Long Story Short? We yapped about the satirical horror novel Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake and we're excited to tell you allll about the arcane rituals of The House sorority, commentary on the patriarchy and motherhood, and why this book should be moved to the top of your TBR!

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Music by Dani LaCroix

Foreign.

Welcome to the Other side of the Page, a bookish podcast where we yap about the books we love and the.

Songs that give us main character energy.

We are here to sift through the chaos that is our TBR and let you know why a book might just be your next favorite read.

I'm Brit, dramatic plot twist lover and champion for MMCs needing to be more pathetic and down bad.

And I'm Hannah, reader of at least five books at once and a detailed fantasy map enthusiast.

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This week we are finally discussing the satirical horror novel Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake.

I'm so excited.

We'll be chatting about our song choices alongside the plot with our favorite moments.

So grab an iced coffee or iced chai and let's turn the page together.

Yes, dear reader, here is the synopsis of Girl Dinner Good girls deserve a treat.

Every member of the House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all of its alumni are beautiful, high achieving, and universally respected.

After a freshman year she would rather forget, Sophomore Nina knows that being one of the chosen few accepted into the House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future.

When she's taken into their fold, the House surely eases her fears of failure and protects her from those who see a young woman on her own as easy prey.

Meanwhile, Adjunct Professor Dr. Sloan 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, Sloan's clothes don't fit right, her girl dead 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.

I just side note you can leave, but it makes me think of inside out ennui.

Yes, when invited to be the House's academic liaison, Sloan enviously drinks in the way that the alumna seem to have it all, achieving a level of collective perfection that Sloan desperately craves.

As Nina and Sloan 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.

And we think you should read this if you want to experience a satirical take on a patriarchal society.

Commentary of women's inability to do anything right and a cannibal sorority.

Yeah.

And you might want to avoid the book if any of the following are potentially triggering for you.

Cannibalism, explicit sexual scenes, infidelity, murder, death.

Depictions of physical and mental postpartum struggles such as depression, anxiety, mom guilt.

It is a satirical book, but it does touch on a lot of very real topics.

So for this one, I would highly recommend checking your triggers if you have any concerns.

Yes, let's talk about our songs song choices.

So first, we would be remiss to not mention the iconic song that's kind of like our collective pod pick Cannibal by Ke$ha.

Yes.

We had to.

We won't be talking about it in depth, but know that that is the first song that both of us thought about during and after this book.

Yeah.

And I think too, because Kesha was such big in like our college years too.

So like reading a story about college, we had had to throw it back to some KE there.

Yes.

But my song choice for the book is One of the Greats by Florence the Machine.

I am so excited to hear you talk about this one with the book.

My song choice is actually Nightmare by Halsey.

Such a good one.

So now we're heading into our Pages Turned in Bridges Burned section.

So we will be discussing Girl dinner cover to cover, which means spoilers ahead.

We this book is is wild.

It's a journey.

I think we both loved it.

So highly recommend pausing the podcast, going to pick it up if it sounds like it's up your alley, if you've read it, or if you're just here for the vibes to hang out with us.

Welcome on in.

We're going to start with our theme lyrics from our song and then explain briefly why we picked it before we dive straight into the plot.

Yes.

So my theme lyric from the song, there's a lot, but if I had to pick one, it would be hung them on the wall like trophies.

Each name a stain upon my lips.

And with it, like the girls all have their stories, right?

The alumni, the current people in the house.

Sloan.

Yeah.

And how they got to where they are.

And like the stain on my lips reminds me of, you know, the cannibalism of the book and like, what they did to get to their Power and everything, but it's also everyone that we've kind of encountered form who we are.

So it just kind of builds us there.

And with the house, it's just how they, like, also, like, idolize the alumni, and alumni are, like, still involved.

And so if you, like, look at, you know, the people that have come before, you know, are hung on the wall like trophies, but also, like, the men they've slain are like, the people that they slain are hung on the wall like trophies.

Each name stain upon my lips.

So that's, like, a vibe.

The theme lyric I went with is, but I'd rather be a real nightmare than die unaware.

And I.

The reason I picked this is because, as we said, it's a satirical hoarder, but it's common.

It commenting on, like, the patriarchal society we live in and is also about women reclaiming their power in, like, a really odd and interesting way.

We see Nina and Sloan both, like, absolutely horrified by the cannibalism, but then slowly coming to and realizing how much power they have with the knowledge that they now wield and how much further they can get in life if they just kind of take control of their situation.

And so, in turn, they kind of become actual real nightmares by becoming cannibals, and they feel much better about their lives than dying this, like, unaware version of themselves.

And it kind of ties into how deeply Nina needed to be a part of the house and how the house became, like, intertwined with her identity before she even stepped foot, before.

Before recruitment hit, before preference hit.

And, yeah, I just.

I think that the lyrics parallel in a really fun way.

So, yeah, I think both of our songs, too, are great, like, vibes of the book, too.

Yes, a hundred percent.

Yep.

Now, first things first.

This book follows a sorority of cannibals, if you guys don't know.

And I think this is why this book was in particular so fun for us is we were both in a sorority.

And so Hannah.

This is even crazier, but Hannah was the president of the sorority while I was the new member educator.

And it's just.

It's this.

We were in the weird sorority, by the way, if that hasn't.

If.

If no one put two and two together, we were definitely the weird sorority on campus.

But how did it feel reading about a sorority, like, in this type of capacity?

I love anything to do with sororities.

I think I look back very fondly on, like, my time in the sorority, and I'm very proud of being in a sorority.

Yeah.

Even though it's like, you know, whatever.

But I love, like, this or like, when it's just blows.

The sorority is, like, out of proportion.

And even.

What's the, like, the one Ryan Murphy show?

Oh, was it Scream Queens?

Yes.

Okay.

Like, that about the sorority is like, anything that, like, blows it out of proportion.

I love and I adore because I feel like I know the reality of, like, our sorority.

And I'm like, yeah, it's not at this level, but it's just.

It's fun to kind of relive those dynamics in certain ways.

Yeah.

And I think the starting things off, like, with recruitment, I think kind of put me in the mindset.

And, like, recruitment is.

And was one of the most stressful times that I've endured in my life.

Like, recruitment sucked.

Being in a sorority and just seeing it, like, kind of with like, this halo around it, from Nina's perspective was so funny.

When in reality, we were all so fucking hot.

We were up until 3 o' clock in the morning every single night, just miserable.

Jammed into a room that was beyond capacity.

Every code broken to fit all of us girls in that room.

But it was fun.

And I. I do.

I think that, like, my college experience would not have been what it was.

But it is interesting to, like, look back on some of the stuff that we did.

And I was like, that's weird.

It's definitely odd.

And we just kind of accepted it, which makes me like, we accepted so many weird things, Hannah.

Yeah.

Half of us aren't religious.

What if the alumni were like, this is what you're gonna do?

I'd probably be like, okay.

Like.

And I know it's like an extreme take on that, but I think that that gave me such, like, a rooted in reality feeling of, like, oh, this is how it's going to go.

And when they mentioned, like, the philanthropy and preference and getting your bid and, like, it just hit in a.

Like, I think that if anyone has, like, sorority experience, this will hit in a different way than people that don't.

Yeah.

But, yeah, it was just.

It was so fun and absolutely wacky.

But it kind of like.

And not by kind of like, it really nail on the head hits some deeply political themes in a wacky way.

But once you kind of get past the.

The fluff of the sorority, you're a mom now, and there's a lot of stuff intertwined about being a mom and things like that.

What was your initial reaction to all of that?

Like, the political commentary, the vibes of the book?

Because I feel like we probably had different experiences when it comes to that portion of it.

Yeah.

I mean, I think the initial, like, vibes.

Was I related to the sorority side and the mom side.

Yeah.

Which I thought was kind of cool and.

Yeah.

I don't.

I don't know.

Yeah, that's fair.

That's so fine.

My brain is, like, in still mom mode, so it's not.

Not there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I just.

I thought of, like, on the mom side of things.

Obviously, I'm not a mom, but a lot of the things she was saying reminded me of conversations that, like, we had had over your journey, like, having your daughter and all of this.

So I just thought it was.

It was really interesting.

But do we want to.

I think my mind.

Yeah, my mind went to, like, the political side, and that's when I blinked.

It's fine.

Anyway, but let's talk about our characters.

Yes.

I did put the house on there as a character because I feel like the house.

The house is an entity.

Yeah.

Is.

Which is, like, the most elite sortie on campus.

Yep.

Then we have Nina, who is a sophomore.

She had a really difficult freshman year.

And so now, like, you.

Right.

I mean, you didn't have a difficult freshman compared to Nina, but.

No, but I joined.

I joined the sorority myself.

You joined as a sophomore?

I did.

And.

Which I thought was kind of funny when they're like, I don't know if we want to take a sophomore.

I know.

And I'm like, off.

And then we have Sloan, who is an adjunct professor, a new mother.

She has 18 month old, which I have an 18 month old, which was kind of weird, but.

And, like, Sloan feels lost.

And so we have Nina and Sloan both kind of paralleling, like, trying to fit in.

And I think that's where, like, sororities are, where people think of, like, in the college setting, like, oh, that's where I'm gonna go fit in, or I might not fit in there.

So I thought it was interesting that they both kind of had those feelings and that's where they ended up.

Yeah.

And the house reminded me, like, as an entity, as, like, as a whole.

I don't know if anyone is on rush talk when that time of year comes around, but, like, full blown Bama rush is what it reminded me of.

However, what I thought was really interesting about this group is that this sorority specifically under recruited to their nationals, like, guidelines.

And it was a very, very small group of women.

And obviously, as the book goes on and we realize that there are very arcane and hideous rituals that.

That take place throughout, it makes way more sense about their vetting process and, like, the questions that they ask people as they come in and the way that they, like, take in the girls before they get initiated and before the ritual actually takes place makes so much sense, because at first I was like, this is the house.

Surely, like, they're taking the most amount of girls.

Like, most people want to be there.

So I thought it was very weird when they had, like, such a small, like, big class, you know?

Yeah.

I mean, I thought that made sense because, like, it was very exclusive.

Totally.

That, like, they wanted just the.

Yeah.

Cream of the crop, for sure.

But like I said, for some reason, like, when they said the disparity between, like, how many their nationals wanted them to recruit versus how many they brought in, I was like, girls that would not fly.

I know, but in a world of cannibalism.

In a world of cannibals.

Listen.

So Sloan gets.

Is invited to be the academic liaison.

Yeah.

For the house.

And this is where she, like, meets Alex and all the other moms and just, like, they seem like perfect moms.

Oh, my kid eats this.

Like, oh, my kid does this.

My kid does this.

And.

Yeah.

Oh, I'll take care of your daughter for you, like, for a second.

Enjoy yourself.

Yep.

And I feel like it's so, like, intoxicating for Sloan because she's like, yes.

You know, going back to work, and her daughter doesn't want to go to daycare.

Like, doesn't want to stay there.

Just cries all the time, and, you know, she's not at the professor level that she could be and all that stuff.

Yeah.

I thought the way they intertwined all of the relationships was interesting to me, too, with Sloan's husband and the, you know, the TA being Nina's cousin.

Cousin, you know, situation, and in the way that, like, it really showed the inner workings of.

I don't know if they actually said the term in the book, but, like, a weaponized incompetence of men in those positions and how, like we said kind of through the.

The beginning, like, they believe that they're showing up and doing their best.

And in reality, it's like a.

A fraction of.

A fraction of what the women are expected to show up and do.

And I think Sloane's unraveling of, like, her accomplishments consistently being diminished and put on the Back burner because of her husband's, like, quote unquote success, when in reality, if you broke it down side by side, she was infinitely more capable, intelligent, and, like, on a track to success before he, like, swept in and pushed her off.

So I think intoxicating, like you said, was the perfect word to describe the way that Sloan, like, absorbed the energy of this.

Of these women.

And I don't know if you felt it too.

And obviously it's intentional to have this kind of, like, subtext and these, like, like, underlying kind of tones, but there was always this, like, sinister, very unsettling undertone to the way these women interacted with Sloan and each other.

And, like, I couldn't quite place it until we got to, like, the reveal.

And it wasn't even, like, the reveal, but it was.

They had, like, adopted this, like, utopian mindset that no one else had.

And it's like they almost thought in, like, a different realm than what Sloan is existing in, if that makes sense.

Yeah, it felt like, like a Stepford Wives, but, like.

Yes, in a different way.

But I want to go back to what you said about, like, comparing Sloan to her husband because it reminded me of one of my lyrics.

Oh, yes.

Because one of the lyrics in the song is that I could never be great being held up against such male taste because who really gets to be one of the greats?

Ooh, yes.

You know, so I think that kind of goes with, like, what you were saying and what we kind of see between, like, Sloan and her husband and Sloan being compared to, like, she goes and asks about, you know, this paper that she wants to write and research, and, yeah, the guy's like, nah, nobody's gonna read that.

Yep.

No one wants to be interested in that.

And, like, staying on the topic of Sloan, too.

I mentioned it before, but she also felt very out of sorts with, like, her body.

Like, her body and her mind were not connected.

We saw a lot of her mom guilt kind of manifesting in these very anxious moments that she had on page.

And then she comes in and sees, like, these beautiful women, and like you said, they're perfect children.

They're perfect routines, and, like, she just wishes that things could be good.

Especially because, like, Alex's husband was, like, top of the line, best of the best.

Like, just took care of everything, was on top of everything.

And, like, it felt.

I don't know, it was like an immediate, like, oh, shit, my life kind of sucks for Sloan.

Yeah.

And I think, like, being a mom, too, you feel like you should have Everything perfect because you want to do everything you can for your kids when you're not.

And even if you are doing the best, like, you're doing a great job.

But then you see, like, another mom doing something, one thing different, and you're like, oh, I'm a bad mom because I'm not doing X. Yeah.

But here you are doing, like, abc, right?

Yep.

So I thought that was interesting, too, because I was like, oh, yeah, yeah.

And social media is bad about that.

Absolutely.

Like, it's a full.

Like, you're just being assaulted on all sides by so many different ways to do things, and, like, there's no one right way to live and to parent.

And I thought something so.

Something to tie into Sloan and a little bit to Nina was actually the one of my lyrics from Nightmare, which is, I've pinched my skin in between my two fingers and wished I could cut some parts off with some scissors.

And it just reminded me of feeling out of sorts with her postpartum body, but also tying in the need for Nina to kind of fully assimilate to, like, the standard of the house and shaping herself, whether it is, like, a literal physical sense or an emotional, like, presenting sense, and in turn, kind of the double and triple standard for women to effectively fit a mold that changes daily.

And I think the way that the women, like the alumni that Sloan interacted with kind of combated that was by validating these experiences that she had that everyone made her feel crazy about.

Like, these weird sensations that you experience, and you're like, I've never felt this before in my life.

And then people tell you that you're odd because of it, and they were like, oh, no.

Absolutely.

Understood.

Got that.

But, yeah, I just.

Their relationship was probably one of my favorite dynamics of the whole book, was watching that unfold.

Yeah.

That line reminds me of, like, sorority hazing, though, like, every time I've listened to that song, because I used to be obsessed with that song about, like, the horror stories.

Horror stories of, like, people, like, drawing on your body, like, as a new member.

I'm like.

I'm like, oh.

And so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That just.

That never happened to us, and I hope it never happens to anybody else in the future.

I know.

Oh.

But with Nina, too, I thought it was interesting.

So Nina is, like, in love with the sorority president, too?

Yes, with Fawn.

Yeah.

And I'm like, oh, my gosh.

Nina, like, give it up.

I know.

And that was like.

And even with her name being Fawn, it was a very deliberate and interesting decision because of the way that Nina quite literally fawned over her and the way that the world seemed to fawn at her every beck and whim.

Like, yeah, the world bent to her in a way.

But, yeah, I felt.

I felt bad for Nina because she was obviously very invested in this, like, feeling in relationship.

And it was so clear that Fawn was only using it to get what she wanted out of it.

One of the lyrics is to show you how it's done, to show you what it takes to conquer and to crucify, to become one of the greats.

And I feel like that was, like, Fawn's mentality, that she was, like, just ready to go for it, still kind of, like, believed in the ritual and, like, yeah, the, like, everything the house stood for, whereas everyone wanted her out of the presidency.

Like, nah, this is like a new regime that's coming through.

Like, we need to get her out.

And.

But I feel like that was Fawn's mentality.

Like, she wanted to become one of the greats.

She wanted to show everybody how it's done, to show you what it takes and just kind of go for it that way.

Yeah.

With it in her position.

Yeah.

And it was the tie into the end of kind of Fawn's downfall as president and the way that she.

She was not even going to be nominated on the next election cycle and, like, how it was directly related to the way that Nina made a decision and, like, the domino effect kind of of everything falling down while all.

While this, like, very intense, arcane ritual was about to happen around them.

And they were, like, slowly convincing these people that it was normal.

Like, I know.

And I like, can we talk about.

Oh, my God, what was her name?

I'm forgetting her name.

The Southern or whatever her name is.

The Instagram Carol.

Caroline.

Yep.

So I feel like we need to talk about Caroline real quick, because Caroline really just.

She.

She's something, right?

She is truly like, a slinging MLM Boss babe.

Um, but she is, like, very into the ritual.

Very into the ritual.

And, you know, Sloan goes to visit her because she's like, Sloan is trying to uncover the secrets of this house.

Right?

Like, she's like, alex is weird.

These girls are weird.

Shit's going.

Shit is weird.

And real quick.

Sloan is a sociology professor.

I was also approach.

Okay.

She's approaching this, like, from that academic side, too.

Yes.

So she was like, it was for selfish reasons, but also because she's, like, interested in the sociological, like, play of it.

All.

Right.

So she goes to visit Caroline and Of course Alex finds out because Caroline tells Alex, because Alex is like the ruler of the free alumni of the sorority, essentially.

And this is where we see like our first glimpse of potential cannibalism.

It ends up being beef heart, supposedly.

Supposedly.

But she feeds it to Sloan and Sloan has like a full blown freak out about it because she's like, what the did you feed me?

What did you feed me?

And they're basically like, oh, well, your child's iron deficiency would go away if you just ate more organs.

And this is in the car.

This was one of the conversations.

One of my favorite conversations in the whole book is when Nina is in the car with Alex and she's confronting her about this like, very weird behavior that Caroline exhibited.

And she's like, well, Caroline's a nut job, first of all.

Second of all, yeah, yeah.

Sometimes we eat people and like just that.

That like, realization.

And then Sloan being like, no.

And Alex is like, get over it.

And she's like, no.

And then a page and a half later she's like, well, if you think about do be making a little sense.

Right.

One of the lines from my song reminds me of like Caroline too.

Like Caroline's kind of Persona.

It's like, am I dresses in my flowering sadness.

So like a woman to profit from her madness.

I was only beautiful under the lights, only powerful there.

And I feel like that's like Caroline with like, you know, doing this ritual and like being on social media and like, she's only powerful, like doing these things.

Yeah.

To become one of the greats.

Yeah.

The reason behind the cannibalism and like the wellness of it all is that when you have this ritual, they only have it a few.

Like what, once or twice a year is like the harvest and they pick someone.

Well, the ritual itself was mind boggling to me because I thought it was like a pre agreed upon tradition where like they like picked a man, brought them in and then just like sliced and diced real quick, had dinner, called it a day.

No, they all bring someone, drug them, and then pitch their person to murder and eat.

Yes.

Like.

Shark tank.

Yeah.

Hi, sharks sisters.

I'm standing in front of you today.

I'm asking for an investment of $500,000, one human heart and a liver.

From this professor that is a jerk.

Yeah.

And in exchange, I will give you a 15 stake in my company that has no financial gain.

Thanks, sisters.

Thanks.

Bye sisters.

Like, but they explain that like this wellness situation is not just like a trend.

It's not just for shock value.

They Use it one because they claim that it has these like, mystical, magical powers that like, propel them forward in life.

Like, everyone is like, rid of disease.

No one wears glasses.

That was something that was pointed out at the beginning.

Their flaws seem to like, diminish after you eat a human being.

Yeah, there was like, Nina's like, period cramps started to feel better.

Like she has endometriosis and she was just feeling better right after.

And it's like all those things and it's like, that's intoxicating with like, fixing those things.

Yeah, it's like being drunk on this sort of power that you're stepping into and you even have in here.

It's like the.

A metaphor for like, sacrifice and consumption and like how femininity can kind of strike that balance of being, like, oh, well, it's painful to be beautiful and you have to dull your edges to fit into this very easy, soft shaped mold.

And.

And it kind of ties into one of the lines that we have here says, keep my exes in check in my basement, cuz kindness is weakness.

Or worse, you're complacent.

I could play nice or I could be a bully.

I'm tired and angry, but somebody should be.

And I think that the undertone of this song hits on a lot of the aspects of cannibalism and the rituals of the sorority.

However, that line in particular highlights what I think this book was aiming for, which is kind of dismantling this patriarchal structure that we have with how easily when you break down the framework of the horrible things that happen to women and the horrible things that women go through at the hands of men, they were so easy and accepting of the arcane ritual, despite it being clinically insane.

In that line specifically, I'm tired and angry, but somebody should be like, once you kind of break it down and once they look at you and say, but look at these men and look at these scumbags and look at this assaulter and look at this slimy politician and look at this and look at that.

And they will always get further in life because they're a man and you should be mad about it.

However, we're giving you the power to do something about it, to gain power off of them and like, off of what you do to them.

Yeah.

One of the lines from the book too is, and what kind of person would you be if you didn't choose your daughter over everything a man said?

Sloan.

Yeah.

And it just.

I just thought this book was so.

I don't want to Use the word fun.

Because we use fun way too often.

We do use fun way too often.

It was just a great way to kind of talk about, like, the patriarchy side and like, to, like, joke about certain things that are actually, like, super serious.

Yeah.

But I really enjoyed it.

Yeah.

And now that you're down at the quotes, I'm looking at my quotes, too, and I have one quote.

It says, there's no way to win.

Sloan sobbed and sobbed and sobbed in her mind, on her cheeks.

The dam had broken.

It doesn't matter how hard you try, how much you love, how smart you are.

How am I supposed to do it?

How am I supposed to tell her to love or to dream when I know goddamn well that it always ends like this, and it's in reference to her daughter and the world and just how cruel life can be?

And I think this is especially relevant with our current society on fire, you know, as we speak.

But, yeah, I. I think this book was.

I think this book is not going to resonate with.

With some people.

I think it's going to be a little too much.

A little too kooky.

I also think that the part of the book that was the shortest is the part that people are going to want the most out of which is the.

The ritual and the cannibalism itself.

This read, I know it's like a satirical horror to me.

This read, more like a speculative literary fiction.

Like, it was way more character driven, way less plot driven.

And I don't think this is going to sit well with everyone who reads it, but I think it was just so different and interesting and, like, such a stab in the dark.

Like, she took such a leap of faith writing this crazy story.

And I genuinely loved it.

I had such a good time with it.

There's another lyric that I want to talk about.

It's too feminine to function.

A pile of bodies and a trail of destruction.

I will let the light in.

I will let some love in.

I will be happy.

It will be perfect.

And that just, I feel like, sums up like the.

The house.

Like, if the house had a, like, secret.

I mean, not even like, a secret, but, you know, like a.

Like a chant, right, that you'd say, like, in a ritual.

Like, we're too feminine to function.

A pile of bodies and a trail of destruction.

I can imagine.

I can imagine us in that, like, big circle, all, like, holding hands in our white dresses.

It will be happy.

It will be perfect.

I will be one of the greats.

And then my other two are, like, for the end of the book.

So I don't know if there's any other questions or anything you have.

I have one for the end.

But we also see some, like, infidelity throughout the book.

We see it from Sloane's husband and there's like assumed infidelity.

And then we see it kind of unfurl as time goes on.

But Sloane engages in an affair with her ta and she's kind of like torn between like, being this like, superwoman mom that she's always dreamed of and kind of just saying like, fuck it and lighting her life on fire.

And so the line, I've been polite but won't be caught dead letting a man tell me what I should do in my bed.

And I think that's like Sloan finally just like throwing up her middle finger and being like, well, my husband is not supporting me and my dreams.

He's not supporting me and my daughter aside from like, monetarily.

He is just not fully present.

And so I think that's her moment that she kind of like says it and decides to cheat on her husband.

Which I also thought it was very interesting, like the way that they chose.

I also need to stop saying interesting, but the way that they chose the men at the end too, and for the ritual itself.

And I don't know, I just.

I haven't really read anything quite like this.

And I don't know if we'll ever really read anything quite like this.

Right.

You know, there is a very long quote and I'm not going to read the whole thing because we would be here for ages.

But I'm going to read a couple little things.

It's kind of like a Barbie esque monologue.

If any of you guys watched Barbie, it's like America Ferreira's like, monologue.

And I'm just going to read a few lines from the beginning and then pull down.

But it's quote, you're a woman and it's your job to fade into the background.

It's your job to make sure your children love their father and never know what a idiot he is or how little he is capable of accomplishing without you.

You're a woman and it's your job to have it all, but never complain about how heavy it is to carry.

And it, like, it's very America Ferreira like, it's giving that and it comes down to the bottom and it says, you are a woman.

And so the transgressions against you will always be justified in some way by what you wore or what you said or who you are.

And everything bad that happens to you will always somehow be deserved.

Unless you die a martyr for your children, which is the only sure way to be a good woman.

Because then when you are dust and unexamined, important only for the act of ending, you will finally have the honor of being a saint.

And, yeah, this book really just was a funny, unbecoming, clinically insane lens to examine the patriarchy, the standards women are held to, the impossible role that mothers play in our current society between working and taking care of children and, you know, and all of that.

So the book ends with Nina trying to contact her sister.

Yes.

Because her sister apparently was going to Surprise.

Nah.

Yes.

On campus.

Yes.

And she can't get a hold of her.

She cannot.

And then we get Sloane cooking a.

Meal for her daughter, who's iron deficient no longer.

Nope.

Because she fed her some.

Some human.

And I just thought that was a, like, wild ending that.

Because it just, like, kind of ended.

Yeah, it was like.

It was an abrupt.

Like, I was like, wait, that's it?

Like, that's the end of the book?

And, like.

And I know the reason that she ended up kind of picking her sister was kind of, like, woven throughout and.

And everything, too.

But there was also a heavy discussion about not just picking any random person to eat, but the way that they treated themselves and the way that they presented themselves, like, changed the meat and the way that you, like, got things out of it.

And it was also, like, a minor act of revenge.

And my.

My last lyric that I have is Sloan at the end with Nina's sister.

And it says, come on, little lady, give us a smile.

No way.

Ain't got nothing to smile about I got no one to smile for I've waited a while for a moment to say I don't owe you a goddamn thing.

I love it.

The lyric, too, that I thought about, like, Sloan at the end.

Yeah.

And she.

When she kind of realizes, like, o, I can.

I can bring this power into my family.

Yeah.

And the lyric is, did I get it right?

Do I win the prize?

Do you regret bringing me back to life?

Because I feel like she, like, has that, like, energy now that she's ready to go.

Yep.

But my last lyric that I feel like sums up the book, too, is, it's funny how men don't find power.

Very sexy.

So this one's for the ladies.

I feel like that could be, like, the headlining quote to Girl Dinner, right?

Yeah.

Listen, if you're still with us and you haven't read Girl Dinner, there's so many details that we left out.

We were just talking about like the overarching plot points and kind of themes because this is a book that if you guys listened to our old pod music for a book pod, we probably would have recorded three straight hours.

Yes.

Of full discussions on it.

But we like to do more condensed versions.

So I highly recommend you pick this up.

If what we talked about sounds interesting to you and we haven't this is.

A Girl Dinner version of Girl Dinner.

Exactly.

The Girl Dinner version of Girl Dinner.

I picked this.

I did this on audio Also this edition has pink sprayed edges.

So cute but and shouts out like the like the TikTok creator that like Coin Girl dinner too.

100 Acknowledgments so yeah, we love women.

Supporting women slay even when it's like actually slaying.

I support women's rights and women's wrongs.

Yeah.

So go read Girl Dinner after you check your triggers and if you are prepared.

Yeah it's but if you made it.

This far, I hope you read it and you enjoyed chatting with us about it.

Yes.

Thank you so much for turning the pages with us this week.

Be sure to follow us on Tick Tock, Instagram and Patreon and join our newsletter to keep us to keep up with everything on the other side of the page.

Yes.

And please please drop a review and a five star rating of the podcast on your preferred platform and share it with your Bookish besties.

Because sharing is caring.

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And next week is Thanksgiving.

Yes it is.

So we will be doing a special thanks thankful episode so stay tuned for that.

So excited.

So we can't wait to tell you all of the things bookish related that we are thankful for next week and forever.

And always keep reading with kindness.

Bye everyone.

Bye.