Girls Will Be Girls

After Mallory moves to Herldsburg, MA, with her family, she’s desperate to make friends with the Sweet Hill Moms, a group of women who walk the neighborhood every day. That is, when they’re taking breaks from their successful Instagram accounts that document their perfect lives. Mallory feels far less glam, looking after two small kids and barely making it financially while her husband doesn’t lift a finger at home. When she’s accepted to the exclusive friend group, it’s more bitchy than she expected, and it seems like this will be a takedown of wealthy suburban moms. But Stava’s absorbing thriller turns into something quite different, offering unexpected characters and motivations and a satisfying and detailed story of what happens when girls will be girls. This has the tone of Big Little Lies, and Stava’s Count My Lies will soon be a TV series of its own; a screen adaptation of Mallory and her neighbors’ shocking-in-the-best-way tale can’t be far behind.—Henrietta Thornton