Garden State Goddess is Huzzah’s third most popular show following the lives of Reneé Ricci, Birdie St. Clair, and Carmela Fontana. When Leo Fontana takes a new wife in Hope Bennett she quickly becomes not only a Fontana, but a Goddess too. And the cast seems very weary about this choice. 

Much like any other reality show; secrets are revealed, feuds that have been festering for decades surface and a mysterious murder at a party leads the showrunner Eden to race to find the killer. Written by Astrid Dahl of Anna Dorn’s Perfume and Pain this book was the messy queer thriller of my dreams. 

It has it all; glamour, humor, trash reality. It’s campy and over the top and I loved every minute of it. Did I guess a lot of the thrillers twists? Yes. But did I care? No because I was having too much fun with the characters. I myself, never dabbled too deeply into any of the real housewives franchises but always have seen the viral moments and understood the references. I did get into New York for a hot minute and do love Bethany, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. That being said, I KNOW this book embodies those women and is a love letter of sorts to the chaotic women that make up those shows. Paired with messy love affairs, queer and otherwise, and armchair detective work it really sets this thriller apart from anything I’ve ever read. 

Thank you Simon & Schuster for emailing me this book in advanced. Thank you netgalley, Anna Dorn and Astrid Dahl 😉