A haunting coming-of-age tale following the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, Ronny Nguyen, as she grapples with the weight of generational trauma while navigating the violent power of teenage girlhood, for fans of Jennifer's Body and Little Fires Everywhere.

It's the summer before high school and Ronny Nguyen's days are spent dozing off to trashy magazines. In contrast stands her brother Tommy, the pride of their immigrant parents and destined to be the first in the family to attend college. The thought of Tommy leaving for college and being left alone with her parents, Me and Ba, fills Ronny with dread.

Their parents rarely speak of their past in Vietnam, except through the lens of food. Their meals are a tapestry of cultural memory: thick spring rolls with nem nuong, and steaming bowls of pho tai with slices of blood-red beef. In the aftermath of the war, Me and Ba taught Ronny and Tommy that meat was a dangerous luxury, a symbol of survival that should never be taken for granted.

But when tragedy strikes, Ronny's world is upended. Her sense of self and her understanding of her family are shattered. A few nights later at a party, a boy crosses the line, and Ronny is overtaken by a force larger than herself. This newfound power comes with an insatiable hunger for flesh, a craving that is both a saving grace and a potential destroyer.

What Hunger is a visceral, emotional journey through the bursts and pitfalls of female rage.

“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

"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 Cor nell 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