I was not able to finish this book, so it feels unfair to write a review (or rate). Since it's required, however, I will share that the writing style didn't appeal to me personally.

I have really tried to like Olivie Blake's books. I always read the description, and am so intrigued. I then buy the book, and get 50 pages in and realize I just can't get into the way she writes.

This book is about what its like to be a woman in modern day society.. but for me, it just fell completely flat. All of the characters are so unlikeable and unhinged. This book even goes so far as to delve into cannibalism.

I wanted to like it, I really did... but for me this was a DNF. I may give it another try down the road... maybe it was just a timing thing on my part.

When people think cannibalism they think horror. And Girl Dinner is not a horror book. Set in a college setting Girl Diner is a satire women’s fiction. I seem to be reading a lot of these lately. This follows Nina, a sophomore, and Sloande who is a professor. And the Cult like behavior of the sorority on campus. The House is what you would think of a successful, coveted sorority. Where beautiful college girls all want to pledge.
Now I will say for me personally the first half of the book was a lot slower and I was not as interested in it. When we hit the 55-60 percent. My attention was 100% hooked and i flew through the rest. I love Olivie Blakes writing so I am going to read whatever she writes and I do like how she ends up executing the ending of the book. I do think that Olivie Blake did hit the nail on the head when she ended up speaking on issues in the world today as well.
Overall I would rate it a 3.75
Thank you to Tor for the complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have no words other than i am going to be thinking about this book for a longgg time. A top top book of the year for sure! Girl Dinner is not going to be the book for everyone (check TW, especially for cannibalism) BUT I thought Olivie executed this concept soo well and in such a thought provoking way. Girl Dinner is a book about white, cisgender, able bodied, wealthy, educated women and the newest so called feminism trends of mom tok and tradwives, This book had so many layers to it and handled such important and timely topics in a horrific and humorous way. Like THIS IS A SATIRE!! I loved how Olivie told the story following a sorority girl and the cultlike behavior of her sorority and the other main character being a struggling mom and professor. Just all around genius. I will be raving about this book for a long time (it honestly could be my favorite of hers and that is saying a LOT).

Girl Dinner follows Nina and Sloane. Nina is hoping to join The House, which is the most popular sorority on her campus, in the hopes that it will help her to become successful, beautiful, and coveted by others as the other girls in the house seem to be. Sloane is a new mom, who is returning to her adjunct professor role at the university and is roped into being The House's faculty advisor. Sloane cannot get over how entrancing and fascinating The House is and starts to consider writing about the sorority from an academic viewpoint, which requires...research into the practices and alumni of The House.

Throughout the first like 70% of the book, there are a few hints at the types of wellness trends and meals that the girls of the House eat, and what makes the sorority so unique, but by the last 25% of the book, you are SLAMMED in the face of the secret behind the success, beauty, and health of the girls in The House. And boy is it horrifying, but also so fascinating to read about the sincerity of the girls who believe in the House's ritual and practices. Girl Dinner is a satire at its finest. It is a story told from the perspective of a group of women with very few obstacles in their way, aside from being women, who truly believe that they have found the next big practice for success, and who will stop at nothing to get what they want. I loved the juxtaposition of Sloane's POV as a young mom, completely new to the sorority, and Nina, who becomes quickly integrated into and buys into the practices. And the ending?? OH MY GOODNESS I genuinely had to shut the book.

This is not going to be a book for everyone, but it is such a thought provoking story. It has had my mind spinning on wheels, grappling with the different themes and topics since I read it. I think this is going to be a huge book of the fall! Thank you so much to Tor for the free book!!

Girl Dinner is about exactly what you expect if you look at the cover. It’s a sorority and it’s a bit cultish (but aren’t all sororities?). It’s about motherhood and what it takes to be a Good Woman

With that being said- this just missed the mark for me. I was wanting more horror but it led with lit fic for more than 70% of the novel and then we get a small dose of what we needed.

I was expecting a bit of body horror or more depth into the psychosexual analysis mentioned in regards to men, a good meal and the patriarchy. I was, unfortunately, disappointed.

Review: Whew. Look I always know going into an Olivie Blake book that I'm going to walk away feeling a little worse about the world (fuck the patriarchy, okay) but in the kind of way that lights a fire under my ass. In January 2024, my besties and I met Olivie as part of her Atlas Complex tour and she mentioned that she was working on this book and I've been dying for it ever since. Needless to say, getting my hands on this ARC was a dream come true for my 2025. Beyond that, as a mom and wife in academia (an adjunct professor at that) whose real life involves juggle all the plates and feeling all the frustration, at times this book felt like it had done a full dig through my brain and put my thoughts on the page. I laughed, I yelled, I said "hell yeah, girlie" and "oh god, please don't, babe" (over and over again). This book was phenomenal. Both Nina and Sloane were such interesting characters both trying to address the question of what does it mean to be a woman in the world? I can see myself reading and reading this book for years to come.

Synopsis: 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.

Olivie Blake’s Girl Dinner is a brilliantly subversive, darkly whimsical novel that blends satire, feminism, and pop culture into a deliciously original narrative. With her trademark wit and imaginative storytelling, Blake crafts a story that is as provocative as it is entertaining. It’s a bold exploration of identity, indulgence, and the politics of appetite—both literal and metaphorical. Each chapter is layered with clever commentary and surreal delights, creating a reading experience like no other. Fans of The Atlas Six will relish Blake’s sharp voice in this intimate yet wildly inventive book. A genre-defying gem.

The concept of Girl Dinner is SO SO SO good and interesting... unfortunately, as seems to be consistently the case with Olivie Blake, this fell flat for me in the execution. I felt like I could absolutely put this down and pick something else up with no qualms and I wasn't rushing to finish it even when I did pick it back up. I also felt the blurb really oversold the vampire piece of things – it was like a blip in the story compared to what I anticipated and thus I found myself a bit disappointed.

I loved the concept but it just wasn’t executed. It felt like she was telling us everything instead of showing and the cannibal vibes weren’t until the very end. Most of it was just fluff and I was was very bored.

Girl Dinner is a feminist lit fic horror that, through pop culture inspirations such as Jennifer’s Body and Nara Smith’s social media presence, poses two questions of modern-day womanhood. One – Do women hold any more freedom than we did in the golden age of housewives, or are we now only expected to outwardly be the best version of ourselves - the everywoman - while being stretched far too thin in order to earn respect? And can we ever be truly respected in an unwaveringly patriarchal society? Two – Can power be created and earned or must it always be taken from someone else?

I really enjoy Olivie Blake’s writing. Her word choice, structure, and depth is right up my alley. However, despite the beauty in the writing, I didn’t find that the characters were as complex as they could have been. I also felt that the timeline and plot was muddied by the overall pacing and trivial details of sorority politics.

During the first half of my read, I would have described this as a slow burn, but as I neared the end it began to simply feel as if the pacing wasn’t working. The first chunk of the book buys patience and intrigue. It builds a promising foundation, setting up the delivery of a juicy execution of the concept. Then, the entire middle section of the book works against that foundation by rehashing things that have not only been turned over several times in the mind of the characters, but are feelings and epiphanies that most - if not all - women are familiar with. All the while, we seem to get no closer to the horror aspect. Not only is the majority of the action stuffed into the last 20-30% of the story, it continues to be overshadowed by a thematic exploration that has already been thoroughly unearthed.

It’s worth stating that I’m really not a fan of the ending. While it holds true that I feel a bit robbed by the pacing and thematic focus, I mainly take issue with the choice to have many of the characters betray the unity of the sisterhood - both inherent and constructed - that occupies so much of the novel’s focus so quickly and so easily. From one perspective, we’re seeing the concept of power, corruption, and the dedication to fulfilling personal desires play out. That being said, I can’t help feeling that it was deeply unsatisfying and felt wrong for the book in many ways.

A huge thank-you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake is a dark, satirical novel that blends horror, feminism, and social critique. The story follows Nina and Sloane as they navigate a dangerous sorority that practices cannibalism, exploring themes of power, womanhood, and societal expectations. Blake’s sharp prose and dual POVs offer an engaging but unsettling read, though the pacing can feel slow at times, and the ending may leave some readers wanting more.

Rating: 4★ — Perfect for fans of thought-provoking, dark fiction.

I love everything Olivie writes and this was no exception. I was pulled in from the first page- and as a mother I felt an immediate connection to Sloane. It felt deeply personal, like Blake really understood the inner monologue of a mother re-entering the workforce. I actually didnt read that this was a horror and was totally taken aback when I got about 60% of the way through, but that actually made it really fun. Would definitely recommend going in blind, for some extra gasps

I can't believe I'm saying it but this was such a let-down. It's a fantastic idea, and I think it would have made such a sharp and beautifully visceral novella, but it just went on for too long. It dulled its own blade.

I didn't hate this book. I think it's impossible for me to really dislike any of Blake's work because she puts so much heart into it. You always feel the necessity of her writing. I don't doubt that this is a very personal work for her, and I don't fault it for that; we get a very genuine glimpse of her passion and sense of humor. Having read many of her works now, I feel fluent in her writing style. I recognize it and look forward to it, but with this story, even as we zoomed in on someone's consciousness, I felt more disconnected from the story and its message. Given the ending, I also would have preferred to just focus on one perspective in particular, because with two perspectives, we don't feel the real weight of this final decision.

The topics explored in this book are devastatingly relevant, and I don't doubt that there will be readers who enjoy it, but for my own reading experience, I wanted more precision. I don't want to know everything a character *thinks,* I want to know what they *feel.*

This is also to say that I will always come back to Blake's work. I feel lucky that I get to explore any and all of her writing career. Big, big thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the eARC!! I love my job.

“Some games you couldn't win. That was the thing. You can’t save everyone. It’s pointless even to try. What mattered was dinner, and that everyone was finally eating well.”
Let me begin by saying: at least five times while reading this, I turned to my husband and said, “It’s a cult. Has to be a cult. Or witches. Or actual monsters. SOMETHING is not right.”
This book had me wide-eyed, whispering “what the hell is going on” at 3 a.m., with zero intention of sleeping. My brain simply refused to rest until it had devoured every last page.
Olivie Blake delivers a story that’s eerie, seductive, and absolutely soaked in dark academia vibes. The sorority isn’t just your average group of college girls—it’s layered, mysterious, and full of big “don’t drink the Kool-Aid” energy. Every character walks the line between fragile and terrifying. And the prose? Sharp, lyrical, and heavy with meaning. You don’t just read this book—you fall into it and come out questioning everything.
This is not a story about heroes. It’s about hunger—emotional, intellectual, literal—and the impossible choices we make to satisfy it. That closing quote? Hits like a gut punch. No, you can’t save everyone. But sometimes, just making sure everyone gets fed—whether that means food, truth, or even a twisted kind of juice—is the only win left.
If you’re into unsettling stories that wrap around your mind like ivy and don’t let go, Girl Dinner is your feast.

This book needed more time to cook. There were multiple times I almost gave up on it, but wanted to give it a fair shot because I enjoy Olivie Blake's prose.

Girl Dinner is a venture into satirical storytelling on aspects of white feminism, sorority culture and misogyny. However, I think it misses the mark at every turn. So much of this book is filled with the main two characters just thinking and thinking and thinking. It is internal to the point of exhaustion. Both main characters, Nina and Sloane, are constantly stuck on their thoughts and the interactions they have with others are so short it's hard to glean enough meaning from them in between all the internal monologue-ing.

I think there are a lot of great ideas in this book, but it feels rushed. It needed more time and revisions to develop the ideas more. I was left feeling so unsatisfied with the ending in a way I think wasn't intentional. I know Olivie Blake has the chops for this work. However, this book felt half baked at best. The characters were not well developed enough to really carry the concepts this book wants you to ponder on.

2.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free advanced digital copy of this book.

This was not my first Olivie Blake book. Furthermore, considering all the stories I have enjoyed from her, giving such a low rating is a shock. Firstly, I did DNF this book 200 pages in, and my main problem is that the cannibalism had not come into play. Being sold a cannibalistic horror story and not getting this content until over 200 pages into the book, I can see this being a general issue that other readers have. The next is a more individual reader preference, and that is, I do not like books on motherhood, and this story focused a lot of time on that with one of the POVs.
My final critique is that the author's writing is typically very lyrical and nuanced, and this one, for me, felt the themes were not hidden; they were stated and given to the reader over and over again.

I typically wouldn’t place a star rating on books I DNF, but on this platform, the rating was needed to get to the review to submit.

Twisted and laugh-out-loud funny! The kind of book you hope gets optioned for film or television. While far-fetched as a concept, the story and challenges still feel grounded in reality. 4 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I first heard about Girl Dinner when I was attending a book festival where Ali Hazelwood mentioned she’d recently read an ARC of a new book featuring cannibal sorority girls. Once I heard that description, I immediately added this book to my TBR. Let me tell you, Girl Dinner did not disappoint! I devoured (all puns intended) this book in less than a day, it was that compelling. Told from two POVs, we have Dr. Sloane Hartley, professor of sociology and mother, returning to work after taking time off to be with her daughter, Isla, and Nina Kaur, a college sophomore rushing The House, the most coveted sorority on campus. The lives of the women intertwine through their shared connection to The House. This satirical horror/thriller is everything I needed: hungry, complex, and unhinged women who seek revenge against the men and the world that have wronged them, female empowerment, and a nuanced critique of white feminism. Blake does not shy away from being brutally honest in her writing. All of these characters are flawed and have different definitions of what it means to be a Good Woman in a society that hates women and is always against them. I’d pitch this book as Barbie Movie x Yellowjackets x sorority rushtok. Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the eARC!

I've heard from other readers that Olivie Blake struggles to fully flesh out her ideas in her novels, and I found myself agreeing with that throughout my reading of this book. I wanted to like it more because this premise could be done so well, but I found myself asking, "so what," once I finished it. I know the commentary she was trying to make about society, whiteness, and the general concept of Greek society. There's a missing piece from this book, and I can't quite put my finger on what would have made this better.