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A review by unabridgedreads
The Girls Are All So Nice Here by L.E. Flynn
5.0
4.5
The Girls Are All So Nice Here was an anticipated release; a novel focused on a toxic female friendship at university? Sign me up. The novel even ended up on the creative research list for my own novel. Still I went into the novel with low expectations, I hadn’t heard any reviews and I hadn’t enjoyed the author’s last release, even though it sounded more perfect for me than this one. I expected nothing higher than a 3 star from The Girls Are All So Nice Here , so how am I here with a 4.5/5 star?
The Girls Are All So Nice Here is told in alternating timelines: following Ambrosia Wellington as a student at Wesleyan, and Ambrosia Wellington returning to Wesleyan ten years later for a reunion. Present Ambrosia is both frightened and determined not to return to Wesleyan due to an intense and volatile friendship she found herself in at the time that lead her to make very very bad decisions.
Even though the novel is pitched as ‘Secret History meets Gone Girl’ and is labelled as a thriller, I found this novel seemed more like a fiction novel with thrilling aspects; if I went into this novel expecting/wanting a traditional thriller vibe I would have been disappointed.
While I enjoyed both parts of the novel I did prefer the past timeline, still I couldn’t stop reading and looking forward to reveals in both. Like other reviews of the novel, I do agree that the reveals can be predictable but to me this didn’t take from the value, especially as I didn’t read it as a ‘thriller’. That ending however was not expected at all, I literally threw the book across the room. But on reflection the ending was the best way for The Girls Are All So Nice Here to be left, something I need some time away to realise.
The main reason I had to rate this so highly was because I haven’t been this attached to a book when reading for a while, I even cried. Laurie Elizabeth Flynn and her writing (both smart and talented) had me putting off sleep to keep turning the pages.
When talking to other readers I have found I may be in the minority here, and due to this I wouldn’t widely recommend the novel. For me The Girls Are All So Nice Here was such a engrossing read that gave me that feeling I was scared I had lost - having fun and loving reading again.
Overall there is only one word to describe The Girls Are All So Nice Here and that would be TWISTED.
Beware there are explicit triggering scenes on page, so please look these up before reading if you need to.
The Girls Are All So Nice Here was an anticipated release; a novel focused on a toxic female friendship at university? Sign me up. The novel even ended up on the creative research list for my own novel. Still I went into the novel with low expectations, I hadn’t heard any reviews and I hadn’t enjoyed the author’s last release, even though it sounded more perfect for me than this one. I expected nothing higher than a 3 star from The Girls Are All So Nice Here , so how am I here with a 4.5/5 star?
The Girls Are All So Nice Here is told in alternating timelines: following Ambrosia Wellington as a student at Wesleyan, and Ambrosia Wellington returning to Wesleyan ten years later for a reunion. Present Ambrosia is both frightened and determined not to return to Wesleyan due to an intense and volatile friendship she found herself in at the time that lead her to make very very bad decisions.
Even though the novel is pitched as ‘Secret History meets Gone Girl’ and is labelled as a thriller, I found this novel seemed more like a fiction novel with thrilling aspects; if I went into this novel expecting/wanting a traditional thriller vibe I would have been disappointed.
While I enjoyed both parts of the novel I did prefer the past timeline, still I couldn’t stop reading and looking forward to reveals in both. Like other reviews of the novel, I do agree that the reveals can be predictable but to me this didn’t take from the value, especially as I didn’t read it as a ‘thriller’. That ending however was not expected at all, I literally threw the book across the room. But on reflection the ending was the best way for The Girls Are All So Nice Here to be left, something I need some time away to realise.
The main reason I had to rate this so highly was because I haven’t been this attached to a book when reading for a while, I even cried. Laurie Elizabeth Flynn and her writing (both smart and talented) had me putting off sleep to keep turning the pages.
When talking to other readers I have found I may be in the minority here, and due to this I wouldn’t widely recommend the novel. For me The Girls Are All So Nice Here was such a engrossing read that gave me that feeling I was scared I had lost - having fun and loving reading again.
Overall there is only one word to describe The Girls Are All So Nice Here and that would be TWISTED.
Beware there are explicit triggering scenes on page, so please look these up before reading if you need to.