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.

Dark, addictive story of a group of mean girls and mothers from hell. Kate moves her daughter Alex to a beautiful upscale town in Florida for a fresh start after the unexpected death of her husband. Kate has high hopes that her and her daughter can begin to heal but she has no idea about the clique of girls and their moms that rule the school and town. Although Kate makes friends with the mothers quickly, Alex is almost instantly the target of the girls relentless bullying. Fast paced multilayered story that is impossible to put down.

This was such a good thriller! It kept me guessing and intrigued the whole time! The characters were likable and well developed. I would definitely recommend this to everyone!

This book was a wild ride! It took me less than 24 hours to finish it (I didn't even have to stay up late to do it!) and I was thoroughly entertained the whole time. The last 10% of the book had me speed reading and telling my husband to not talk to me until I was done. I've never read a Margot Hunt book before, although I have one on my TBR shelf. I will definitely be picking up another one of her books soon!

Well written and interesting plot. Falls apart a bit at the end due to plausibility issues…but an enjoyable read overall.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59554746

Think: Mean Girls 2.0– Mother Daughter version. The best adjective to describe this book was used in the book many times: Toxic. This book is full of toxicity; it is intense and twisted. It also has some great twists and is difficult to put down. If you like a good thriller, give this one a try.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

I adore it when a story ends up being more enjoyable to me than I had imagined!
My first Margot Hunt novel is this one. I appreciate her writing. It is simple to read and understand. It was a quick and simple read. I read until so late at night because I didn't think it would grip me as much as it did. Although some of the descriptions and extraneous details initially made me think the language was a little immature, the passion of the plot was unaffected. absolutely enjoyed!

Kate and her daughter, Alex, have moved to the beachside town, Shoreham, Florida. With new beginnings, they are looking forward to leaving the past behind.

A psychological thriller displaying a wonderful insight into relationship dynamics. This drama kept me reading to the surprise ending.

I really enjoyed reading this book and couldn't put it down. The twists at the ending were surprising. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of Lovely Girls. This book should have been titled Mean Girls! I don’t know why mean girls are so fun to read about, and add in mean moms and you get a thoroughly entertaining book. Alex was a typical moody teen who just wants to fit in. Her mother Kate is newly widowed and also just wants to fit in and have friends. If you’re looking for a well-written fast read, this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Enjoyed this one a lot! High school “mean girls” turned deadly. Alex is the outcast as soon as she and her mom move to town, and when she catches one of the mean girls in a compromising position, things get ugly. Just a good, solid suspense novel.

Mean girls suck. Moms of mean girls are even worse. And moms who condone and cultivate mean girls, get what they deserve - in most cases. I think the worst of this bunch of horrible people got away with too little of what she deserved - but perhaps thinking like that makes me a mean girl too!!

Lovely Girls by Margot Hunt was a gripping, unputdownable read that had me racing through the pages.

This is an entertaining and quick story with a plot that was very fast-paced it immediately grabbed my attention.
I was immediately drawn in to this mystery. The description caught my attention an once I started I couldn't stop.
This is exactly what I needed a fast paced, plot-driven thriller with a writing style that I found very interesting.
I couldn’t wait to finish to see how it all would end

Thomas & Mercer,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I couldn’t put this one down! Margo Hunt has written a page-turner of a thriller about two generations of women/girls who’s upbringings had such an adverse effect on the rest of their lives. After moving to a small town with already established cliques, Kate and her daughter Alex make a go at trying to settle into their new life and area. However, Alex runs into trouble from the start and can’t seem to shake the bullying that seems to follow her.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this fantastic book!

Mean girl novels are a guilty pleasure of mine. Combine mean girls with queen bee mothers and a glass or two of wine and you have an indulgent Sunday afternoon pleasure. The main characters are relatable, the villains are despicable. Pretty fun.

I rarely read books that I think my high school students could read and enjoy, but I do think this one would fare well in my classroom. The story follows Kate, who moves herself and her daughter Alex to Florida after the death of her husband. There, Kate meets a clique of mothers whose daughters run the school. Alex, is the latest target of their bullying. When Alex witnesses a tragedy, the question of what would you do to protect your child begins.

Kate, was a character I both liked and wanted to yell at. She knows that these mothers are all backstabbing each other and yet she trusts them again and again. Like girl, you literally know they sell each other out, why do you think you will be any different? Also her boyfriend Joe was literally the most predictable and boring character. I get it, he is supposed to be safe after what she went through, but the man was literally as boring as watching paint dry.

Alex was a very well written teenager. She was moody, struggling, but also trying her best. I liked her a lot and got to see her struggle through high school. She was well rounded and human.

I think if you liked Mean Girls and like thrillers, you should read Lovely Girls

3.5 stars rounded up to 4! This was my first Margot Hunt novel and I wasn’t disappointed! I felt like I was reading a dark version of Mean Girls! It was a fast-paced read that hooked me from the beginning. I highly recommend this one and I will be looking for other Margot Hunt books to read in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!

I gotta say that Lovely Girls is an example of a book with a really cool premise that is kneecapped by the characters and progression of the story. What I thought would be a fun, well written thriller about school cliques and murder felt more like a CW pilot that thought it was clever.

The characters are annoying and I can’t tell if the author wanted me to hate all of them or just some of them because many are written the same. I felt both the Mom Clique and Daughter Clique were replicas of each other and even if this is what was intended by the author they still annoyed me and even the main characters I felt were unlikeable.

Overall Lovely Girls feels like a Gossip Girl or Riverdale murder mystery that just lacks everything it needs to succeed..