Kiss, Marry or Kill: 47
A fun-as-hell book about absurdly horrible moms (it's okay to judge). Also: Can your undies prevent UTIs? You've never seen THIS in a sauna. And hard truths about your credit score (plus some tips).
This is my weekly series for subscribers only, where I’ll share things that caught my eye this week in a fun and flirty way (kiss), a sustainable way (marry), or a not-so-good way (kill). And yes, this trendy game is technically “f***, marry, or kill” but we run a family-friendly-ish show around here.
Kiss (things I like right now)
Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum (← hardcover)
Emma writes rollicking, razor-sharp novels about rich, terrible people, and I am invested in every chaotic, champagne-soaked moment. (See also: My review of Bad Summer People.)
Mean Moms follows a group of uber-wealthy parents and the goings-on of their kids’ elite private school. (The moms are the star of the show, though the dads are also cluelessly awful.) You may think you’ve read darkly humorous Manhattan-mom fiction, but Mean Moms takes “unhinged” to a whole new level. Every twist delivered equal parts glee and schadenfreude, which is my favorite kind of fiction.
These mothers are in constant silent competition: Who’s the richest, the most successful, the most envied? It’s wild that you don’t hate them immediately! That’s Rosenblum’s talent: keeping her characters delicately balanced between viperous and vulnerable, allowing you to remain invested, if not deeply disturbed. Rosenblum’s humor also stays true to the storyline; it’s dry, dark, and casually lethal. (The entire saga of The Dress was the plotline gift that kept on giving.)
Mean Moms centers around a mysterious sequence of events plaguing the Popular Moms of Atherton Academy. (The group chat transcripts were a genius tone-setting device.) While their cascading misfortune grounds the story, the side-quests are just as raucous. And really, who doesn’t love a quick bout of auto-erotic asphyxiation before Pilates? Also, if Rosenblum wasn’t tripping before writing the party sequences, she deserves an award for imagination alone.
The storyline constantly flirts with absurdity but never quite tips over, which makes the whole thing entertaining as hell. May the friendships in Mean Moms never find you—but I wouldn’t say no to an invite to their parties.