Your first year of college, you're bound to meet certain types of women: the queen bee, the sweet and wholesome girl your mom would love, the gossip, the small-town girl, and the one that would eat you alive and never think twice. The Girls Are All So Nice Here drives home just how important it is to align yourself with the right ones. If you don't? The toxic traits your new friends embody might rub off on you. That, or maybe your company will make you realize that you were one of the mean girls all along. Or at least, that's what happened when Ambrosia Wellington went off to Wesleyan University. After pledging her allegiance to a charismatic theater major with a dark streak, she found out exactly what she was capable of. (Here's a hint: it wasn't good. Not good at all.)

Ten years after graduation, Amb has tried to recreate herself. She has a mostly happy life in New York, where she's snagged a job in PR and a husband five years her junior. She doesn't ever let her husband or her new circle of friends get a glimpse of the girl she was before because she knows that would be enough to make her lose it all. When her ten-year reunion rolls around and her husband is eager to see her old stomping grounds, it quickly becomes evident that this PR queen's years of spin are soon to be out of her control.

This novel has so many elements I love that I was sure I was setting myself up for disappointment. Campus novels and books about toxic female friendships are my catnip. I've read so many of both that it's nearly impossible for me to find something new and fresh. Flynn absolutely nailed it on all fronts. Everything about the execution of this book from the atmosphere to the dialogue (and the perfect ending) gets a stamp of approval from me and five glowing stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

"The Girls Are All So Nice Here" by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn was similar to the movie Mean Girls but much darker and meaner. For me, the book started off slow and took me a while to get into it. There was a lot of backstory into the girls at Wesleyan, and I had a hard time following who each girl was. Towards the middle to the end of the book, the pace of the story was quicker and tenser and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened at the end. Spoiler alert - most of the girls in the book aren't nice at all! I like how twisted the story was and I give it 4 stars for good story with a slow beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 4.5/5 stars

The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a dark, sharp thriller with an excellent plot and truly disturbing characters. The plot is basically Mean Girls meets I Know What You Did Last Summer and it lives up to that mashup.

Told in alternating Then and Now chapters, The Girls Are All So Nice Here centers around three girls - Ambrosia, Flora, and Sully. The Then chapters are of their freshman year at Wesleyan University, where one night changes their entire lives. The Now chapters are 10 years later as they attend their class reunion. Ambrosia does not want to go to the reunion, especially after she receives a note talking about that fateful night. As we slowly find out exactly what happened 10 years ago, Ambrosia tries desperately to find out who is sending her notes and what the mystery person wants from her.

This book has a last line that made me literally shudder. The characters are so complex and twisted and while you don’t necessarily like them, you understand why they are the way that they are. As the tension escalates in both timelines, you can’t stop turning the pages so you can finally find out what happened on the night that changed everything. Laurie Elizabeth Flynn truly delivers on the ending, making this one of my favorite thrillers of the year.

Overall, The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a dark, tense thriller with well-written characters and a killer ending. Pick up a copy of this book when it releases on 3/9/2021!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a great read! I loved the way it was told with what was happening then and what was happening now. This book sucked me in from the beginning and made me feel uncomfortable at times which I loved.

Mean Gitl, the college edition. Great characters and dialogue.. i did figure some of it out but really enjoyed it and that didn't spool story.
Looking forward to reading more by this author

I'm always interested in these types of books -- good girls gone bad, etc etc. The description did not disappoint. The characters were relatable and the writing flowed through with each twist. It is written in two timetables - one at college and one in present day, which gives you two different perspectives. I kind of guessed the ending, but otherwise it was a solid read!

This book brought me back to my college years, when I was trying to find out who I was. The length could’ve been shortened a little in my opinion and I was disappointed that Ambrosia didn’t get justice, but not all good books have a happy ending. This book was anything but predictable! I loved it so much.

Two friends that went to university together will have a chance to see each other at the ten year reunion..
Neither of them really want to go. A mysterious e-mail summons them. They will have to face their past. They were mean girls, not caring who they hurt or why. Roommates were included in the girl's meanness. Revisiting the place were mean fun turned into suicide or murder will not be fun. Now it's time to face the music. What goes around comes around in this tense, twisted story!

Oh my gosh, this book was SO GOOD. First, I'm a sucker for any book set on a college campus, fictional or not. The nostalgia of college, dorms, parties, new friends, etc, is just brought back when I read any book about college where the campus is the setting, and man did Laurie Elizabeth Flynn knock this one out of the park with her perfect descriptions of the nerves, campus dining, parties, and roommates. The best part, for me, was that I went in to this one sort of blind, and I really recommend that readers do that as well. It's better to know less about the plot with this one. I will be recommending this to everyone who will listen! 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing to have an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thought that this book was a fast read. However,I had a hard time relating to the main character, Ambrosia, because she was a mean girl and so was her friend Sully. They were just unbelievably cruel. I did like the twist at the end!

These girls are all sour except for F.lora. Even her name is sweet..Unfortunately for her, she ended up being Ambrosia (blech.... Ambs) Wellingtons's dorm mate first year of college. "Ambs" and her bosom buddy, Sloane Sullivan-aka Sully (double blech) terrorized their entire university as freshmen. Go into this book blind, it is filled with unlikeable characters. Unlikeable is actually putting it mildly. I loathed these girls. Anyway, if you can stomach the gossip and sex parties and the binge drinking I recommend the book. Are girls really this mean? It has been 30 years since I graduated from college and I don't recall the hardness "Ambs" and "Sully" display. The story unfolds quickly and the writing is fast paced. I gave it 4 stars because I loved the ending, many don't.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

What a tangled web! I was hooked from the first chapter! Unlikeable, flawed characters drive a dark tale of jealousy, deceit, lust and suicide...or is it murder? Atmospheric a and moody, with twists Hitchcock Would be proud of! Get your hands on this thriller, sure to be a best seller...or maybe a Lifetime movie?

Whew! What an incredible first read from Netgalley! This is a dark, gripping and twisted story of friendship, deception and learning who you really are.

Former friends, Ambrosia Wellington and Sloane "Sully" Sullivan return to college for their reunion to find someone is seeking revenge and wants the truth for something horrible they did 10 years ago.

Things have changed in the 10 years since college and Ambrosia isn't who she used to be. Returning to college she finds that things from the past do not necessarily stay there. She is consumed with guilt for the dreadful things she has done. She becomes attached to Sully again who is not the best of influences. They both receive messages and cryptic things start to happen. Ambrosia starts to realize the ramifications of her past and the effect they had on everyone.

This book is harsh and really gets deep down into your thoughts. I literally could not put it down. The character development is excellent. You really feel like you are in the head of Ambrosia. It depicts the cruel and damaging ways women are to one another and the depths of what bullying and "mean girls" can have on one's life even years later.

I really enjoyed this novel and will definetly be looking for more of Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's future work!

***Thank you to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for providing me an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

WOW! Just WOW! This is Mean Girls, adult version! This story is splendidly written about all horrible things women can be. Brilliant & well-written!

Two former best friends return to their college reunion to find that they’re being circled by someone who wants revenge for what they did ten years before—and will stop at nothing to get it—in this shocking psychological thriller about ambition, toxic friendship, and deadly desire.

A lot has changed in the years since Ambrosia Wellington graduated from college, and she’s worked hard to create a new life for herself. But then an invitation to her ten-year reunion arrives in the mail, along with an anonymous note that reads “We need to talk about what we did that night.”

It seems that the secrets of Ambrosia’s past—and the people she thought she’d left there—aren’t as buried as she’d believed. Amb can’t stop fixating on what she did or who she did it with: larger-than-life Sloane “Sully” Sullivan, Amb’s former best friend, who could make anyone do anything.

At the reunion, Amb and Sully receive increasingly menacing messages, and it becomes clear that they’re being pursued by someone who wants more than just the truth of what happened that first semester. This person wants revenge for what they did and the damage they caused—the extent of which Amb is only now fully understanding. And it was all because of the game they played to get a boy who belonged to someone else, and the girl who paid the price.

Whoa. This book was crazy. I could not put it down. Initially I had been expecting more of a thriller, which it wasn’t. It was more like a young adult gossip girl type of story, which I don’t always like, but this one was so good at keeping my interest. I felt like I could predict much of what was happening, and I could, but that didn’t take away from the plot and there was more than I predicted. I hope to read more from this author!

It's difficult for me to imagine someone who doesn't see herself in one of these characters, but harder still for me to think of someone who would admit it. The ending didn't feel quite right.

Mean Girls Go to College. Yep, that's the premise and it's dark and disturbing--just the way I like my thrillers! When Ambrosia goes off to college she is paired with roommate Flora who seems a little pathetic to her. So she's elated when "cool girl" Sully befriends her and challenges her to be edgy and take risks that she never would have at home. So when Ambrosia meets Flora's gorgeous boyfriend, we know things are going to go south. Told in alternating chapters between past and present, we see the college years and the reunion that the women are invited to because, "We have to talk about that night." That's all you get so just be prepared for a healthy dose of bullying that is cringe-worthy!

Psychologically disturbing yet extremely captivating, this book delves into the minds of college educated women and whom is at fault for a tragedy that occurs during Ambrosia's freshman year. What saddened me is that both her and Sully saw everything as disposable as evidenced the most by how they treated others. They were simply a plaything to be thrown away when bored. Kevin and Flora fell victim as well as Adrian really actually not even knowing whom he married. It was chilling to hear all the emails came from a gmail account and I could not put the book down. The last chilling sentence said it all.

I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t love it either. All of the characters were highly irritating and I couldn’t get myself to like one. No super plot twist wow moments for me but entertaining like watching bad reality television. Thank you for the copy!

Set your alarm because you will be up all night reading this one! Crazy sex and drug filled nights mixed with the innocence of college freshmen. Really enjoyed this face paced book and the tales of demon filled, drug fueled frat parties.