Having enjoyed Julie Mae Cohen’s previous book – Bad Men – I was delighted to be granted an advance review copy of her new book – Eat Slay Love, which was released this week. Here’s the blurb:

“A good friend will help you move on.
A best friend will help you move the body . . .
The razor-sharp, hilarious new 2024 black comedy thriller from the bestselling author of Bad Men.
Marina is a divorced mother of three preschoolers.
Lilah is a shy and lonely librarian.
Opal is a broke post-menopausal fitness guru.
These three women have absolutely nothing in common – except for the charming, attractive man who’s been lying to all of them. Now that he’s tied up in a basement, they may just have something to bond over.
But how far is each willing to go to get revenge? As this shared secret brings them closer together, other, deadlier problems come crashing into their lives. Can they put their differences aside to save themselves – and each other?”

Initially you meet the 3 leading characters – and you’re not sure how it’s all going to fit together – but it cleverly starts to come together! The fact that the ladies are all so different – and well written in their own right – is fabulous.

There are some gruesome elements, and some ‘suspending belief’ elements – but that’s often the case in black comedy thrillers and didn’t in any way detract from the book.

The use of modern technology (pin dropping of locations, scheduled Instagram posts etc) was woven into the storyline just as they’re part of every day life now (although some books still shy away from such things – which seems a bit daft!)

I was rooting for Marina, Lilah and Opal in different ways – and as a combined force of very different people, they were great. Whilst it is a revenge story – it’s also a female friendship storyline too.

It was a fun, escapist read – and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A big thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for my ARC.