Girl Dinner: A Novel by Olivie Blake

Everyone on campus knows about The House. It's the most exclusive sorority. Not only are all of the sisters exceptionally beautiful, but all of The House's alumnae are exceptionally successful.

Sophomore Nina Kaur knows all of this and knows she must at least try to secure her spot in The House. Yes, they almost never take sophomores, but she has to try. Especially after meeting Fawn--The House's leader--during rush. Nina is immediately captivated by Fawn and The House, but aren't they also one and the same? But, how far will Nina go to impress Fawn and solidify her place in his sisterhood? And how will Nina handle when she learns what nourishes The House and her sisters?

Adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley is newer to campus. She was offered her position mostly as a favor to her more academically well-known husband when he was awarded a tenure-track position. Sloane is struggling to fit into her role. She has spent the past year and half with her and her husband's daughter, Isla. Now she is somehow supposed to excel at giving lectures to mostly uninterested students, ensure that Isla is not just meeting all milestones but blowing past them at an impressive pace, and tantalizingly keep her husband occupied both inside and outside of the bedroom. But that's just all too much. Then, Alex comes. This successful beacon of a woman and mother befriends Sloane and asks her for a favor: be the academic advisor for The House. It's seemingly simple and an answer to a lot of what Sloane was seeking, but then, as she learns more about The House the more she is simultaneously enthralled and repulsed.

Girl Dinner: A Novel by Olivie Blake would likely be best read in a group so that many of the complex and weighty themes could be discussed. This is not a weakness of the book, rather something I noticed I was craving after finishing the book.

Blake has deftly crafted a relevant and timely satire about feminism, power, privilege, and ambition (among other things). Despite the extreme alimentary aspects of Girl Dinner, the debates and characters within feel both real and compelling. They are not perfect victims nor are they purely vicious villains--they occupy a space that many have been shoved into--a place of moral grayness. Afterall, isn't one aspect of power is that its corruption begins as a mouthwatering way to balance the scales?

So, crack open this book. After all, you deserve a treat.

Girl Dinner: A Novel by Olivie Blake, Tor Books