Lovely Girls

By: Margot Hunt

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC of this book!

Kate and her daughter Alex moved to FL looking to make a fresh start after her husband passed away.  Kate quickly makes friends with a trio of mothers, but her daughter hasn’t been so lucky.  The daughters of the three women dislike Alex and begin bullying her.  Kate is warned by her neighbor about the trio of mothers, but Kate insists they are nice.  Kate soon realizes that these women are not who they thought they were – women who will do anything to get what they want.  But Kate and Alex find themselves in a web of lies, jealously, and betrayal.

This is the typical teenage mean girl clique trope.  But this one is one that takes the trope and adds so much more!  The length these girls go to is astonishing!  Lovely Girls is a very enjoyable, easy to read book.  It was very easy to be sympathetic to Alex, the teenage girl that is being bullied.  While the scenarios of bullying are specific her and her circumstances, it easily brought me back to the days when I was in high school and being bullied.  My only issue with the book is that it did take a little long with the setup and getting to the point.  When it did finally reach the point, there was a climatic scene and then it just all wrapped up so easily, and so quickly.  I would have liked more after that moment.  I would recommend this book to any thriller/mystery reader.

This book will be available on March 1, 2023. You can get your copy here.