Nice Girls: A Novel

Written by Catherine Dang

Narrated by Carlotta Brentan

“Darkly delicious . . . Nice Girls is about the girlhood we never really leave behind, and what happens when we dare to confront our past demons. A pulsating mystery with a narrator you won't soon forget.” — Laura Dave, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Last Thing He Told Me

""If you’re a total true crime addict, Catherine Dang’s debut novel will have you hooked real fast."" — Cosmopolitan

Recommended by New York Times Book Review • Entertainment Weekly • Cosmopolitan • Los Angeles Times • Harper's Bazaar • New York Post • E! Online • Bustle • Popsugar • CrimeReads • The Nerd Daily • PureWow • Mystery & Suspense Magazine • Criminal Element • and more!

A pulse-pounding and razor-sharp debut with the emotional punch of Luckiest Girl Alive and All the Missing Girls that explores the hungry, angry, dark side of girlhood and dares to ask: Which is more dangerous for a woman—showing the world what it wants to see, or who she really is?

What did you do?

Mary used to be such a nice girl. She was the resident whiz kid of Liberty Lake, Minnesota—the quiet, chubby teen with the scholarship to an Ivy League school. But three years later, “Ivy League Mary” is back—a thinner, cynical, restless failure who was kicked out of Cor­nell at the beginning of her senior year and won’t tell anyone why. Taking a job at the local grocery store, Mary tries to make sense of her life’s sharp downward spiral.

Then beautiful, magnetic Olivia Willand goes missing. A rising social media star, Olivia is admired by everyone in Liberty Lake—except Mary. Once Olivia’s best friend, Mary knows better than anyone that behind the Instagram persona hides a willful, manipulative girl with sharp edges. As the town obsesses over perfect, lovely Olivia, Mary wonders if her disappearance might be tied to another missing person: nineteen-year-old DeMaria Jackson, whose case has been widely dismissed as a runaway.

Who is the real Olivia Willand, and where did she go? What happened to DeMaria? As Mary pries at the cracks in the careful facades surrounding the two missing girls, old wounds will bleed fresh and force her to confront a horrible truth.

Maybe there are no nice girls, after all.

“Complex characters, questionable choices, and conflicted feelings about who we are and the people we leave behind combine in a compelling thriller that will have you flipping pages to discover how it all fits together.”— Darby Kane, #1 internationally bestselling author of Pretty Little Wife

“Nice Girls finds itself among the most haunting of mysteries, those that resonate with our current affairs, like Alyssa Cole’s When No One Is Watching and Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind. Perfect for the millennial armchair detective, Nice Girls will satisfy your true crime addiction and intensify your desire for justice.”— Paperback Paris

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063027589

Catherine Dang

Catherine Dang is a former legal assistant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. Nice Girls is her first novel.

Reviews for Nice Girls

[Morgan · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Boring. I waited till chapter 20 to see if anything interesting would happen, but finally gave up.

[L Wag · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Seems to use social justice issues as a gimmick to be relevant. Every character is unlikable and the "mystery" is badly written. Great cover, but I'd pass.

[sana.haroon710 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Worth reading. Great character development and message, the plot starts and ends well, worth looking past the middle.

[Kandace Simpson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was pretty good, I wished it had a little more accurate medical scenes. Nobody puts alcohol on an open wound. Definitely gonna need something stronger than 3 aspirin. I get than that. I will for sure read another book by this author.

[Barb Powell · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh. The narrator was annoying and it was at least 50-75 pages too long

[jynell-71874 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We all know of a few of "those girls" from High School. The pretty girl who seemingly has everything you want and her life is just perfect? Got her name? Now picture yourself 10 years down the road and she's missing. Are you helping to search for her or sitting on the couch thinking she had it coming?



Mary wasn't "that" girl, but she had been friends with her for most of her childhood before going their separate ways. But now Mary is back home after being booted from her Ivy League school and "that girl", aka Olivia, is missing.



If I'm being honest, I didn't feel as connected to Mary or any of the other characters as I think I should have been. She was a strong character, Sure, I empathized with her, but something just didn't make me love her. A brilliant mind in a dark place...The first half of the book alluded to why she was kicked out of school but once it was finally revealed, it just didn't feel all that... juicy? I think the book would have been helped if the reader know the why much sooner and could have related to Mary in regards to this...



There was a lot of thought processing throughout the book and if I hadn't been so dang curious about where Olivia was or her connection to DeMaria (the other missing girl), I probably wouldn't have finished the book. BUT, the fact that I felt I just had to know is a definite plus for Catherine Dang - great job at grabbing my curiosity and keeping me turning the pages!



And then the ending... What really happened to Olivia and DeMaria? Well, that was thrilling. It felt like watching a good thrilling movie - another kudos to Catherine! I'm not going to give away anything...



So overall, I think many people are going to love this book. I think that my feelings are probably the outcome the author was striving for even - that disconnect with Mary and the relationships surrounding her. Because, after all, they are the real winner of this book. This isn't a sick and twisted thriller if that's what you're hoping for - but it is definitely a book you'll want to absorb even if you don't understand exactly why...



Thank you William Morrow for allowing me to read this and give my honest opinion.

[mutantpudding · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The mystery wasnt bad but the motives were a bit shaky in my opinion. My main issue is I hated the protagonist. Her constant self deprecations were grating and never really addressed in a meaningful way. I kept waiting for the book to counter her internalized fatphobia but it never did. Ultimately I found her to be morally corrupt for her handling of events later in the book and her interactions with law enforcement.

[arlenadean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Title: Nice GirlsAuthor: Catherine DangPublisher: William Morrow and Custom HouseReviewed By: Arlena DeanRating: FourReview:"Nice Girls" by Catherine DangMy Opinion:'Nice Girls' was one heck of a crime thriller with so many twists and turns that the reader will have to keep up with all that was going on, especially for Mary, who grew up in Minnesota, chubby unattractive, and poor. However, Mary was smart to get a full scholarship to an Ivy League college, Cornell, until she was expelled and now back home to Liberty Lake working in a grocery store while dodging questions about what had happened.It wasn't long after Mary found a job at the grocery store she gets involved with a friend who seemed to have vanished without a trace, and for some reason, she wants to get involved. Also, there was a Black single mother, DeMaria that had also disappeared. Is this the work of a serial killer? Will Mary put herself into situations that will have her becoming the next victim? The story will suck one in as you continue to read.The author really gives the reader quite a read because it seemed like all of these characters were flawed and emotionally damaged in one way or another. Was there anyone in this story to really like?The story was somewhat fast-paced with a unique multi-layered plot that brought in characters from elementary, high school, and even college that brought in some emotional, dark, and even disturbing subjects. Having a disgraced student to missing girls who turn up dead will give the reader quite a web that will come out quite interesting. Unfortunately, that ending was something that you will have to pick up 'Nice Girls' to see how this ending was 'super cinematic and wild' that one will not see coming.Be ready for a good read that had issues that explored bullying and racism.Thank you, NetGallery, and William Morrow, for allowing me to read and give my honest opinion.

[choirchik · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked the premise of the book, but what an unlikable MC. Getting into an ivy league school is an awesome accomplishment and getting kicked out sucks, but it was your fault, and now you have to pay the consequences. GET OVER IT. For 200 (TWO HUNDRED) pages, she acted like there were no other colleges in the whole United States she could go to where she could finish her degree.The identity of the killer never crossed my mind. So that was a nice twist after having to deal with Mary the entire book. But again, she annoyed me even during what was supposed to be a suspenseful, exciting ending. I don't care that you are wondering, for a page and a half, what Olivia must have gone through during this same scene. This happens at least twice.Again, I liked the story and the twist, and I liked Charice, I wish she was in the book more. For a first novel, I do think it was pretty good.