I feel like this book was okay. The main character wasn’t like able and there were too many suspects introduced one after the other.

This was a super fast-paced thriller with slightly more gore than I needed. It brought up very interesting issues of race and class, and people’s inner flaws. It starts with “Ivy League Mary” getting kicked out of Cornell and having to return home to the Midwest in shame of defeat. I really liked that the characters were all flawed (some downright unlikeable) and had multiple aspects of their personality coming out at different times. I’m shocked this is a debut novel- @dangitcat really had great writing and character development. The ending for super fast-paced and I read it in one day. Solid 4 stars. #NetGalley #NiceGirls #bookstagram #bookreview #summerreading

In the very beginning of Nice Girls, by Catherine Dang, Ivy League Mary gets expelled from Cornell when she slugs a rich, annoying freshman girl. Mary's working out her issues about being ignored and almost friendless in high school (ok, most of the book is Mary's issues with being unpopular in high school), and it's almost an understandable attack, really, when you see how insufferable that freshman is, but not a great choice for an upperclassman RA to go around attacking their residents.

From that moment on, you always know Mary has untapped rage inside her and doesn't exactly make the most responsible decisions.

Back in Mary's small town, she's working grocery checkout and tryign to figure out what happens when Ivy League Mary is expelled from the Ivy League, when the beautiful high school mean girl, now an Insta-model, disappears. I enjoyed the look at Instagram celebrity versus reality, a captivating thread in Social Creature and in Happy And You Know It, too.  

The novel looks at what happens when a pretty, young Black mother and a pretty, young, white Instagram model go missing. It's here where Nice Girls shines, highlighting which girls are tragic disappearances, and which ones must be gang-related runaways.

Despite this really compelling investigation, Mary was kind of a hard character to connect with. I don't mean she was unlikable, I often enjoy a story with an over-the-top or unfriendly protag, like the horrible friends in The Hunting Party or the diagnosed psychopaths in Never Saw Me Coming.  I just didn't really connect with Mary's motivations and especially her constant resentment, and that made it hard to really fall into the story.  At times in this novel, it was hard to take Mary's feelings seriously because she was still so angry about being an unpopular teenager. Maybe this problem is me, maybe I'm just too old to care about who got invited to which parties in high school. But Mary's working in the grocery store with the ex-football-star-turned-cashier, so it's weird that she was still so invested in high school glory days.

Nice Girls is unfortunately super gory, but fortunately, it's very clear when that's coming. VERY CLEAR. You will know when to skip pages, and if you're at all like me, you will definitely need to skip some gross descriptions.

Overall, the questions raised by this story about who is a nice girl and who the police help were timely and engaging. The investigation had a lot of twists, which walked a fine mine of being surprising and believable, but the book was held back by my trouble connecting with (and particularly caring about) the main character.

Man, I do love that the ‘missing person’ subgenre of thriller novels is having having a bit of a renaissance at the moment. Like all of the other books I’ve enjoyed within this subgenre, I found the plot and the writing in this book to be engaging in a way that really sinks its teeth into you. However, the characters were just…bad. Not a single redeemable quality amongst the whole lot of them, and I don’t think that was done intentionally.

I think there is a really important message behind this book, that no one life is more valuable than another, and we should care equally about the outcome of tragedy regardless of the victim's appearance and/or lifestyle choices, and it was really nice to see this tied into a traditional missing persons case. The middle did drag a bit, and a few characters are terribly unlikable, but overall a solid debut from an author I will watch for in the future.

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel, Catherine Dang is definitely going to be one to watch.

I found everyone unlikable.in the very best way; this author excels at writing relatable, engaging characters.

I was captivated by this story and soared through it. I needed to know what Mary did and why and I was intrigued by the missing girls storyline.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy. It was my pleasure to write an honest review.

Whoa! I wasn't sure what to expect from Nice Girls by Catherine Dang. I absolutely love true crime, serial killer thrillers, suspense, so when I read the description for Nice Girls, I thought it would be nice to request, right up my alley. I'm thrilled that I did! Mary, known to most as Ivy League Mary, is very relatable. I felt invested in the characters and what would happen next. The last several chapters I read during my breaks at work, ravenous to find out what happened. You do NOT want to sleep on this one! Get your hands on it as soon as you can! Thank You to Netgalley and Catherine Dang for a twisty- edge of my seat- read!

This book was okay, but not great. It definitely brought up timely issues like race and class and assault. But all in all I kind of felt the book was interesting enough to finish, but not quite interesting enough to rave about. At the end I gave it 3 stars, but I probably will look for the author's next book.

Contains spoilers!!
Nice Girls begins as Mary is leaving her dorm after being expelled from her Ivy League college. She returns to the small town she grew up in where we slowly learn about two missing (nice?) girls, Olivia, white and popular and DeMaria, black and a single mom. With little else to do, Mary starts her own investigation, with her own safety, a non-issue.
I was hooked on this thriller for about the first 3/4, but the end lost me. At that point, I just wanted to finish it. Cabin secluded in the woods-that’s been done. Missing girls and a serial killer-that’s been done. Girls kidnapped after modeling or making porn. Ugh. Why was Mary expelled from college? I thought the author was never going to explain that!
The author did keep me guessing about the connection between Olivia and DeMaria and who the killer may be; so that was a positive. I also liked how she weaved in how differently the cases were investigated by police based on the race of the victim. I would still recommend the novel to readers who love a fast paced thriller but this was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital arc of this book that is set to be released on September 14, 2021.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I come down in the middle of the road on this one. It's a debut novel, and I believe we'll see a great deal more from Ms. Dang. The character development was so thorough and well done. The problem was that I didn't really care about them. At all. That said, the plot, and the turn of events near the end were such that I kept reading into the night, until I could finish the book.

I am pretty much left speechless after concluding Nice Girls. This may be Catherine Dang's debut novel but she is sure to break the internet with this one. This book is DARK.

How many of us women felt judged as a child? Trying to fit in with what we thought were the cool girls? This book is just so much more than just another great read. It hits on topics like segregation, race, and social class. Everything you say, everything you wear, every reaction you make, you are being judged by those around you.

Mary was the ugly duckling. Having grown up in a small town, Mary was pushed aside. Chubby, poor and not very attractive. But Mary catches a break. Not being current in social status allowed her to focus on getting into a Ivy League School. Not only was she accepted but she received a full scholarship.

Now Mary is back in Minnesota, having been expelled from college, she is now working a minimum wage job at the local grocery store. Can her life get any worse?

Then a strange disappearance happens. Mary's childhood best friend has gone missing. Olivia was all of the things Mary was not and yet they bonded. Mary needs to know what has happened to Olivia and is determined to get to the bottom of it .

The character development of this novel made this book all the more "real" . I felt as though I personally knew each one of them. Don't get me wrong, each character had their flaws but it made them that much better.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from start to finish. Nice Girls, had me questioning the way I treat people and the judgment we engage in without even recognizing it. I highly recommend this 5 star read!

"A pulse-pounding and razor-sharp debut with the emotional punch of Luckiest Girl Alive and All the Missing Girls that explores the hungry, angry, dark side of girlhood and dares to ask: Which is more dangerous for a woman - showing the world what it wants to see, or who she really is?

What did you do?

Mary used to be such a nice girl. She was the resident whiz kid of Liberty Lake, Minnesota - the quiet, chubby teen with the scholarship to an Ivy League school. But three years later, “Ivy League Mary” is back - a thinner, cynical, restless failure who was kicked out of Cornell at the beginning of her senior year and won’t tell anyone why. Taking a job at the local grocery store, Mary tries to make sense of her life’s sharp downward spiral.

Then beautiful, magnetic Olivia Willand goes missing. A rising social media star, Olivia is admired by everyone in Liberty Lake - except Mary. Once Olivia’s best friend, Mary knows better than anyone that behind the Instagram persona hides a willful, manipulative girl with sharp edges. As the town obsesses over perfect, lovely Olivia, Mary wonders if her disappearance might be tied to another missing person: nineteen-year-old DeMaria Jackson, whose case has been widely dismissed as a runaway.

Who is the real Olivia Willand, and where did she go? What happened to DeMaria? As Mary pries at the cracks in the careful facades surrounding the two missing girls, old wounds will bleed fresh and force her to confront a horrible truth.

Maybe there are no nice girls, after all."

Some of my male friends don't believe me when I say what girls are capable of... perhaps they should all read this book?

An exciting mystery about the disappearance of a glamorous small town girl whose Instagram-documented life seemed the epitome of perfection. Nothing is at seems at first glance, however, and so we get the perspective of a friend of hers who shows a completely different side of the story.

This book almost feels like two or more stories loosely bound by our central character, Mary who, as the story opens is fleeing college after a scandal. She’s back home which she never thought would happen. When a childhood friend disappears and body parts are discovered in the lake, Mary becomes a amateur sleuth. She takes a job at the local grocery and tries to piece together the crimes of what may be a serial killer. I did not feel this story flowed easily. We follow Mary on her quest to find the truth, but I never really connected to her or felt her struggles. It didn’t work for me but maybe it will for you

A thriller of a girl gone missing type of novel that has huge potential. Ivy League Mary is your typical girl that struggled with high school and is determined to show the world that she is better than they realize by getting into an Ivy League school. Until she is kicked out her senior year. She must return home to Minnesota, where there are some dark things happening and she inserts herself into the drama. The last third of this novel seems pretty improbable to me and that is why there are only three stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

NICE GIRLS has a promising premise and a location that is near and dear to my heart (Minnesota girl here!), but it never really lives up to the potential that I had hoped it would. While I liked the mystery at hand, involving a woman who has come back to town after leaving college in disgrace and becomes obsessed with two missing women's cases, there were a few too many dings against it. For one, our protagonist, Mary, isn't very interesting and doesn't really go too far out of the 'damaged woman who returns home' trope. She's depressed, she has a dark secret, and she's deeply unlikable and isolated. I thought that the emotional drive behind her getting obsessed with the missing women in town, one of them being an ex-friend of hers from her childhood years, made sense, but it also is something we've seen before, and without giving it a little more to stand out with, it just read pretty typically of this genre. I also thought that the mystery itself, while having some good red herrings and some pretty good twists, kind of had a strange solution that felt a bit cobbled together hastily.

Would I read something else by Catherine Dang in the future? For sure! There is definitely talent in her writing in her descriptions and in the machinations of a thriller plot. I think that NICE GIRLS could have done a little more in terms of characterization and pay off.

3.5. Not a bad mystery. Kept me reading to find out who was killing the girls in Liberty Lake. I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to like Ivy League Mary or not but I rooted for her to get her life back on track. Nice to have resolution at the end but it was a little bleak.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Ideal for those who like a quick mystery set in a small town. I ended up DNFing this as I didn’t like the writing style or the character. Ideal for someone who likes small town settings for their mysteries

Chubby and awkward Mary has transformed herself as an Ivy League student; thin and content, she’s put those years behind her. Until an incident caused her expulsion from Cornell. Now she’s back in her small town, just in time for two girls to go missing.

Wow, that was an exciting read. I am picky with my thrillers, so if I give one five stars, it’s good. I really liked this one because it had such a dark feel too it. The place that Mary was in emotionally was so difficult. I also felt for her need; need to belong, need to be pretty.. I’ve always had a bit of that and I really connected with her. While I was busy connecting with Mary, I didn’t notice the suspense creeping up until I was standing up and pacing as the action began. This is a murder suspense/thriller,
but be aware that there are some gory moments.

“You could read about cruelty and murder, you could see it depicted on your screen and through art. But it was different to witness it with your own two eyes. The experience became a part of you. And the distance was gone. You realized that the violence was out there, a town, a mile, a block away from you. No one was ever truly safe.”

Nice Girls comes out 9/7.

Mary worked hard in high school to earn a place at Cornell, also earning the nickname of Ivy League Mary in her hometown. But, something goes wrong in her senior year and she is expelled from her college, destined to return to her hometown and face those who rejected her throughout her school career.
Upon returning to Liberty, Mary finds a job at the local grocery store and tries to find a way to fit in. Then her childhood friend goes missing. Along with pretty, white Olivia, a pretty black girl is also missing, but the media and the police are just not interested.
Mary tries to find out more about both missing girls, doing some amateur detecting and getting herself into more trouble.
While the book does contain a mystery and Mary ends up in a dangerous position, I never really saw this as a thriller. it is told in the first person from Mary's point of view. In spite of her circumstances (kicked out of college, dead mother, uncommunicative father, etc.), Mary is not a very sympathetic character, even her best friend from high school, who is away at college herself, is fed up with her. Dang manages to bring this all together in the end and the reader sees Mary envisioning a future for herself, in spite of her screw ups and past behavior. If only it were this easy.