Every member of The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni, are beautiful, high-achieving, and universally respected.
After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being one of the chosen few accepted into The House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future. Once she’s taken into their fold, the House will surely ease her fears of failure and protect her from those who see a young woman on her own as easy prey.
Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley is struggling to return to work after accepting a demotion to support her partner’s new position at the cutthroat University. After 18 months at home with her newborn daughter, Sloane’s clothes don’t fit right, her girl-dad husband isn’t as present as he thinks he is, and even the few hours a day she’s apart from her child fill her psyche with paralyzing ennui. When invited to be The House’s academic liaison, Sloane enviously drinks in the way the alumnae seem to have it all, achieving a level of collective perfection that Sloane so desperately craves.
As Nina and Sloane each get drawn deeper into the arcane rituals of the sisterhood, they learn that living well comes with bloody costs. And when they are finally invited to the table, they will have to decide just how much they can stomach in the name of solidarity and power.
⤖ My Review ⬻
I’ve read a number of books by Olivie Blake, and really enjoyed them. I always appreciated the originality of the stories, but also found myself struggling wit hteh writing. It always felt like I was being held at arm’s length, which made it difficult for me to really, really get immersed (specifically with One For My Enemy). So, I was a little hesitant to pick up Girl Dinner…but the promise of horror eventually did me in. And I’m so glad that I gave in, because I didn’t have the same issue with the writing here!
I found the writing in Girl Dinner completely approachable, even the sections using academic language—if anything, those sections made me feel nostalgic for my grad student days! On that note, I also enjoyed the college setting as well as characters from different aspects of college/university life—professors, teaching assistant, students. Also, wow did I ever identify with Dr. Sloane Hartley in the parts that focused on her struggle with being a new mom, having to return to work but not wanting to leave her child…some of that really hit home.
I wasn’t sure how Blake would handle horror, but now having read Girl Dinner, I can absolutely tell you that if she writes more horror, I will definitely be reading it! Some parts made my jaw drop—I was both shocked and entertained. I won’t say more on that to avoid giving anything away. So I’ll just wrap by sayinig that Girl Dinner will be sticking with me for a long, long time.
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
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I’ve read two books by the author and loved one (One For My Enemy which you’ve mentioned struggling to connect too) and another (Januaries) that I just couldn’t click with. This one sounds promising and I’m curious to see what her approach to the horror here is like now too.