Nice Girls by Catherine Dang

 A dark psychological thriller that delves into the long-lasting effects of a tortured adolescence.

Mary was meant to finally escape her past and Liberty Lake, Minnesota, when she worked hard to get a scholarship to Cornell University. She thrives at college and is ready for her senior year and graduation when she does something that gets her expelled from school and sent home in disgrace.
Back in Liberty Lake, Mary finds that she can't escape who she really is at her core: angry. She takes a low level job at the local grocery store to start paying off the outstanding student loans, but she and her widowed father stumble through the days and "Ivy League Mary" now fully understands that she is not going anywhere.

Then, an old childhood friend, Olivia Willand, disappears and the town goes bonkers to try to find her. Olivia was everything Mary was not -- rich, beautiful, popular, and a rising social media personality. The discovery of a dismembered arm near the lake sends the community into a frenzy, but the remains are not Olivia but belong to another teenager, DeMaria Jackson. Are these two girls linked somehow? Is there a serial killer in this sleepy town? Mary feels bad about her estrangement from Olivia all these years but old resentments only fuel her guilt so she decides to do a bit of investigating. Mostly Mary only makes matters worse for herself and others, but she does not quit. No spoilers.

The premise was intriguing and the first person narrative by Mary really puts the reader in her head. Sorry to say, but Mary is really quite a mess. I felt sorry for her and also aggravated at other times. She's a hard character to like. This was a decent debut, but the story really never developed the tension or veracity to get to the point of all the angst. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be social commentary or a murder mystery, and the conclusion was a bit limp after everything that happens. As I always say when exposed to characters like Mary -- she really needs some good therapy! I liked it well enough and will look for this author's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this e-book ARC to read and review.  

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - psychological fiction, maybe more suitable for YA audience