Girl Dinner

Girl Dinner (2025) is a novel by American author Alexene Farol Follmuth, published under her pen name Olivie Blake. Blending elements of horror and suspense, Girl Dinner explores the complex, sometimes violent world of the House, an elite sorority, through the lives of one of its newest pledges, student Nina Kaur, and its academic advisor, adjunct professor Sloane Hartley. Both women find a newfound sense of sisterhood in the House, although each must grapple with the House’s dark secrets as they choose between personal ethics and their ambition. The novel explores The Changing Shape of Feminism in the Social Media Age; The Tensions Between Motherhood, Marriage, and Career; and The Complexities of Ambition and Ethics.

Blake is best known for works of YA, fantasy, and speculative fiction, including her Atlas Six (2020) series, which follows six young protagonists as they navigate the shadowy world of a secretive magic society.

This guide uses the 2025 hardcover edition by Tor Publishing Group.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of sexual content, sexual violence, and a brief reference to disordered eating.

Plot Summary

Dr. Sloane Hartley is a sociology professor poised to return to work after a year spent at home with her infant, Isla. Once tenure-track faculty at a small but reputable college, she is now an adjunct professor at a larger, more elite school where her husband, Max, was offered a prestigious full-time position. Since giving birth to Isla, Sloane has struggled to balance family and her work. Max is far more comfortable prioritizing his career than Sloane is, but she tries to remain grateful for the help that he does provide at home.

Sloane is happy to quickly meet a new friend, Alex, at the university’s daycare center. Alex is an attorney who also has a young child, and she seems more comfortable than Sloane is with balancing her two roles. Sloane is also happy to meet Arya, her handsome TA (teaching assistant), although she tries to focus more on his research than his looks. She is, after all, happy with her husband.

Nina Kauer is a sophomore in the midst of the rush process at the beginning of the year. She hopes to become part of the new pledge class at the House, the University’s most elite sorority. Nina aspires to become an attorney and knows that the House can provide her with invaluable contacts and connections. Her sister Jasleen, however, holds a lower opinion of the Greek system and points out that sororities and fraternities have a problematic social culture and often reinforce white supremacy. As a student-of-color, Nina knows that she should care about race more than she does, but she lacks her sister’s interest in social justice. During the rush process, she meets Dalil, another would-be House girl, and the two strike up an easy friendship. Nina is thrilled when both she and Dalil make it into the House’s pledge class and admires Tess and Fawn, the two House girls whom she meets during the rush process.

Alex introduces Sloane to her friends Britt and Priscilla. Sloane feels for the first time in years that she has found a group of like-minded women, and agrees to become the faculty advisor for their former sorority, the House. Britt also has young children, and she instantly begins sharing helpful tips and recipes with Sloane. Sloane feels better equipped to handle her return to work now, but she still cannot help but notice a distance growing between her and Max. He is less interested in family time than she is, is unbothered that work impacts his ability to parent Isla, and often seems far away even when he is sitting in the room. She is unsure how her marriage become so ordinary: When she married Max, he’d truly seemed like a feminist.

Nina gets to know the girls in the House and develops a real friendship with two older members, Tess and Fawn. She feels a newfound sense of power on campus and feels anointed by her acceptance into the sorority. She marvels at how smart, accomplished, and beautiful its members are. She is even impressed by the House’s weekly dinners: Although many girls her age maintain strict control over their caloric intake and count their macros religiously, the House’s students feast each Monday night on a sumptuous spread of rich dishes. By the time initiation night arrives, she feels completely changed. She is ready to embrace life at the House even though part of the initiation ceremony involves drinking blood.

Sloane knows that she must publish an article this semester in order to be considered for a full-time position. She develops an interest in The Country Wife, a VidStar account run by a “trad wife” who posts content about recipes, home decorating, and life on her homestead. She wants to explore what these kinds of accounts say about the changing shape of feminism in the social media age, and how they might represent a backlash against the “girl boss” era of “having it all” feminism. 

The dean finds her research unserious, but Alex, Priscilla, and Britt are intrigued. Priscilla runs a publishing imprint and offers to publish her work. Publishing outside of academia will not help Sloane secure a tenure-track job at the University, but she mulls over Priscilla’s offer anyway. She begins to interview the House’s alumnae and is particularly interested in interviewing Caroline, the woman behind The Country Wife VidStar account.

Caroline serves Sloane heart, slyly insinuating that it is human and not beef. Alex barges in and begins to do damage control. She assures Sloane that she has not been served human heart, but does admit that the House performs one ritual sacrifice each semester. Drinking human blood and eating small amounts of human meat makes the House’s members stronger, more beautiful, and healthier. It is the secret behind their sleek looks, successful careers, and ability to balance domestic work with demanding jobs. Sloane is horrified but fascinated.

Nina, having drunk human blood the night before, wakes up feeling refreshed and remarkably healthy. She learns that the House kills only “bad” men, men who prey on women and escape without consequence. She realizes that she is attracted to Fawn and is thrilled when Fawn seems to return her feelings. The two begin a secret relationship. Nina enjoys the House’s social world and is happy to attend a series of parties. At one, she runs into her philosophy professor, Dr. Villanueva, a man to whom she has also been attracted all semester and with whom she has been flirting. She felt particularly empowered by his obvious attraction to her but no longer feels the same pull toward him, now that she is sleeping with Fawn. Dr. Villanueva is out with his wife, Dr. Sloane Hartley, the House’s new academic advisor.

Later, Max informs Sloane that he will be taking a sabbatical the following semester, and she instantly thinks of the girl Nina they ran into that weekend. She correctly guesses that he’s been forced to take a sabbatical because of unethical, on-campus behavior, but incorrectly assumes that he had an affair with Nina. The two argue, and Sloane feels unhappier in her marriage than ever. She continues to wrestle with what she’s learned about the House from The Country Wife and Alex, and wonders what feminism even means anymore in the social media age.

Nina and her pledge class prepare for their first ritual dinner. Each girl brings a candidate, a man whom the House girls will vote on whether or not to kill. Fawn brings Dr. Villanueva. The two had an affair the previous semester. Each of the girls has chosen a man who has wronged her, but Nina shocks everyone by offering herself. The House girls have become embroiled in a difficult set of conflicts that center around both the idea of sisterhood and house leadership. Fawn, the House’s president, is about to be ousted. Nina argues that community is more important than politics and explains that she is willing to die for her sisters. The girls choose one of the other candidates instead of Dr. Villanueva or Nina.

Sloane, unaware of the results of the ceremony and still under the assumption that Nina had an affair with her husband, mistakenly kidnaps and kills Jasleen, Nina’s twin. She feeds Jasleen to her daughter, hoping that the human flesh will help her to grow up successful and strong.