Completely riveting and disturbing, once I finally picked this up I couldn't put it down! The multiple POVs were equally intriguing and kept the pages turning. These girls are really messed up and I loved to hate them while reading this novel. Highly recommend to the thriller lovers!

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Difficult to follow at times and a little slow. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

After the sudden death of her husband, Kate and her 17 year old daughter Alex move to Florida. Here they meet Emma, Ingrid, Genevieve and their daughters Shae, Callie and Daphne. While the mothers seem nice to Kate at first, she and Alex soon find out how mean some people can be, with deadly consequences…

Lovely Girls is marketed as a mystery, but if you go into it expecting to play detective the whole book, you should manage your expectations.

This book is more of a character study of mean girls and their mothers, with the mystery aspect of the story only starting at around 70-75%

THE ENDING THOUGH, oof it’s good, greatly improved the rating. But seriously, if you like character driven plots with a Mean Girls or Heathers-esque friend group that focusses on the question of if evil is born or made, you should for sure pick this one up.

A twisty insane thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. I could not put it down. Thank you to the publisher.

This is a quick, easy to read story with lots of Mean Girl vibes. Set in a small town it is full of drama. While I enjoyed this book, there wasn't any big twist or turns along the way that I typically enjoy. I've read other books by this author that knocked my socks off, this one just wasn't my favorite of her work.
If you're looking for an easy to read book, that would be great to read when at the beach or sitting at the pool, this is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this gifted copy.

What it is like living in a small town everyone knows everyone else's business and sometimes it can be really chilling. This book is a enjoyable read with a physcological twist.

Lovely Girls will resonate deeply with anyone who spent any time living in a small town. There advantages and disadvantages of living in a small town, and this book does an awesome job of touching on all of it. Good read!

A dark story, about a mis-step as the new kid and a mother trying to start her life over.

I liked the mom, Kate. I liked how she gave us the ugly sides of both her marriage, her husband, and the life she was leaving behind. I liked how she tried for a new start and how naive and how much she misunderstood what her kid was going through, because it felt very realistic.

I also liked Alex. Her misunderstandings, her silences and her struggles felt very realistic as well. Sure, the story derailed and got over-the-top but I expected it and, even though it was hard to read at times because of the bullying, it was interesting and kept me interested. The turns were well paced and I liked the ending and how it all wrapped up.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I think what really turned me off to this book was the mean girl trope and the excessive bullying. I'm personally not a fan of either of those pieces in a mystery/thriller. This book also gives off Big Little Lies vibes so I'm sure if a reader enjoyed that book, they would enjoy this read.

I would like to say that Hunt's writing flowed and was easy to read for me. I just personally couldn't get pasted the tropes mentioned above.

This story is easy to read, but it doesn't have any new or smart ideas in the category. This story shows how Social Media can be mean and warns that once something is posted, you can't get rid of it. This book was really good because the story moved at just the right speed and the characters became very interesting as the story went on. The book shows us how mothers raise their daughters and how children treat each other, and how parents can make an impact on this treatment. Bullies exist among teenagers, and taking care of our emotional well-being is crucial. The story is pretty simple, but there were some unexpected surprises. The conclusion was not a surprise.

Thank you to the author and publisher for a chance to review this book!

WOW. I was blown away and couldn’t put this one down. Go in blind and thank me later!

5 STARS

YOU NEED TO READ THIS

⭐⭐⭐

Lovely Girls by Margot Hunt is a gripping story about Kate Turner and her teenage daughter, Alex, who move to the beachside town of Shoreham, Florida for a fresh start after the sudden death of Kate’s husband. Kate quickly befriends a group of moms in the town but her daughter, Alex is bullied by their daughters, which she documents in her video diary. As Kate starts receiving chilling warnings from other parents and neighbors about the clique of moms, she begins to sense a malicious undercurrent among her new friends. The small-town gossip weaves a harrowing web of jealousy, deceit, and betrayal that reveals how fast the status quo can turn deadly.

The book’s title is tongue-in-cheek as there is not a single ‘lovely girl’ to be found here. This author has an easy-to-read writing style that keeps readers engaged throughout the book. It was a relatively quick read that I finished in one go. The plot itself isn’t too different from other teenage bully type books, but it still manages to be entertaining and captivating.

Overall, Lovely Girls is an enjoyable read that delves into the darker side of small-town gossip and social hierarchies. Any fan of psychological thrillers or mysteries should definitely give this book a try!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

In this book- which is my first to read of Margot Hunt's- Kate and her daughter Alex move to the coastal town of Shoreham, Florida to start over after losing her husband/dad in a auto accident. Kate soon becomes friends with a group of women while Alex starts to immediately have trouble with their daughters. Alex is immediately targeted by the clique of mean girls on that team. What starts as bullying soon turns deadly in this high drama novel.
This was like Mean Girls to the extreme, minus the comedy. The girls in this novel were ruthless to say the least and I found myself appalled by their actions and the sad part is, most of the things in this do actually happen. Lots of things happening, lots of drama, family meddling, lots of lies and deceptions and deceiving characters. Something bigger is about to happen as the story is told in dual timelines and I had the feeling of a suspenseful moment throughout the story.

Kate and Alex moved to a little seaside community in Florida after the death of Kate's husband and Alex's father. Alex gets off on the wrong foot with 3 girls in school, which is unfortunate because Kate becomes fast friends with their mothers.

Alex starts a video diary to document her feelings of being bullied. Eventually, things spiral out of control.

This story is hard to put down from the very beginning. It had all the drama and angst of being a teenager, but these girls were even more vicious.

Found this to be very average for the most part but the twists were actually really good. I just wish I connected with the characters more. A few plot holes but overall a good thriller. Would recommend for beginners of the genre.

Does the gene for being a "Mean Girl" pass from mother to daughter or is it the result of the environment the child is raised in? Margot Hunt depicts this theory in her book , Lovely Girls. This is not my usual genre for reading however I really did enjoy the experience. It was a fast paced thriller that I would bring to the beach or by the pool. Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

This book is called "Lovely Girls", which is an irony because, the story revolves around a group of girls and women who are anything but lovely. In fact, you will be hard put to find more nastier people than those you see in this book.

Kate Turner and her daughter Alex move to the small beachside town of Shoreham, Florida after Kate's husband passes away in an accident, especially because Alex hasn't been the same since the accident; Kate hopes that this change will help her daughter come out of the shell she has been in. What Kate doesn't expect is that Alex and her will have to face more crazy circumstances in the new place.

Alex comes across a trio of girls on her first day in the town and gets on their bad side unfortunately. Kate is welcomed warmly by the moms of the same girls and hence doesn't heed when others warn her against these women. However, as time goes on, things unravel more and more with both Kate and Alex, ultimately culminating in a murder. Do these extraordinary circumstances finally break these already damaged women or do they come out of it unscathed? What are the underlying passions and dark impulses which lead to the murder? Read the book to find out more.

This is a wonderful book which is completely gripping and darkly compelling. There was an ominous atmosphere throughout the book which made it really uneasy for me to read at times. Still, I couldn't stop reading it as well. I feel the author Margot Hunt intended for this book to be a window into the soul of people who tend to do terrible things without conscience and I must say she has been very successful with her objective. Can't wait to read more of her works.

In Margot Hunt’s ‘Lovely Girls’, Kate Turner and her daughter, Alex, embark on a new beginning in the coastal town of Shoreham, Florida, after the untimely death of Kate's husband. However, their hopes for a tranquil existence are swiftly disrupted when Alex becomes the victim of unrelenting bullying orchestrated by a group of girls within the community. Kate initially underestimates the severity of the situation, but as chilling warnings from other parents and neighbors reach her, she starts questioning the true nature of her new friends, the girls’ moms.

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Setting: The beachside town of Shoreham, Florida

Main Characters:
1. Kate Turner: A widow and mother who moves to Shoreham with her daughter, looking for a fresh start.
2. Alex Turner: Kate's teenage daughter who becomes the victim of bullying and documents the events in her video diary.
3. Trio of Fellow Moms: Kate's fast friends in Shoreham who hide dark secrets behind their friendly façades.
4. Clique of Girls: The group of girls who target Alex and make her life miserable, their motives shrouded in mystery.

Themes:
1. Betrayal and Deceit: The story explores the consequences of trust and the dangers of relying on appearances alone.
2. Small-Town Dynamics: The narrative delves into the power of gossip, the pressure to conform, and the lengths people will go to maintain their social status.
3. Mother-Daughter Relationship: The bond between Kate and Alex is tested as they navigate the challenges of their new environment and unravel the truth together.
4. Bullying and Its Effects: The novel examines the impact of bullying on the victim and the broader implications it can have on a community.

Plot Twists:
1. The trio of moms, initially seen as supportive and friendly, are revealed to be orchestrating the bullying against Alex.
2. Kate receives warnings that the moms are dangerous and involved in sinister activities, leading her to question her friendships.
3. The motives behind the bullying become clear, uncovering a dark secret that the clique of moms is desperate to protect.
4. Alex's video diary captures a crucial piece of evidence that turns the tables and exposes the truth, leading to a thrilling climax.

Ultimately, ‘Lovely Girls’ is a gripping psychological thriller that explores the dark side of seemingly idyllic communities, revealing the lengths people will go to in order to maintain their status and the importance of trust and resilience in the face of betrayal.

Bad girls. Talking 'bout bad bad girls.

While there’s nothing necessarily new when it comes to this story, there’s just something about a mean girl that really hits the spot for me.

As I said, the premise here isn’t one that hasn’t been done before. Mom and daughter relocate for a fresh start. Mom gets taken in by the resident mom squad, but their mean girl daughters don’t do the same for the new girl. It kicks off right from the jump with a dead body, but you don’t find out who said corpse is until Part II, and the rest of the time is spent figuring out whodunit. This gets 4 Stars for being perfectly satisfying. I was in the mood for some Lifetime Stabby Stab action and found this one to be . . . so fetch.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

I loved this book !! I am such a huge fan of mean girls with mean moms and the karma that comes back to bite them in the ass. This book was unique also with the alternating chapters from Alex's video diary. I loved that form of media mixed in. This book was like mean girls and big little lies mixed together and I LOVED IT!!