Brilliantly dark and very funny!

Three very different women discover that they are all being lied to by the same man. Recently divorced Marina, who has just inherited a big value property in Richmond, timid librarian and lottery winner, Lilah, and confident and feisty fitness guru, Opal.

When they trap their mutual interest in the basement, revenge is definitely sweet, if not a bit messy and very funny, in a dark and murderous way!

I loved all of the three women and the very unlikely bond they form in the weirdest of circumstances! A great read!

4.5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Julie Mae Cohen and Bonnier for an ARC in return for an honest review.

RATING 4.25

Eat Slay Love offers a great twist on the thriller genre, blending suspense, dark humour, and the theme of found family and female empowerment. The story follows three women who, despite being tied together by a man, discovers much more to themselves as their lives intertwine.

The character development is well crafted, and the writing is engaging. The creativity of the plot and the evolving friendship between the women kept me hooked. It’s a relatable tale of women reclaiming their power, standing up for themselves, and realising they’re capable of anything when they believe in themselves.

Overall, Eat Slay Love is an enjoyable, unconventional thriller that will appeal to readers looking for something a little different. It’s a story of empowerment, friendship, and yes—perhaps even the fantasy of getting away with murder.

(I received this digital arc from netgalley)

EAT SLAY LOVE - JULIE MAE
COHEN - ARC
3 Women who are brought together over 1 man! Ex husband, fiance and boyfriend but is he who he says he is to them all? A secial media influencer with dwindling followers and nothing else to loose, a recently divorced stay at home mum back living with her parents while looking for somewhere else to live and a lottery winner who's life has been turn upside down! They make the unlikeliest of friends but somehow accidental murder brings them together and they would do anything to protect each other! Wouldn't they?
I really enjoyed this, wasn't sure where it was going to go but honestly loved every minute of it! My heart was pounding at points and I live for that feeling from a book!
@rachaelmcreads

Marina is a former chef and divorced mother of three. Lilah is a shy, grieving librarian. Opal is an over 50 years old, difficult to work with, close to bankruptcy fitness guru. These three women should have nothing in common but they do. The same man has lied to all three of them. And they now have him tied up in a basement. Where do they go from here?

There is a delicious dark humor to this in-your-face with its honesty, revenge story. The narrative grabs you from the first intriguing chapter and keeps you hostage as the three women are introduced to us each in their own distinctly voiced POV. Three women who are different but each is pressured in various ways to live up to others' expectations. Manipulation is unfortunately key in each circumstance.

It is a cleverly structured story, even with the back and forths in the timeline. There is a quiet intensity to it. Presenting an inviting, matter-of-fact language it leads us to the point of Chapter One in a captivating manner. Then things take an unexpected turn as the story goes into uncharted, more brutal waters thanks to the original twists and reveals.

It was refreshing that after the 'main event' and where you might expect the story to end, we get to see more of their lives and what happens next. You will never believe what happens next. I do not think I have ever applauded the posting of a video so much before. The wrapping up of everything is also genius. I practically squealed in delight.

This book is not about hating men but about loving women and championing friendship. It is about standing up for yourself and not being defined by others. Finding your power. There are sideplots that are let's call them pointers in female empowerment. It also shows the murkiness of human behavior and how through it we can find the light.

Such an utterly readable and entertaining book is simultaneously so insightful and thought-provoking. The best empowering revenge and friendship story you will read this decade.

In Eat Slay Love we follow Opal, Marina and Lilah, three women who are very different and initially unconnected, but soon find out they are linked by one devious conman who has been tricking them all.

They decide to exact their revenge, but when one of the women brings the timeline forward, they end up with much more effort a situation on their hands when they were expecting!

This was a darkly funny story about revenge, which also covered some serious topics well.

Eat Slay Love is a deliciously dark and compelling thriller that delivers brilliant characters and serrated plot twists that will keep you guessing.

I will say I went into this knowing very little beyond the cover, title and pitch I saw on social media. I would highly recommend doing the same, because you have one hell of a read in store.

This introduced me to Julie Mae Cohen’s style and it is excellent, full of heart and humour in equal measure. It has a darkly comic sense to it, which contrasts just how dark and intense some of the other scenes get. This is a book that delves into some tough topics and explores them with nuance and sensitively. Cohen walks a tightrope carefully between the comedy and the conflict. Everything here is built on manipulations and pretences, with games within games going on. It is layered and a damn fun ride to be on. Cohen rails against patriarchal power structures here, with these three complex female characters at the centre of the action: Marina, Liliah and Opal. They have been caught up in some dastardly schemes in the pursuit of their happily ever after. Each of them stands out and is hilarious & deeply relatable in their own ways.

Cohen’s writing is fantastic: slick, sharp and sensational. The way the plotlines converge is masterful and the little reveals build up a bigger picture that is astonishing once revealed in full. It is such a rich and detailed story that sadly speaks a lot of truth to the reality of women’s lives today. For me, the plotting and atmosphere were spot on with some devious twists and an ending that made me long for more. Right from the start, I was hooked and Cohen ensured I was totally consumed by this book until the very last page.

Eat Slay Love brought charming, if complicated, characters and a healthy dose of humour to a intricately plotted and intense thriller.

After reading #JulieMaeCohen debut I knew I had to give this new #EatSlayLove a go and I'm so pleased I did. It was fantastic!
If you love Netflix Good Girls or the Aussie series Wanted, then you'll love this book.
As well as dealing with serious issues and it being a thriller, the humour thrown in is just spot on and not at all over the top or silly. It would make the perfect boxset with so much potential for a follow up, even a prequal would be great and theres so many amazing strong female characters that can either have their own future storyline or back story.
Girl/housewife power at its finest... Thanks for making me smile #NetGalley

Another enjoyable read from Julie. Three women have been wronged by the same man but how can they get their revenge?
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I’ve tried picking a favourite character out of the three women but I can’t - each had their own demons and strengths. I laughed and cried my way through the story as Marina and Lilah discovered the truth about their relationships. I also need a book about Marina’s grandmother please!
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There are a number of messages to women throughout the book to remind us that we are stronger together as women and not to allow ourselves to be isolated from family and friends.
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This is the second book by the author I have read and this time rather than a professional killer it has an unimagined killer.

Three woman are all involved with the same man, unbeknown to two of them. When the third one reaches out to alert the other two, they get together with a plan in mind to teach him a lesson. In teaching him a lesson they also form a sisterhood, and end up teaching each other a few life lessons too.

With some dark humour it also covers some serious topics including violence against women and coercion. It doesn't take itself too seriously though, and at times this led to the characters being perhaps too one dimensional for me.

At first I thought this read was going to be a little slapstick for my liking. But combined with a librarian and a down to earth Mother the book began well for me. It took me a minute to get who was who straight in my head, but once I did it was straightforward to read from the different points of view.

I went through a phase with the story where I wondered wasn't this all mapped out with not much left to discover. Then the story took a different turn and I couldn't put it down. Best of all though, OMG - the ending! No spoilers here!

Absolutely loved this book. If you're a fan of female's coming together to right wrongs with alot of dark humour and some twisted murder then this is for you! I loved how the three protagonists developed their friendships with each other. The storyline was quirky and fun! Enjoy!

I just loved this book it was so good! I loved the story, the characters and the friendship between the three ladies. There was times that I just couldn’t help but laugh it was just full of twists and turns and unexpected laughter with heartwarming moments as well, I really did enjoy this book so much.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you like a book with twists and turns but that is also heartwarming with unexpected laughter.

I would like to thank Zaffre and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early.

In the words of Miranda Hart - such fun! I mean, really, you shouldn't consider murder fun but Eat Slay Love poses the question of whether someone deserves to die. Opal, Marina and Lilah find themselves drawn together and have to answer that question. Julie Mae Cohen writes three distinctive women with great humour but also profound sensitivity. Each is brave and vulnerable; funny and sad; beaten but not fully defeated. I'm hoping there might be a follow-up as Opal, Marina and Lilah are such great characters and could easily get up to more escapades.

A highly recommended, hilariously funny book.

Marina, Lilian and Opal are from completely different walks of life.

Their paths cross when they discover that they have one thing in common, they have all been dating the same man.

Their loyalties are put to the test when the man in question ends up tied up in Marina’s basement.

How far will they go to punish him? Are they all on the same page? Can they trust each other?

I found all three women and their situation relatable and loved reading their friendships develop.

I especially loved how the book centred on friendship, sisterhood and ice cold revenge.

I was so excited to read this as I loved Bad Men and this definitely did not disappoint, it dealt with serious topics but still had great humour and depth.

This is a fun read. Its got multiple characters and their points of view and it wasn't confusing like some books can be. I was engaged in what was going to happen and while it was a bit predictable I enjoyed the story and I want to know what happens next which is always a good sign.

Thank you to netgalley, author and publisher for this advanced copy.

Thank you so much to Bonnier publishers for sending me a copy of this book via Netgalley following my previous review of Bad Men. I really enjoyed reading Bad Men as an ARC, so was over the moon to have instant read access to Eat, Slay, Love.

It’s safe to say my expectations were high and perhaps they were a little too high as I didn’t really enjoy Eat, Slay, Love.

There were moments that I did really enjoy it like when the dark humour was hitting, but what I missed was the more fun element that Bad Men had and I know it’s personal preference, but I also missed some romance.

Eat, Slay, Love felt like a more grown-up version of Bad Men, and I didn’t get my easy fun read as much as I was expecting. This is probably all due to the characters being much older, and I found them quite hard to connect to and didn’t like any of them for most of the book. I liked them more towards the ending, seeing their growth and friendship was nice but the overall reading experience felt muted.

I know many who will absolutely love this, it just wasn’t for me.

Wow! What a story! I couldn't put it down because I had to know what happened next. Beware, controlling men everywhere, you might be about to get your comeuppance!

I had high hopes for this book because I LOVED Bad Men, which is by the same author. Sadly for me, this one wasn’t quite up there with Bad Men, but still an enjoyable read.

The books follows three women - Opal, Marina and Lilah. Opal is a fifty something fitness influencer who tracks down divorced mother Marina and shy librarian Lilah, when she realises that all three of them have been conned by the same man. To Marina and Lilah, he’s charming and protective and the best thing that’s ever happened to them. But Opal, having once being married to him, knows the truth. He’s lying to them and he’s taking or planning to take all their money. And even worse, he will kill for it.

The ladies take matters into their own hands when one evening, Marina pushes him down the steps into her basement. And when Lilah finds out the truth about his involvement in her father’s death, things get even worse for the man captured in the basement. There are very grisly parts, which I actually enjoyed 😅 I think the reason some of the book felt a bit flat was because the drama didn’t really amp up until 60% and too much time was spent setting the scene and delving into the women’s backgrounds.

The themes of female friendship, empowerment and slaying the patriarchy are very prominent, which I did like.

I didn’t like the main characters as much as I had hoped I would and I found them lacking in depth and almost a bit stereotypical. They did all have great journeys throughout the book but I almost found myself not really that bothered about what happened to them because I hadn’t related to them/warmed to them.

Overall, a fun yet dark read, but not my favourite and nowhere near the brilliance of Bad Men (in my opinion!)

Thanks to Bonnier books and Netgalley for this ARC. Due to be published 24/10/24.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not sure if I took too much delight in the 'mischief' Lilah, Marina and Opal were getting up to buy this was a great book!

It gives off First Wives Club vibes in the sense that 3 very different women come together as a sisterhood not only to seek revenge but to embrace sisterhood. They're joined by the common theme of being mistreated and being made vulnerable and I love that they find strength and companionship as part of their journey.

Not all men are bad but the ones featured in this story do deserve some bad karma and you won't be disappointed by some of the things that the women get up to!!

This was a fun read. I love books with this particular theme (no spoilers!) and this was a good example. The female friendships in this book were great, loved the different personality types of the women and how they were well fleshed out characters. Wasn’t expecting the ending but really enjoyed it. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.