Chicken Nugget Girl

Chicken Nugget Girl and Other Midlife Traumas

Mallory Reynolds is not okay. At thirty-eight, she’s juggling marriage, burnout, and the fine art of pretending everything is fine. Her days at OmnienTech are a blur of color-coded spreadsheets, corporate jargon, and passive-aggressive emails. Her nights? Hoarding unfinished sketchbooks, writing essays she’ll never share, and perfecting a professional bob haircut.

Then one day, Mallory walks away. No plan. No savings. Just too much oat milk and a desperate need for something real. What follows is a hilariously messy and deeply heartfelt journey into writing, art, radical honesty-and all the chaos that comes with chasing authenticity. Along the way, Mallory must face impostor syndrome, family guilt trips, and even a dramatic plumbing disaster, all while searching for truth, belonging, and maybe even a book deal.

In her darkly funny and emotionally resonant debut, Kate Torode captures the unraveling-and rebuilding-of modern midlife. Chicken Nugget Girl and Other Midlife Traumas is a witty, cathartic exploration of resilience, reinvention, and the snacks that get us through.

Perfect for readers who love sharp humor, awkward honesty, and characters who feel just a little too real.