Nice Girls written by Catherine Dang

PUB DATE: Sept 7, 2021

22-yo Mary just started her senior year at Cornell. She was boring but smart “Fat Mary” all through high school until she became “Ivy League Mary”. But one very bad decision & she’s expelled from university & living back home with her father in Minnesota, working minimum wage.

Immediately, she finds out one of her old childhood rivals went missing & things get more sinister when another girl’s arm washes ashore at a local beach. What’s really going on here?

Catherine Dang’s debut psych thriller is fast-paced, thrilling & had me on the edge of my seat towards the end. Unfortunately for me, I already guessed the killer in the beginning & I never guess the killer! I had questions while reading this! Sometimes I want things to be detail oriented.. Like it has to add up & in this novel things just didn’t add up. For Ex, Why would anyone bury an arm a couple of days after it was found? Isn’t this a murder investigation – it should take months for it to get back home to the family. Why would anyone with a hunting background bring a rifle for close hand to hand combat? You bring a handgun.

And what is up with Mary? I felt bad for her, she didn’t deserve to get kicked out of Cornell but she’s so dysphoric & self-loathing. She also messes up a few lives while she was at it. Like GIRL – GET IT TOGETHER.

While Dang dabbles with the realization that many people are never who they are on social media and how different poor black communities are treated by the police and society in general in comparison to rich, white communities, it didn’t really connect at the end. It just ended abruptly without any resolution.
I enjoyed the dark vibe that I’d expect from a book with this title & cover (which I love!). I do look forward to Dang honing her skills as a writer and I am sure to read her future books.

Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for this sending me this ARC!