abbiemreads's review
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Self harm, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Drug use, and Pregnancy
abbiexhope's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
Minor: Blood, Drug use, and Sexual content
bookishgoob's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Before the ending, i was thinking this book was gonna be a 4-4.5 star read, but the ending fell so flat for me.
I loved the exploration of toxic female friendships and the feeling that you’re competing with the group or person that you want to be friends with. The uncomfortable thought of “do i hate this person or do i love them? do i want to be friends? is this an enemy?” Mean girls come in so many different shells, and the fact that Amb couldn’t admit that she was mean is one of the biggest types of mean girls there is. The quote earlier in the book where sully tells amb “flora is a mean girl, she’s a bitch. at least i can own it” felt like a subtle stab at Amb, because amb did the same thing. she hid behind her moral high ground. destroying Flora and her relationships because Flora had something she want. She had to make flora the villain in her fantasy. </ I think it’s really a bad choice to have ambrosia go to jail and have Poppy basically take over her life. it didn’t feel like justice to me. It felt like just another generation of mean girls, where poppy is hiding behind her moral high ground of “she did this to my sister so i’ll do this to her” the last chapter made me angry. Killing off Sully and Kevin and having Amb go to jail made me feel like the author didn’t know really how she wanted to end the story. I also feel like killing Kevin was just Poppy’s way to get rid of him. He was an asshole, sure, but he didn’t have anything to do with Flora’s death. it was completely Sully and Amb. killing Kevin was a vendetta because she never liked him. getting rid of these characters was lazy and honestly boring. Also it wasn’t revealed or clear what actually happened to Flora. Did sully kill her?>
I was invested in this story and the way the story was told. i’ve come to enjoy dual timelines because it adds so much depth to the story. I enjoyed the story, again, up until the last chapter. it’s a quick read so i do recommend it.
I loved the exploration of toxic female friendships and the feeling that you’re competing with the group or person that you want to be friends with. The uncomfortable thought of “do i hate this person or do i love them? do i want to be friends? is this an enemy?” Mean girls come in so many different shells, and the fact that Amb couldn’t admit that she was mean is one of the biggest types of mean girls there is. The quote earlier in the book where sully tells amb “flora is a mean girl, she’s a bitch. at least i can own it” felt like a subtle stab at Amb, because amb did the same thing. she hid behind her moral high ground. destroying Flora and her relationships because Flora had something she want. She had to make flora the villain in her fantasy. </ I think it’s really a bad choice to have ambrosia go to jail and have Poppy basically take over her life. it didn’t feel like justice to me. It felt like just another generation of mean girls, where poppy is hiding behind her moral high ground of “she did this to my sister so i’ll do this to her” the last chapter made me angry. Killing off Sully and Kevin and having Amb go to jail made me feel like the author didn’t know really how she wanted to end the story. I also feel like killing Kevin was just Poppy’s way to get rid of him. He was an asshole, sure, but he didn’t have anything to do with Flora’s death. it was completely Sully and Amb. killing Kevin was a vendetta because she never liked him. getting rid of these characters was lazy and honestly boring. Also it wasn’t revealed or clear what actually happened to Flora. Did sully kill her?>
I was invested in this story and the way the story was told. i’ve come to enjoy dual timelines because it adds so much depth to the story. I enjoyed the story, again, up until the last chapter. it’s a quick read so i do recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/injury detail, and Mental illness
elaineplack's review against another edition
dark
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
hayhayriles's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I read a lot of psych thrillers and this one wasn’t my favorite. The twists were pretty predictable leading up to them and I much prefer when the voice of the story has at least some redeeming quality, Amb did not at all.
Just ok, would necessarily recommend, but it wasn’t a bad read.
Just ok, would necessarily recommend, but it wasn’t a bad read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
Minor: Fatphobia
soobooksalot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"I don't know if it's disgusting or impressive that girls can do that for each other. That we can achieve that level of deceit in the name of sisterhood."
For me, The Girls Are All So Nice Here has Heathers vibes without the satire.
Someone died at Wesleyan University 14 years ago. And someone knows how it really happened.
A reunion invitation is accompanied by a note sent to three people who were involved with the deceased, stating "we need to talk about what we did that night".
Chapters alternate between "then" and "now", chronicling the toxic friendship between Ambrosia Wellington and Sloane Sullivan, aka Sully, during their time at Wesleyan and at the reunion.
Manipulation, lies, power through sex, and distortion through it all with the party substances of youth make up the story.
It's tense, it's taut, it's awful and it's fantastic reading.
These are not girls you want to be, or be friends with, but you can't look away.
I'll definitely be picking up whatever Canadian author Laurie Elizabeth Flynn writes next, assuming it's in the same dark vein as this one. Recommended!
For me, The Girls Are All So Nice Here has Heathers vibes without the satire.
Someone died at Wesleyan University 14 years ago. And someone knows how it really happened.
A reunion invitation is accompanied by a note sent to three people who were involved with the deceased, stating "we need to talk about what we did that night".
Chapters alternate between "then" and "now", chronicling the toxic friendship between Ambrosia Wellington and Sloane Sullivan, aka Sully, during their time at Wesleyan and at the reunion.
Manipulation, lies, power through sex, and distortion through it all with the party substances of youth make up the story.
It's tense, it's taut, it's awful and it's fantastic reading.
These are not girls you want to be, or be friends with, but you can't look away.
I'll definitely be picking up whatever Canadian author Laurie Elizabeth Flynn writes next, assuming it's in the same dark vein as this one. Recommended!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Self harm
lunahbird's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Update:
I can’t stop thinking about this book. Bumped it up to a 4.5
4.25⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A story of wanting to be accepted, seen, loved but at what cost? A true mean girls book. Obsession, destruction, lies, guilt, murder, revenge. All things I wasn’t expecting but it sucked me in until the very end.
It was an interesting and uncomfortable take to be in the POV of one of the mean girls. To be inside her head and thoughts as things spiraled out of control.
I would’ve loved a bit more clarity at the end. But I guess that’s what keeps you thinking about it even after you’ve finished reading it.
I enjoyed it a lot!
I can’t stop thinking about this book. Bumped it up to a 4.5
4.25⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A story of wanting to be accepted, seen, loved but at what cost? A true mean girls book. Obsession, destruction, lies, guilt, murder, revenge. All things I wasn’t expecting but it sucked me in until the very end.
It was an interesting and uncomfortable take to be in the POV of one of the mean girls. To be inside her head and thoughts as things spiraled out of control.
I would’ve loved a bit more clarity at the end. But I guess that’s what keeps you thinking about it even after you’ve finished reading it.
I enjoyed it a lot!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
deedireads's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a brutal, twisted thriller with a wild ending, told from the perspective of the mean girl herself.
For you if: You like thrillers and narrators that people love to hate.
FULL REVIEW:
First, big thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me an advance copy of this one. I veryyy rarely read thrillers; they just aren’t my thing. But every once in a while it’s nice to mix things up and read something different from the heavier literary fiction and complex fantasy I gravitate to.
The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a mean girls story flipped inside out: The narrator is the bully. That, in itself, is a really interesting choice that makes this book do something that others in the genre don’t. Ambrosia “Amb” Wellington is a pretty terrible person, all of it stemming from an overwhelming hunger to feel accepted and validated. The timeline flips back and forth between her freshman year of college and what happened with her roommate, and the present day at her 10-year college reunion as she desperately tries to hide her secrets (and past self) from her husband.
There’s no doubt that Laurie Elizabeth Flynn can write a story that keeps you reading. The ending of this one wasn’t so much a twist — the devastating details are revealed gradually throughout — as a shock. I just never would have expected her to do that. And the epilogue is the WTF icing on the cake.
This is an uncomfortable, brutal, gripping story about the devastating effects of the toxic gender expectations that lead women to hurt and compete with one another. If you like to read thrillers and are looking for something that sets itself apart with interesting choices (not to mention an author who’s sure to be a new talent to follow), pick this one up.
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a brutal, twisted thriller with a wild ending, told from the perspective of the mean girl herself.
For you if: You like thrillers and narrators that people love to hate.
FULL REVIEW:
First, big thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me an advance copy of this one. I veryyy rarely read thrillers; they just aren’t my thing. But every once in a while it’s nice to mix things up and read something different from the heavier literary fiction and complex fantasy I gravitate to.
The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a mean girls story flipped inside out: The narrator is the bully. That, in itself, is a really interesting choice that makes this book do something that others in the genre don’t. Ambrosia “Amb” Wellington is a pretty terrible person, all of it stemming from an overwhelming hunger to feel accepted and validated. The timeline flips back and forth between her freshman year of college and what happened with her roommate, and the present day at her 10-year college reunion as she desperately tries to hide her secrets (and past self) from her husband.
There’s no doubt that Laurie Elizabeth Flynn can write a story that keeps you reading. The ending of this one wasn’t so much a twist — the devastating details are revealed gradually throughout — as a shock. I just never would have expected her to do that. And the epilogue is the WTF icing on the cake.
This is an uncomfortable, brutal, gripping story about the devastating effects of the toxic gender expectations that lead women to hurt and compete with one another. If you like to read thrillers and are looking for something that sets itself apart with interesting choices (not to mention an author who’s sure to be a new talent to follow), pick this one up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Blood, and Sexual content
whatskatiereading's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book but there are a LOT of content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Rape
literarymarvel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I don’t like books that put girls against girls. And I hate psychological and emotional manipulation. And that is literally all this book is: two narcissistic, drugged up, drunk college girls who ruin another girl’s life - all because they can. The four stars for this novel are primarily for the writing. It’s gripping, suspenseful, and leaves you reeling with that ending. But it was a total trauma to read. So if you struggle with any of the trigger content warnings, don’t read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts