In her electrifying new novel Girl Dinner, Olivie Blake serves a darkly satirical feast that dissects modern womanhood with a razor-sharp knife. Moving from the mystical hallways of Alexandrian Society to the sun-drenched, sinister world of a top-tier university sorority, Blake trades arcane magic for a more visceral, bloody power, delivering a thought-provoking story that is deeply unsettling. Girl Dinner is a masterful evolution of her work, blending the intellectual rigour of The Atlas Six with the raw, human intimacy of Alone With You in the Ether to explore what women are truly hungry for, and how far they will go to be full.
Girl Dinner is ingeniously structured around the alternating perspectives of two women at different crossroads in their lives, who become ominously intertwined by an elite and mysterious sorority known as “The House”. But does the House always win?
Sophomore Nina Kaur is a young woman haunted by a traumatic freshman year and gripped by a fear of failure. She sees The House, a sorority whose alumni are all beautiful, high-achieving, and powerful, as her ticket to safety, prestige, and an “untouchable” future. Her hunger is the raw, ambitious kind, a desperate need to belong and to forge an identity that cannot be preyed upon.
Conversely, Dr Sloane Hartley is adrift in the aftermath of new motherhood. As an adjunct professor, she struggles with a body that no longer feels like her own, a husband whose support feels insufficient, and a paralysing feeling of dissatisfaction that clouds her professional and personal life. Her hunger is not for a future, but for a reclamation of her former self, to once again feel like a “Good Woman,” a “Good Mother,” and a functional, sane person.
Their dual narratives brilliantly capture the pervasive, often contradictory pressures faced by women, demonstrating that the struggle for power and identity is a lifelong battle, whether you are just starting out or are already deep into building your life. When both women are drawn into the orbit of The House, they discover that the sisterhood’s path to collective perfection involves a sinister new wellness trend with a bloody and cannibalistic cost. The novel asks a gripping question: when you are offered a seat at the table, just how much are you willing to stomach?
Fans of Blake’s The Atlas Six will find familiar pleasures here, but wonderfully remixed. Where The Atlas Six explored power through the lens of theoretical magic and academic one-upmanship, the power dynamics in Girl Dinner are starkly real and physical. The “sinister wellness trend” of The House is a dark mirror to the scholarly pursuits of the Alexandrian Society; both are exclusive, both demand a high price for entry, and both force their members into a deadly competition. However, the magic here is replaced with a brutal, corporeal ritual that makes the themes of consumption and power disturbingly literal.
This novel also channels the deep character work Blake honed in her standalone romance, Alone With You in the Ether. Girl Dinner applies that same unflinching gaze to the inner lives of Nina and Sloane. Blake delves into Sloane’s psychological turmoil with the same precision she used for Charlotte’s bipolar disorder and Regan’s compulsive lying, creating a portrait of postpartum and existential crisis that is painfully resonant. The focus remains on the complexities of love and life, but expands to interrogate the very structures of feminism, marriage, and motherhood.
While Blake’s previous works have always been tinged with witty dialogue, Girl Dinner sees her embracing full-throated satire. The novel is filled with dark humour, wielding a brutal, cathartic humour as it lampoons everything from “Trad Wife” influencers and “girlboss” feminism to the performative perfection of sorority life and wellness culture. This comedic edge makes the story’s more horrific and philosophical moments land with even greater impact, creating a thrillingly unpredictable tonal blend.
At its core, Girl Dinner is a powerful exploration of female rage and desire. The novel brilliantly uses its terrifying premise to dissect very real and relatable struggles. It holds a dark mirror up to a world that systemically disadvantages women, that polices their bodies and choices. Then it criticises them for being either too ambitious or not ambitious enough.
The cannibalism in the story is not merely shock value; it is a potent metaphor for reprisal. The act of “eating your fill” becomes a twisted form of empowerment, a way for women to literally internalise the power they have been denied. The book compellingly argues that when the world constantly consumes women, perhaps the ultimate act of rebellion is to consume it back.
Girl Dinner is a book that is as intellectually satisfying as it is viscerally thrilling. Olivie Blake has proven once again that she is a versatile and insightful voice in contemporary fiction. With this novel, she has taken the compelling character dynamics of The Atlas Six, the psychological depth of Alone With You in the Ether, and the mythical stakes of One for My Enemy, and fused them into something entirely her own savage, smart, and unputdownable satire that speaks directly to the hungers of the modern age.
Girl Dinner is a feast not to be missed. It is a story that will make you laugh, squirm, and most importantly, think deeply about the price of power, the meaning of solidarity, and the violent, beautiful, and insatiable appetites of the female heart. Clear your schedule and pull up a chair; dinner is now served. Just don’t ask what the meat is!
Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake
From the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Olivie Blake, this is a powerful and darkly fun novel about ambition, lust and eating your fill – as wealthy moms and sorority girls practice a sinister new wellness trend.
‘Deliciously twisted and lipstick-stained, Girl Dinner serves up a feast of ambition, privilege, and the deadly price of belonging. I loved it.’
Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb
Good girls deserve a treat . . .
The House is the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni are beautiful, high-achieving and respected. After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being accepted into The House is the first step to the brightest possible future. The House will surely ease her fears of failure and protect her from those who see a young woman on her own as prey.
Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr Sloane Hartley is struggling. After eighteen 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 a level of collective perfection that Sloane 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.
‘ This book is the fever dream I never knew I needed, and I’m going to recommend it to everyone I meet!
– Ali Hazelwood, bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Bride
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