Book Review: On Behalf of All Women - Camille Danciu

1/26/2025 3:39 PM CST

Dear Reader,

This week we have another book review. In the background, I might have more David Lynch content in store, and I’m working on my now-fabled Street Fighter and the Art of Craft blog.

Enjoy:

A Darkly Comic Tale of Female Rage

Review: On Behalf of All Women - Camille Danciu

My Verdict: Fun. Funny. Great Pilot. Gimme Episode 2.

A fun and fast paced read.

Today, I want to talk about the second book I found because of my time in BoH. One day, while scrolling as per usual, I see the badass cover art (great job by Ruth Anna Evans). From the title and art alone, I said, “Ooo, what is this?”

The featured comment below the post had somebody complaining it was unrealistic that a woman would be physically capable of killing all those men, followed by a reply from the book’s author, very politely explaining the commenter seemed to have not followed the story, but in a really encouraging tone. I said to myself, “Self, I fuck with that energy. Self, make a mental note to pick up On Behalf of All Women.”

Now this was before I discovered the magic of e-books, and I was kind of broke (was, hell, still am), so I tell myself, “We’ll see when we can afford a couple of books.” Then I discovered it on e-book for a price too damn good to pass up, so I snatched it up like Sunday hotcakes at church breakfast. 

No buyer’s remorse here. The book practically read itself, and I am not lying when I say there were multiple points where I busted up laughing out loud. There is a section where the main character, Taryn, goes on a diatribe about all of the different stereotypes of awful men one might encounter online, and I thank God Danciu had the heart to stop the section where she did, because I might not be here with you today, as I would have deceased from laughter-induced suffocation. (One particular description of a stereotypical awful dude may have hit a little too close to home but was also the funniest. I won’t be sharing which one here.)

If I had to do an elevator pitch for On Behalf of All Women, I would pitch it like this: “Imagine a gory rom-com version of American Psycho meets Dexter, but our main character doesn’t just kill other killers (she does), but all the awful men she finds on Tinder.”

That is what I wanted anyway, and I feel like Danciu delivered superbly. There is an interesting dichotomy in the way the book alternates between slice-of-life moments for Taryn’s daily encounters and the more juicy, gruesome nightlife scenes where Taryn stalks her prey. I liked the juxtaposition, especially as Taryn starts to soften toward one of her co-workers.

To the person who said it wouldn’t have been possible for Taryn to overpower any of these men, did you read the book? Or did you see the title, assume correctly it was about a man killer, then assume incorrectly that the story featured instances of a woman winning wrestling matches against dudes much bigger than her? The character is very cunning and calculated and rarely relies on brute force to get the upper hand. The one time someone almost gets the drop on her, she blows his balls off with a pistol, so even then, not very likely the guy was going to get the best of her.

Before I get more detailed, I want to say this: if anything of what I have described sounds fun or exciting to you, just go read it. It's fun. It's short and digestible. I can’t imagine you wouldn’t at least have a good time reading it. My only real complaint is that some of the tension around Taryn’s safety didn’t land for me, but the final reveal was a lot of fun, and I can’t wait for the next installment (I keep hinting at another episode because I am fairly certain I saw Danciu teasing a sequel, and I’m tryna’ read it).

If you are interested in reading, stop here because I might be getting a little spoiler-y after this. For those who have already read it, or those who don’t care about spoilers, I’m still going to do my best not to give everything away, but I want to talk about a few quick things.

The prologue had its pros and cons. The pro being, I liked reading it, and it worked to get me excited to read the rest of the book. Cons: I knew exactly who the prologue referred to within the first couple of pages. See, I still don’t want to name anyone, because maybe I am just good at guessing. The other con being, the prologue was a great bit of prose, and I did get excited when I saw it again, but it maybe robbed the moment of some of its poignance?

So, my only other complaint, it’s small because I can’t stop seeing this as the beginning of a series, and I feel like it could easily be addressed at any time. Ok, so. I was never scared for Taryn. Even though I totally empathized with her, especially the more we got to know her, my empathy for Taryn never got used against me. Mostly, this applies to one scene, where she gets a sixth sense that the guy she is stalking is maybe more of a real monster than the rest. The one time she could have been in danger, she handles it without much incident, which is definitely great for illustrating how capable and prepared she is, but after the buildup where we start to sense this guy is dangerous, I thought there’d be a little more drama.

I liked the arrival of the cake. The secret fan angle was fun. Again, not threatening, more curious and intriguing. I get how it would feel scary or upsetting for Taryn for someone to know your secret, but immediately my gut feeling was that this person was definitely on her side. I did quite enjoy when the admirer’s identity was revealed, and it’s part of the reason why I am so excited to see the follow-up.