This was a solid 3.5 stars for me. The writing wasn't bad and I liked the "then" and "now" aspect of it, but I think it was too slow of a burn. I just wanted to know what the heck happened and I was losing my patience waiting to find out. This book definitely made me think of my days in college in West Virginia, though I never had any "friends" quite like Amb and Sully, They definitely fit the description of "frenemies" perfectly. Ambrosia drove me crazy with her need to please Sully and be popular among the group of girls in her dorm. Honestly, I wanted to smack her. And I felt like they acted more like junior high schoolers rather than college freshman. But, it's been a long time since I've been 18 so I will give the author the benefit of the doubt. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of the book. It seemed like things just kind of crawled for a while then everything happened all at once and it was a little far-fetched. I decided to just suspend disbelief though and went with it. I did like the very end, seeing things from Poppy's perspective. Nicely done.

***TRIGGER WARNING***
3.5 stars

I honestly don't know how I feel about this one! Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is best known from her YA books, but her adult debut mystery was very ambitious. This dual-timeline narrative is action packed and I was absolutely gripped from the get go. It was unsettling and unnerving, taking mean girls to an entirely different level. I definitely didn't expect the twist ending, I do think that the present timeline was pretty slow moving at the beginning. The two timelines never really matched up in action like I wish they were. As a woman who attended college around the same time as the girls in this book, I do feel like a lot of what went on didn't feel very realistic. However, I was really hooked from the start. I will definitely check out more from Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's adult work in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC, which I received in exchange for my honest review. The Girls Are All So Nice Here, is a twisted tale of bullying and betrayal. The narrator, Amb, receives an invitation to her 10 year college reunion. She has no intention of attending until she receives a follow up note telling her that we need to talk about what we did. The novel alternates between the reunion and the events which took place when Amb was a freshman in college.

There are people that simply bring out the absolute worst in each other. For Amb, that person was Sully, a teenage bully with an appetite for destruction. Someone has targeted Amb and Sully for revenge at the reunion and when the truth is revealed about their shocking behavior, the motive is clear.

I found the novel to be both disturbing and yet compelling. The dark side of female competition is laid bare here and it is chilling. The main character of Amb is unlikeable and I was therefore satisfied with the ending. The girls were anything but nice here, and you know what they say about karma.

The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is a thriller about Ambrosia and Sloane, two "friends" from college. They are invited to their ten year reunion, but the invitation and subsequent emails they start receiving raise some questions. Does someone know what actually happened "that night"? These girls played some mean games during their first semester in college, and it seems like someone may want them to pay for that. This book kept my attention, but the characters were highly unlikable. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Girls Are All So Nice Here…except they’re not. This book was filled with mean girls and I loved every minute of it.
 
Ambrosia also known as Amb is happily married and has worked hard to create a new life for herself, putting her college years at Wesleyan behind her. That is until an invitation arrives for her 10 year reunion with a note that says “we need to talk about what we did that night.” Now Amb feels she has no choice but to go. This story alternates between the reunion and Amb’s freshman year at college.
 
I absolutely loved this book. The characters were very well written and I could picture them perfectly in my mind throughout the book. The characters were terrible people and I think Sully had to be the worst but I really loved how terrible the characters were. I loved the alternating timeline because it kept my interest and made me want to keep turning the pages! All I will say about the ending is WOW. This book was genius. Overall the theme was girls are mean and crazy.
 
I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes fast-paced thrillers and dark academia. Actually, I think everyone should read it because it was great. I am really looking forward to her next adult novel.
 
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, NetGalley and Laurie Elizabeth Flynn for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ambrosia/Amb is invited to her college ten-year reunion and is reluctant to go, after events that we know involved her former friend Sloane/Sully and some sort of even that Amb is reluctant even to think about. It becomes clear that someone is terribly upset about past events that took place and determined to have comeuppance.
Ok, I have thoughts about this book. It is hard to decide who I would recommend it to in my own friend groups, because I have hung out with enough mean girls that I would not want anyone thinking I was passing judgment on their college stories. I think a general recommendation to women who love stories about toxic friendships and bullying that allow the events to stand on there own without a television movie comeuppance.
There is a distinctly toxic way that these girls treated each other that reminded me of my worst memories of trying to fit in during college. This book nails the desperation to be accepted and the lengths that young women go to for social status, then ups the ante.
There is a strong nineties thriller vibe going on while Amb flashes between the past where we wait for whatever terrible thing to happen, and the present when she is being threatened with exposure for her past actions at every turn. This book is so dark, and a must read for fans of the crazy, cruel twisted psychological suspense!
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

The girls are all so nice here, eh? Holy shit. This is like Mean Girls on crack! As incoming Wesleyan freshman, Ambrosia and Sloane are the epitome of mean girls, sinking their teeth into picture perfect Flora and hell bent on destroying every cell of her being. It’s not enough to hurt her. They need to destroy her. Slay her.

This novel is told in a dual timeline of present day and 10 years ago. The beginning was a little slow for me, as I felt like I should hate Amb but not fully sure why. Hating Sloane, aka Sully, came easily though. But once I hit the 50% mark...wow, what a ride! I read standing in line at the store. I read when I should have been doing actual adult things. I just NEEDED to know what was going to happen.

If you enjoy reading books that are like train wrecks you just can’t look away from, read this one! You’ll love to hate these bitches.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Available March 9, 2021!

This was fun! Honestly, it was easy to picture this place as where I went to college since I didn't go to Wesleyan. And these girls definitely existed - girls that tried to one up another because they didn't have anything else.

Though I do think the premise of the "bad deed" was flimsy (girl obsessively falls for her roommate's boyfriend), I did like the added psychological aspects of the book. There was a lot going on with Sully and Ambrosia and I liked the layers of jealousy, trying to prove one's self with sexuality, even some sapphic tones between the two. Their friendship was multifaceted and that's what drove the thriller itself.

I should note that there should be a trigger warning for rape here. It's not the typical forceful taking of a girl against her will that I come across in most books. But it's the uncomfortable area of girl drank too much, didn't say yes (couldn't say yes), and most definitely didn't want it. I will say that this is a part of the book that really took me in though. So many stories focus on guys date-raping girls or not listening when they say no or aggressively forcing themselves on girls and not caring what they think. Those things can and do happen, but I appreciate that the author did show another angle of rape that doesn't usually get spotlight because it usually makes people feel uncomfortable. I think any girl who has been in this particular situation - drinking too much, getting into a bad situation, and suddenly find themselves having sex even when they haven't consented - will feel seen by this scene. My heart broke for this character as soon as it happened because I immediately thought, "She can never say anything because everyone will blame her."

This book did suck me in, but I think it's more of a 3-3.5 for me because of how outlandish the crime seemed and the steps it took to get there. I can suspend my disbelief, but there's some big bounds and leaps needed to believe something like this can happen because a girl wants her roommate's boyfriend. I mean, I suppose people ARE crazy and things like this CAN happen, but it was just a little too much for me.

All that being said, I still enjoyed my time and I'd be curious to read from this author again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 This one was right on the verge of being great but I predicted the ending too fast. However I LOVED the characters and everything else about the book. Easy and quick read which I liked.

I LOVED LOVED this book! This is my #1 for 2021 so far! This is everything I want in a psychological thriller...its fresh. New material, a change from so many other books in this genre. Just what we need to 2021! The writing is so strong that I felt as if I was also at this college. I honestly would put this book down at night and then somehow have dreams related to what I read.
The twists and turns were unexpected and unpredictable. This was dark and twisted and messed up and OH SO AWESOME!. I want to tell everyone about this book!
These opinions are all mine and thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received this thriller as an ARC from NetGalley. Ambrosia and flora are college roommates and friends. Ambrosia however is obsessed with another friend named Sully in this psychological thriller. Set at Wesleyan it explores the lengths people are willing to go to to impress others. Tragic and thrilling.

Cancel your morning plans and get ready for a long night because you will not be able to put this book down! This terrifying and tragic psychological thriller will keep you guessing to the very end. Ambrosia and Flora are college roommates who could be the very best of friends, if not for Amb’s obsession with fellow classmate Sully. Amb believes Sully’s friendship will raise her social status, and she’ll do anything to gain Sully’s approval. Anything, including stopping at nothing to destroy Flora’s relationship with her boyfriend.

Current-day Amb is haunted by a fateful event that occurred back in college, and works to keep her husband from finding out during a weekend class reunion. Alternating chapters between the past and present reveal haunting plot twists and heinous actions. This is a very good, yet dark, read.

Thanks to #thegirlsareallsonicehere #NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥."

I had another post scheduled for today but started this book last night, couldn't put it down until I finished this morning and need to get my thoughts out. It's disturbing, dark and chilling, with enough twists to keep you guessing until the end and enough truth to make you believe everything in it could actually happen. That might just be the most shocking part of all.

"𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦."

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗢 𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 is the story of Ambrosia and her former best friend, Sully, who return to Wesleyan for their 10-year college reunion where someone is trying to get revenge for something that happened their freshman year. Who's behind it? And what - if anything - did they do? And to whom?

Laurie Elizabeth Flynn slowly unspools the secrets using dual timelines (NOW at the reunion and THEN in flashbacks to freshman year) and each new one threw me for a loop. We've all read books about mean girls before but what works so well here is how hard it can sometimes be to tell who's "good" and who's "bad" - there are so many shades of grey. Toxic friendships, jealousy, peer pressure, insecurity... it all leads to an explosion that may not have been intended but does that mean no one's at fault for causing it?

"𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺."

As a mother of tween girls, this book was painful at times because the way the teens (and women) treat each other rings so true but it's one of the best thrillers I've read in a while, and the ending still has me shaking my head in the best possible way.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster, NetGalley & the author for a copy to review.

I love thrillers involving academia and mean girls. The premise for this was definitely right up my alley. I'm also big on toxic female friendships and this didn't disappoint. It was fast-paced and I loved the back and forth timeline. It was cringe-inducing to read how evil and manipulative Ambrosia and Sully could be. What I was looking for was something from Sully to show why she was the way she was. She almost didn't seem human but maybe that was the point? She was a sociopath. I also wanted a bit more self-reflection with Ambrosia on why she was so beholden to Sully. However, I found myself rooting for Amb even though she did such horrible things. I wanted redemption for her and wasn't sure how the writer would handle that. I have no problem rooting for unlikable characters but the ending didn't quite work for me. There were a few convoluted moments and I thought it was fairly obvious who was sending the notes. Overall, I'd recommend to fans of academia thrillers and intense female friendships, although there are trigger warnings.

3.5 Mean Girl Stars

What happens when mean girls grow up? Do they mature and become better people? Or is there always that mean girl inside who can get back out?

In this case, we have Ambrosia Wellington (now Turner) and the book alternates between her time as a college student at Wesleyan and 10 years later, especially events at her college reunion. In her past, we meet her sweet roommate Flora and the resident bad girl Sully. I wondered if Amb would have become such a mean girl if there hadn’t been Sully egging her on. College is such an interesting time where most of us are trying to find ourselves and can be swayed by strong personalities. We get some clues that some terrible events happened at Wesleyan.

At first Amb ignores the reunion invitations and mysterious notes, but her husband Adrian catches wind of the events and really wants to go. It seems that Amb and Adrian are a good couple and Amb has become a better person. There also seems to be someone trying to get to the bottom of the events in college and Amb finds it hard to stay away.

The tension builds at the reunion along with the events in the past getting closer to the truth of what happened. A mix of shock about what these girls did along with elements of revenge propel this debut psychological thriller.

College Reunion Time!

Ambrosia "Amb" Wellington has received her invitation to her 10 year college reunion but she really has no desire or intention of going except she also received a notice that said "We need to talk about what we did that night".!
Why, after all these years? Who would have sent this note to her that feels threatening somehow. Amb thinks she knows who sent it but why? They know what happened that night so why send this to her now? Something bad happened Amb's freshman year but that didn't stop her from graduating and moving on but she has never forgotten what happened. How could she? Amb is not that person anymore, at least that's what she tries to make herself believe but she knows there are many others that hold her responsible no matter what the truth is. Amb is trying to lead and live the best life as a good person even though she feels as though she is an actress in an award winning film. Maybe Ambrosia needs to return to her college days and find out the truth about herself and what really happened on that night even if it kills her to find the answers because someone isn't going to let her get away from hiding the truth anymore and someone else knows what really happened on that fatal night.

This was a fast paced and intriguing story that kept my interest from the first page until the climatic ending. A very well-written story with not so likeable girls. Sadly, there are probably girls like these in every college and you can only hope your daughters and sisters don't become these girls or caught in their crosshairs. One can only hope that there are much better people in this world than some of the characters in this story. The author caught the aura of the nastiness and hurtful actions that were displayed by these girls and whenever someone gets away with evil there is always someone in the shadows watching and waiting their turn to finally turn the tables around.

I want to thank the publisher "Simon & Schuster" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this terrific story and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I highly recommend this thrilling book and have given a rating of 4 Captivating 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!

Loved this book! Alternating between “then” and “now,” Laurie Lizabeth Flynn has written a thriller that hooks the reader from the start. The story unfolds tantalizingly slow with Ambrosia Wellington receiving a reminder email about her ten year college reunion. A reminder she would rather ignore. Until she receives a card with the message, “You need to come. We need to talk about what we did that night.” From that point forward the reader is drawn into a world where trying to fit in and gaining acceptance can change people and the trajectory of their lives forever.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my ARC.

Oh wow. What a crazy trip. The format of this title was well though out - bouncing back and forth between Now and Then as the story unfolds. There was a very real and clear message about the dangers of bullying woven into the revenge story. Well done!

Wowza what a crazy ride! This book kept me on my toes and I couldn't put it down! Ambrosia is now married to a great guy even if he doesn't have a paying job. She is pretty content in her life but then she starts receiving emails about her college 10 year reunion. Amb was best friends with Sully in college and did some crazy things. Amb thought the past was behind her and doesn't want to go to the reunion, but her husband finds out about it and they go. Amb and Sully both receive messages at the reunion and know someone wants them to pay for the past, Can they figure it all out before the person gets their revenge? This book is told by Amb in the past her freshmen year of college and the present 10 years later. I loved all the twists and turns and thought it was a great thriller! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I'm really becoming a fan of Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. The last two books I've read by her, this one and All Eyes on Her, were really good and deliciously dark. Especially in this case, being in the head of Amb, made it all the more interesting.