when something horrible happened and she was the cause. Ambrosia wanted to leave her good girl, suburban life behind her, become an actress and be on top. Amb's new friend Sloan was a wild child and a force to be reckoned with. All Amb wanted to be Sloan's right hand and so she did anything she could to be that... partying, sleeping around, drugs, bullying... not caring for anything or anything except themselves. This included Amb's super sweet, perfect roommate, Flora. They despised her because she was pretty, nice, cheerful, great boyfriend and always positive. So they decided to do something about it.

This book was CRAZY!!! All the girls are soooo NOT NICE !! This book covers all the things MEAN GIRLS are... selfish, jealous, vicious, cruel, beautiful! I loved the mystery of the story, trying to figure out what happened. I loved the class reunion and all the girls who were all MEAN WOMEN now, still competing to be the best. The characters were all so horrible that you loved them and hated them at the same time. The twists and secrets in this book will leave your jaw dropping for sure.

I posted this review as well on
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3888433107
Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/user_reviews/605c7449-225c-49e2-86d0-ea4fbdbe1714

Wow! This book was shocking, disturbing, dark, twisted...I finished this earlier today and I literally can't shake the feeling this gave me. There are mean girl stories.. and then there is this story. This is one of those books that was so dark.. that you almost feel guilty to say that you enjoyed it.. yet a part of you must have because you couldn't stop.. you couldn't look away...no matter how hard it was to read.. you devoured it.

Little girls are sugar and spice and everything nice. However, not in a world with Ambrosia and Sloane. These two made college a living hell for some girls...a dual timeline gave us a look at Then and Now. Then was when these two did everything on earth to shock people...SHOWTIME...that is what they would say before they set out to do their best work. Now is when they had the nerve to show up to their college reunion. Unable to resist the temptation to quench their thirst of knowing if someone knew exactly what they had done.

The first half was a slow build but wait for it.. the second half had me glued to the pages. Could it get any more evil? Yes, the answer is yes! The ending was twisted, fantastic and in a dark way...satisfying....

Trigger warnings all over the place.....just expect to be disturbed...This is actually higher than a 4 for me...4.5 stars

This was TWISTED. Definitely a well-crafted thriller with enough cookie crumbs to keep you reading. Still though, I can't quite say I enjoyed reading it. I love a complicated protagonist, but Amb veers a little too much into pure evil and it makes the whole narrative very uncomfortable. If that's your thing, you'll love this, but it was maybe a bit too much on my end.

Reading Between the Wines book review #30/115 for 2021:
Rating: 4.5 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷 ½
Book 📱: The Girls Are All So Nice Here
Author: Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction
RELEASED on March 9, 2021!!! Get your copy!

Sipping Synopsis: A “I Know What You Did Last Summer” meets “Pretty Little Liars”-Ambrosia is haunted by something that happened in her freshman year of college. She and her ex best friend Sully has decided to keep it a secret between them. The problem is that somebody knows and is taunting them at their college reunion. What happened and who knows-and who will pay the price because there is a hefty price to pay!

Final sipping thoughts: Wow this was one dark, twisted, story that reads a lot like a young adult book. Not a YA book because of a negative reason but YA because of all the catty college girl type behavior. I loved to hate the girls in this book and the oxymoron of the title should set up every reader to know what is in store. You know you are reading a good work of art if the author makes you kind of want the bad person to win or get away with what they did. Told through alternating timelines, Flynn confuses the reader as to what IS happening and what HAS happened. I enjoyed thinking I knew what was going on only to be dumbfounded the next chapter. I did guess early on who wanted revenge but loved watching the characters realize it. If you like books like All Your Twisted Secrets, One of Us Is Lying, Pretty Little Liars then you will definitely like this one!

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @LaurieElizabethFlynn and @SimonAndSchuster for an advanced copy of @TheGirlsAreAllSoNiceHere

#LaurieElizabethFlynn #TheGirlsAreAllSoNiceHere #SimonAndSchuster #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #WomensFiction #GeneralFictionAdult

I think that The Girls Are So Nice Here will be a much talked about book this spring and summer. It is the perfect book to spend a Sunday or a day at the beach. I started and finished the book within 24 hours because I needed to know what happened. Many people will be able to relate to doing things they are not proud of to fit into a group, hopefully not to the same extent as the event in this book.

Thank you to Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a book! Female friendships can be sooo tricky, so toxic - the need to ‘belong’, the need to win their approval, be number one - no matter what you have to do for it...

Ambrosia and Sully are back at their college reunion, and no matter how hard they’ve tried to hide, someone knows what they did all those years ago. And it’s time for payback.

If you love dark and twisty psychological thrillers, this is a must-read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

The Girls are all so nice here is a creepy and suspenseful story about Flora and Ambrosia. They meet at Wesleyan college and are thrown together as roommates. Flora has an upbeat charming personality. Ambrosia just wants to fit in until she meets Sully and things turn dark. Ambrosia finds herself partying every night with Sully doing things she never expected to do. Sully walks her down into a dark adventure.

Ten years later a reunion is planned for the girls of Dorm Doom. Who is sending these cryptic notes? 'Will anyone really knows the truth? I enjoyed this twisty thriller. The ending was exactly what I wanted. Truly enjoyed this one.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was pretty dark and gritty and somewhat of an interesting read. Not my favorite thriller/mystery, but I'm glad I finished it.

This book jumps between the present and the past, specifically, the year everything went down for our main character, Ambrosia. I'm glad we got insights into the past while still being able to follow along with the mystery unfolding in the present.

Most characters in this book are pretty unlikeable, but I don't think we were meant to be rooting for any of them. They all did things wrong in the past and most of them are still pretty miserable in the present. I just kept wanting to smack them all on the head, especially Amb, for the decisions they were making. But, then again, that's kinda the lesson to be learned from the book. It's meant to show what toxic friendships and lust/desire can lead to if not checked.

Overall, I wasn't wowed by this book, but it did have some good moments. I think the lessons it touched on are important and, perhaps most of us won't experience things to this extreme, but they're things to keep in mind all the same.

I adore this author and her quiet suspense/thrillers. This was her adult debut and while it's not the first mean girls bullying story I've read over the past year, it is a really great one!

College, revenge, and a haunting story about the effects of toxic friendship and ambition!

Ambrosia Wellington and Sloane Sullivan find themselves returning to the "scene of the crime" when both ladies are invited to their College Reunion. 10 years have passed and Ambrosia wants absolutely nothing to do with her past! Once at the reunion it is clear that revenge is to be had; Amb and Sully have a price to pay for what they did all those years ago!

Told in past and present, this tale of toxic friendship and the lasting effects of betrayal of the worst kind will leave you wanting for more! Flynn delivers everything you could hope for in a suspense-thriller, complete with a gorgeous campus setting, unforgettable characters, and one event that ties the past and present together. With all the messages it reminds me of a very grown up Pretty Little Liars.

This twisty thriller book about two girls who go back to their college reunion and find themselves in a plot of revenge for something they did while in college. It has major Pretty Little Liars vibes and I totally digged it. The characters are all basically terrible, but it doesn't make it any less riveting. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a psychological thriller. Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to review!

The Girls Are All So Nice Here, is a book in a genre that I love. Having said that much it also is written in a way that I usually do not like reading where it jumps back and forward between time frames. It did a reasonably good job keeping the book flowing even using the pattern I do not like. This book contains quite a few different things insecurity, betrayal, jealously, toxic relationships, revenge just to name a few. There are parts that could be triggering for others, so any of those that have things similar in your past may wish to know that before reading. Overall I would say for me it was a decent read, not a great one. I still always recommend others read a book for themselves because not everyone enjoys the same type of book.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and am under no obligation to leave a favorable review, all opinions expressed here are my own.

There is nothing better than a good revenge thriller and this one did not disappoint. I was completely hooked from beginning to end. I loved all the secrets and all the twist and turns that this story took me on.

Holy hell, “I can’t remember the last time I felt this much,” has never been more real. Three girls, the center of the universe, all with something the others want, are like hungry monsters circling their prey. The adage ‘sticks and stones may break my bones’ but words might actually kill me is relevant in Flynn’s haunting story of toxic friends who will do anything for attention; bully, manipulate, and dismantle a person until there’s nothing left.
Flynn’s debut novel is truly outstanding. I was drawn in, shocked and horrified, all while recognizing the unhealthy dynamics in so many female friendships that are represented here. There’s nothing off the table when “achieving that level of deceit in the name of sisterhood.” Themes of bad influences, peer pressure, rape, murder, suicide and loyalty intermingle into the smoke surrounding this fire of mystery.
Flynn’s use of the written word is intoxicating- I don’t think I’ve highlighted so many phrases, intelligent pieces of the English language that she’s strewn together, in any other book I’ve read. I’m infatuated with her writing and cannot stop thinking about the wickedness and humanity that lie within these pages.
The Girls Are All So Nice Here will turn you inside out, and you will not recover anytime soon.

Ambrosia Wellington has worked hard to create a new life for herself after burying the things she did in college. She has the perfect job and perfect younger husband, who knows nothing about her former self. But then she is invited to her 10 year college reunion and all of that blows up in her face. Ten years ago, while away at school for the first time, Amb meets two very different girls. Flora, her roommate, is as perfect and nice as they come. Sully, who lives down the hall, is menacing and extremely unpredictable. Sully does what she wants and lives for the shock factor. Amb walks the line between these two for a bit before turning to the dark side. She will do whatever it takes to impress Sully, even if that means abandoning all morals and hurting others around her. Now, at the reunion it becomes clear that someone knows what she did and they want revenge. Alternating between Amb’s freshman year and today, we finally learn the truth about what happened that night and all of the days leading up to it. We also learn that the truth can be deadly. I found this book to be very intriguing and hard to put down. There were multiple twists and turns. Even though it was a very well written story with a good plot, I found it disheartening to read because of the extreme situations including, sex, cheating, rape, drugs, bullying and murder. If you are triggered by any of these topics, this is not the book for you. This is a shocking novel showing the extreme lengths mean girls will go to get what they want.