Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn takes a satirical look at Hollywood, fame, beauty standards, paparazzi and anyone in the sphere around fame, including bloggers and podcasters, but it’s also a tale about how grief can break someone and how far one will go just to relieve that ache, however temporarily.

Girl Dinner follows two women, college sophomore Nina Kaur, eager to join the most exclusive sorority on campus, known as “The House”, and adjunct professor Sloane Hartley, returning to work after giving birth to a daughter Isla, now 18 months old. Nina becomes the first sophomore to join the sorority, and Sloane is asked to be the House’s academic advisor, and they both realize that something sinister is going on as the benefits of being a part of this feminine space are unusually exceptional as all the girls are extremely healthy and beautiful- and go on to be extraordinarily successful in their chosen careers - more than can be accounted for by simple sisterhood.

Some things I liked:

• Some of my favorite phrases

  • ”secret squirrel shenanigans”

  • “eponymous plastic raincoat”

• Herman!!! Everyone should have a black cat.

• The names of the mushrooms like “Father of Lies” and “The Harlot’s Progress”

She’s a Lamb is everything it promises - dark, funny, smart. What surprised me is how Meredith Hambrock makes us empathize with Jessamyn - especially since Jessamyn is fundamentally incapable of feeling empathy for anyone - even herself.