2.5/5
Considering the premise of this book, I was surprised to find myself frequently bored throughout this book.
The pacing was just off for me, and while parts of it were definitely unsettling and bizarre, others just dragged on.
Overall this book just ended up not appealing to me much at all.
Having said that, I would definitely read more from this author in the future, because I think just the overall subject and pacing didn't work for me here.

DNF This one just wasn’t for me. The narrative centers heavily on a mother’s reflections and complaints about motherhood, which I found hard to relate to. While Olivie Blake’s writing is always thoughtful, the themes didn’t resonate with me personally. That said, I’m sure it will strike a chord with readers who connect more deeply with the subject matter.

This book feels like AI looked at trending themes; female rage, cannibalism, TikTok horror and written a draft for the author to write.

This book is absolutely not for me and I hate reading things that are trendy for trendy sake, what did surprise me is how well Blake did write this. All of the satirical, quick and wittiness is exquisite and even I found myself nodding along at point. The author is hugely talented but the book and plot were way too silly to me.

This was a 3-star read for me for the following reasons: the pacing felt a bit slow, and I think the first 40% lacked any real tension build-up. The dual timelines were fine and offered a two-dimensional perspective on the sorority.

Cannibalism does feel like the trendy horror theme right now. And because it was combined with female rage, it seems written to appeal to a broad audience.

Personally, I was looking for more depth and stronger motivations for why they chose the men they did. I also wanted more exploration of what they thought they were gaining from it. As it is, it felt a bit generic, which made a number of the characters come across as pushovers. I mean, who just goes along with it when your friends ask if you want to join in, and the main course is your creepy, sexually inappropriate male professor?

Girl Dinner is a sharp, darkly witty exploration of identity, desire, and the quiet chaos beneath everyday life. Olivie Blake blends biting social commentary with her signature lyrical prose, crafting a story that's as unsettling as it is thought-provoking. A bold, genre-blurring read that lingers long after the last bite.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Girl Dinner, but what I got was a haunting mix of psychological tension, cult-like obsession, and academic satire. It was nothing like what I’ve read before.

Olivie Blake nails the unsettling vibes of elite academia and cult-like sisterhoods, with two strong leads : Nina, a desperate sophomore, and Sloane, a jaded professor. Nina’s hunger to belong to The House is so intense and visceral, it was almost chilling to read!

Some moments felt like it leaned more into style than clarity, and a few twists felt slightly predictable. But honestly, I was gripped the entire time.

You’ll laugh, you’ll wince, and you’ll definitely do some self-reflecting as you read Girl Dinner. Think Heathers meets Legally Blonde. This is a satirical take on what it means to be a woman in today’s society, and how far you could go to ‘Have It All’.

I really enjoyed a lot of the writing - lines like ‘Sloane was able to recall a thread of sensations she’d always hated, like realising it was April Fools’ Day. or the third night with no contact after having trusted that a boy would call you back’. It was descriptive and personal, and really expressive about the characters’ feelings and opinions.

The first half of the book was a bit slow - nothing really happened until past the 50% mark when things started picking up and the story really got going. I would have preferred it to be faster moving, the pace felt a bit uneven. The chapters about Sloane in the first half just really dug deeply into her experience of motherhood and how much she was suffering - I get that it was a core part of her character but it felt quite repetitive and to be honest was hard to connect with. It felt like a lot of complaining about her feelings on the martyrdom of motherhood, which was key to the plot to a point but really did go on.

I found Nina far more interesting - her motivation was different and I found her narrative more gripping. I would have preferred to see much more through her eyes. Her fascination with the sorority definitely resonated with me - we don’t have these where I’m from, so they’ve always been an interesting concept.

Once things picked up, this was a great read! It was very in the vein of Heathers or Bunnys - perfect, untouchable females with dark secrets who suddenly are not so perfect or safe. I really enjoyed the second half of the book, and it took some crazy turns.

The running commentary on feminism is interesting, if a bit long-winded at times. It was really fascinating hearing the inner monologues comparing various takes on what it means to be an empowered woman - is it choosing what you want for yourself? Is it living up to certain archetypes? How far should you go to be An Empowered Woman? Can you really have it all?

Overall this is a good read and I’d recommend it to fans of fierce female books - it’s darkly funny and very thought-provoking.

I ate this up like it was Monday night dinner at The House! Sloane is an incredibly relatable character and her entire spiral shaped arc echoes so much of my own journey into motherhood. Do I think Blake flogged the point a little at times - perhaps. It’s impossible to miss the point that is being made while reading but honestly sometimes I think that’s necessary and it was refreshing to see an author speak so openly on the issues facing modern day women. What is a “good woman” anyway… I’d love to finally know.

It’s true, girls do deserve a little treat. I don’t know if it’s the getting close to hitting 30 and feeling like my life isn’t exactly where I wanted it to be that pulled me into this book or that fact that it’s just full of female empowerment and levelling the playing field in what can only be a man’s world.

This story surrounds “The House” an illusive sorority that hails incredibly successful alumni that excel in their chosen professional field. This book follows two women, one thirty something new mother heading back to work as a lecturer at the college, and a sophomore pledging for the prestigious sorority in hopes that they can help her reclaim her life and aid her in her hopes to become a successful lawyer. As we get further into learning the secrets of The House and the price to be paid for health, beauty and success.. will our protagonists be willing to pay it?

Olivie is an amazing author and had me captivated and intrigued from the start. I came for Olivie, I stayed for the “good for her” cannibals.

What a journey! It was my first Olivie Blake and now I want to read everything! It was written so cleverly and craftfully. The suspense and unease was so gradual and consistent. The range of characters added so much to the story and were so fully developed.

I loved this so much! The perspective of two typically 'stereotypical' characters had depth and I loved the premise and key themes. The ending did feel rushed which was a shame as upon reflection I could establish what had happened but it being more obvious and longer would have been better. That didn't detract from how much I loved this though!

What does it mean to be a 'good woman'?. Olivie Blake explores this and rakes through feminism in a hauntingly gory way. I loved the concept, I could relate to so many of the characters struggles - balancing work, family life, self-care, being a wife and womanhood in general. I would have liked more background on the ritualistic elements, purely for my own interest. I really enjoyed Olivie's prose in this novel, I felt swept away by it at times in a good way. A great novel to get your teeth into.

I was so excited to read this from the moment I heard about it, so I was delighted to receive this ARC! It was fairly obvious to me where this book might go by the title, which is fine as I don’t feel Olivie Blake intended this to be a big reveal/twist.

Although a little slow plot wise, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters of Sloane and Nina, and could see myself in both. So many important themes are dissected and discussed in Girl Dinner, and will likely echo how many women feel about feminism and ‘trying to have it all’.

Olivie Blake’s writing is excellent, however I do sometimes feel like she over complicates her prose and makes it unnecessarily wordy - I find myself needing to go back and reread lines when I am particularly tired! I also find some words are overused - in this case, ‘eldritch’.

I also might have liked a little more detail about the ritual, but the plot didn’t really feel lacking without it.

I really enjoyed the ending and this did genuinely give me a surprise, which was a fun way to finish off the novel. The final couple of pages left my jaw hanging open as I did not see what happened coming at all!

this was a messed up, crazy feminist story of feminism that made me questioning EVERYTHING the whole way through.
I loved the politics of sorority life and the extremes they went to just added to this craziness! 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was easily one of my favourite reads of the year so far - integrating cannibalism in a creative and unique way, Girl Dinner tells multiple stories of sisterhood, feminism and the spectrum of being a woman.

The writing is superb, the pacing on point and the characters written in such a varied and engaging way that the reader can't help but turn the page.

The ending, in particular, had me needing to go back and reread, just to make sure I understood the first time.

An Olivie Blake masterpiece, once again!

I read this book in one sitting. It was compulsive reading. A great Satire. If you like a campus novel with themes of motherhood.

I’ve seen people calling this Olivie Blake’s first horror novel, but to be honest, I would be hesitant to describe Girl Dinner as a horror. I would say that this is a social commentary told through a satirical lens with horror elements. A lot of this book revolves around discussions of feminism, female rage and what it means to be a ‘good woman’.

We’re following two different women - Sloane, who is recently returning to work as an adjunct professor after having a child. A new friend asks Sloane to also come on as advisor to The House, a society of girls who have historically all gone onto be very successful following university. Sloane is a sociologist, and she is looking for her next topic for publication, and she decides that the success of The House would be a great topic. However, there’s a dark secret that underpins the success of all of these women.

We’re also following Nina, a sophomore who had a bit of a rough first year at university, and is now looking to join The House. She knows that The House is notorious for churning out successful women, and she wants to go on to become a lawyer after university. We explore Nina’s relationships with several different characters throughout the course of the book, as well as her learning the secrets of the society.

I will say that this was not a plot-heavy book - the focus was on the characters, as well as the discussions about feminism. However, I was still really gripped by what was going on, and I could not put this book down. Both of our female characters were really interesting, and I loved being inside their heads.

There was a strong focus on the academia side of things, especially in Sloane’s point of view, as she struggled with returning to work at the university after having her daughter, and spent a lot of time thinking about how she could further her career. With the horror elements thrown in, this did almost give me dark academia vibes.

I did feel like the ending was quite abrupt and also left a lot for the reader to interpret. I would have liked for this to be fleshed out a bit more, as I didn’t really feel like everything was properly wrapped up. This may not bother some people, but I think I was just enjoying this book so much I just wanted a bit more of it, and I would have loved to have properly explored the fallout of the actions from the end of the book.

However, I did still absolutely love this book and I’m going to be thinking about it for a while. If you’re a fan of Olivie Blake, dark academias or social commentary then I would definitely recommend picking this up when it comes out later this year.

i so wanted to love this after liking other books by the same author but i still find it a struggle to get used to her writing. especially in this one. i so wanted to love it and thought i would as the premise sounded so interesting. but it felt like the story only started after halfway through. non of the characters felt likeable at all and i don’t know if that was ever even the point. i also felt incredibly confused for that first half.
unfortunately this one just didn’t hit for me.

A book on cannibalism in a sorority should be exceptionally interesting and gruesome, but this book honestly just felt like a mashed-together mess of thoughts and opinions from our author on feminism and society as a whole, with a cannibalism plot line getting lost somewhere in the background. Blake really wants you to know how she feels about certain topics, and for me it felt very harshly shoved down my throat.

It took up until around the 60% mark for the story to actually even start going anywhere (at this point I was actually starting to enjoy my time with the novel, hence the 2⭐️ rather than 1⭐️ rating) and then it fully dropped off and I was bored again.

Also, do we now dislike women who stay at home to look after their children and cook for their husbands? Weird.

i’m always so conflicted when reading olivie blake and this was no different 😭 i feel like it definitely wasn’t what i was expecting although i was intrigued by the premise and the characterization/dynamics were so interesting!