This book was just okay. I felt Charlotte Shane was embellishing a bit too much. I found her story hard to believe. She didn't seem like an honest woman, hence the title. Something about her life felt far-fetched and bit ridiculous. I enjoy reading non-fiction, but this book left me feeling aggravated and annoyed. Everything the author said felt braggy and self-centered. It's a mixed bag for me.

This memoir-vella would have been better had there been labelled essays or just one single essay. There was no through line other than the fact that Shane was a sex worker, and it was disjointed and not chronological. She talks about her youth and mentions her early days, but she never really leads us from A to Z. She kept mentioning this guy Roger, which didn't make sense until the second to last chapter. Honestly would not have finished this had it not been so short.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good read, i really enjoyed the authors writing style, it was a bit slow in some parts but overall explored many different themes and was wort it in my opinion. I would like to check out the authors other books.

A fascinating story from a perspective we need to hear more from. I learned so much about the sex industry from reading this book, and more importantly, I learned about gender, capitalism., and the way our culture thinks about women and exchange.

While I was immediately sold on the premise, I was quickly disappointed. I feel that the book is a little all over the place. While I find it hard to judge a memoir as it is someone’s life, I just feel that the first half was driven my her insecurities and random female shaming. The second half was interesting, but I felt the book to be disjointed. It seems slightly unhinged in terms of her relationship with her one client and their family / actions thereafter and event that takes place. The ending came out of nowhere and I feel left me with unanswered components in what was being shared.

I've been reading Charlotte Shane's writing for years now. Her self-reflection and analysis of everyday life have had a profound impact on my own life. This short book is a great peek into a dynamic mind. A+

I felt the author was very preachy and wanted to appear more aware of her body and sexuality when she was very young then would seem believable. I enjoyed reading how empowered she felt by her life's choices; I wish all women felt that way.

Finished my ARC - thank you to Simon & Schuster for my digital copy.

I haven’t read a memoir in a little while so once I came across this in my ARC list to read I thought I’d give it a go. It was definitely interesting to hear about this particular topic & how open she was to being raw & honest about it. Some parts felt uneven and choppy, making it harder for the reading flow. Unfortunately this memoir didn’t hit for me like other memoirs.

Charlotte Shane shares with us her life as a sex worker.Sex work is something most of us know nothing about.so this is a behind the scenes look at what her world was like.This is also her personal memoir sharing her life.Well written involving eye opening. #netgalley #simon&schuster

3.5 stars rounded up

An Honest Woman is author Charlotte Shane’s memoir about her experiences working as an escort in DC and NYC. It is broken down into separate parts and follows Shane’s journey into her career and the path she followed shaping her career into what she wanted it to be. The ending also included her reflections on relationships and sex in general.

I did enjoy this memoir and thought Shane’s writing was beautiful. My favorite parts were her experiences with Roger and at times felt this was more Roger’s story than her own. I would definitely read more client-focused experiences from this author, although I recognize these are not necessarily her interest or stories to tell. I would also have liked to learn more about Shane’s webcam experiences and earlier escort days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I found this book to be well written and intelligent in its observations as the author shares her views. She did sex work for a number of years and found value in the things she learned.

This is the story of Charlotte Shane and the life she spent as a sex worker. It’s a good and interesting book, which answers your questions about that lifestyle.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thought this would be a great supplement to a book I read earlier this year, More. But it just lacked any sort of engagement for me.

"But the strength of the shame meant that any whiff of "no" tended to linger for years, and the guy was usually so afraid of treating it with the seriousness it deserved, he'd make the request sound like a short-lived whim. If she laughed it off, or made a face, or asked him why they would do that with each other, he'd never mention it again. That misunderstanding impeded the creation of new intimacy and pushed them apart. Couples don't have to share everything with each other, but this, to me felt like an unnecessary loss"

Thank you to Charlotte Shane and NetGalley.com for the Advanced Readers Copy.

I am truly blown away with how beautifully well this was written. Charlotte's voice, understanding of her life experiences, and total self awareness had me hanging on every last word. I was flying through the book while also trying to read as slowly as possible because I did not want it to end. This is not just a compilation of specific instances, or wild stories.. it is so much deeper than that. I think as humans we are naturally curious about sex in general, but sex work specifically because it can be seen as taboo in our culture and this book helps you understand more from the perspective of someone who chose to do this with her life for her own unique reasons. This was an easy 5 star rating for me, I will absolutely be purchasing a physical copy for my shelf, and will be cheering on the author hoping her voice gives us more in the future!

This book was a struggle for me. In rereading the description, I see that it includes that the author left her women’s studies program and got into sex work as a way to “devote herself to men” and it seems she has achieved her goal.

Reviewing a book shouldn’t be about critiquing someone else’s life choices, but it is impossible for me not to mention that I think further self reflection is necessary on a number of issues included here. I didn’t understand her motivations for doing things because I didn’t understand what her true feelings were. Does she?

What a fascinating read! Sex work is often the topic of discourse but rarely are the actual sex workers given a chance to voice their own opinions; I appreciated this book for both bringing to light the experience of sex work directly from someone involved. I found Shane's prose style engaging and honest, and I enjoyed reading about her life and her shifting views about sex and society.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this advanced reader's copy. This was a fascinating memoir about a woman who was a sex worker for many years, and it traces how she started on her journey into the 'business'. The author speaks candidly about growing up, loving men, being awkward for a long time, and how not all relationships were about sex. Some of her relationships with these men were long term and were more of the idea of a mistress than what anyone would consider sex work. It was interesting and educational to read the author's takes on fidelity and when she found her husband. I love to read different perspectives on relationships, life, and careers.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

An Honest Woman is Charlotte Shane’s memoir about being a sex worker, beginning in her childhood, spanning into her adolescence and first experiences with sex, describing her encounters as a sought-after sex worker in New York City, and later, her relationships with a client and her husband. It’s not told in exactly that order, but I really didn’t mind. Each of Shane’s chapters revealed more about her life—what made her interested in sex work and how she turned this passion into a career, how her childhood influenced her perceptions on sex and love and marriage, and the personal relationships she had with her clients over the years—and showcased her gorgeous writing style, immersing me in nearly every experience that she recalled.

I was initially drawn to this memoir because I’ve been learning a lot about sex work in my Anthropology class this semester, but I stayed for Shane’s transfixing prose and her story. Even though I’m not as experienced as she is—even when she describes her adolescence and her late teens/early twenties—I felt like I was reading some of the stories of my love life. I didn’t think I’d be able to relate entirely to her memoir, but it’s hard not to relate to her words: about feeling like an outsider in her friend groups growing up, feeling stuck in academia and academic circles, feeling like you’re trapped in the narrative that others around you are writing. This part of the memoir is executed flawlessly, and her tone and writing are sharp and poignant, great features in a memoir. However, I flew through the first half, unable to pick up the second half of the book (mostly because I had lots of stress from finals! but also) because it shifted into a concentration on one of her clients, Roger. I liked reading about Roger—this memoir seems to be a case study of Roger, in addition to telling her life story—but I felt that it became very oxymoronic at times. Shane stresses that she is not in love with Roger, not a gold digger, but she dedicates so much time of her book solely describing their relationship.

Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with a sex worker being in love with their client, but I felt that Shane continually defended that she wasn’t in love with Roger, and the defenses ended up weakening her claims. She did not come off as a gold digger to me, because it was obvious that she cared so much for Roger, but I felt that their relationship lost its spark and became lackluster after she continually doubled down that there was no mutual love—even when it doesn’t take a critical reader reading in between the lines to see that both she and Roger were in love with each other. Maybe this is because she is married, but then she only spends a single chapter talking about her husband. This makes sense, because this is a memoir about her life as a sex worker, but I would have loved to read more about her managing both her relationships with her husband and with Roger moreso than I would have liked to read about her and Roger time and time again. I hope I’m not coming off like a hater, because it was super interesting to read about how her relationship with Roger turned from client to close friend, but it dominated the book more than I would have liked.

As far as memoirs go, this is extremely well written, and I would love to read more about Shane’s experiences in the industry. She loves what she does and doesn’t apologize for it, which is so commendable and empowering. I really recommend this memoir if you like memoirs and love learning about the sex work industry.

Reading Charlottes work is like drinking a cold glass of water. She is so honest, bright, and clear. I really enjoyed this memoir, and it read quick. My only qualm is a sense of distance I felt-even in her honesty- from the narrator. She describes others as describing her as mysterious and slightly aloof, and that comes across in the writing. While the story of the john was a useful framing structure for the book, I found myself getting a bit tired of his story. And I felt that the last chapter, which was the only one that really detailed her personal intimate relationship as an adult, felt out of pace with the rest of the book. That being said, her insights on heterosexuality are a true balm to the usual heteropessimistic discourse around straightness. Always looking forward to reading more of her.

A quick, moving and eloquent memoir! I really enjoyed the authors insights on sex work and weaving her personal experiences with larger observations about men, women and society. Although not all of her experiences and conclusions resonated with me, the overall tone was something very approachable and compulsively readable.

My slight critique is the last chapter came on too fast and wrapped up too quickly.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to review this ARC.