this is quite literally one of the weirdest books i’ve ever read.
what was the point? why were there so many unfinished plots? why did Dino randomly disappear and come back like he didn’t remember her?
what happened to Nobody? and did she die in the yard?
sometimes i feel like i just don’t “get” a book and this is one of those times.

This book follows Ruth, a stripper who goes by the name Baby. Ruth is reeling after her ex-boyfriend mysteriously disappears one day. Ruth begins to think she’s seeing him everywhere. Then Ruth starts working at a BDSM club and makes some unique friends, both in person and virtual.

Most of this book was super engaging and I could not stop reading. However, the end fell so flat for me. Maybe there’s something wrong with me but I didn’t “get it”. There were too many unanswered questions and I felt like some things were very rushed. Just finding reading and I am genuinely confused. However, the prose itself was great. Trust me I love a no plot book and really enjoyed it for the first 90% but I found the end disappointing. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

Definitely a no plot just vibes book but I enjoyed the prose a lot and the point of view though it could be confusing at times.

As the title suggests, there is something erotic about Soft Core, but also tender, fragile, and deeply sensitive.

Amidst a sea of men, a strange yet profound sense of sisterhood emerges as Baby grapples with the void left by Dino's absence. At times, Soft Core unfolds like a fever-dream: the surreal nature of men’s bizarre yet lucrative demands, which Baby fulfills with professionalism; the enigmatic new girl whose innocence may or may not be a façade; Dino's apartment, a shrine to his flamboyant personality, which Baby reluctantly inhabits as she attempts to breathe life back into it. Newell’s exploration of nightlife through Baby’s job at a strip club and a BDSM dungeon strikes a perfect balance between wit and melancholy.

Soft Core could have been just that and it would have been enough for me to absolutely enjoy every second of it. The prose is fun to read, smart and alluring. But Soft Core is also sprinkled with mysterious happenings, punctuating the story and keeping the reader hooked until the very end.

*** Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for sharing this book for review. All opinions are my own ***

DNF at 31%. This book is really strange. Timelines are jumping around. Baby mentions she’s been working at the strip club for months, but then it’s revealed she’s only been there 3 weeks. I’ve been so confused. I have no idea in which direction this plot line is ending and I honestly feel Ike this is a waste of my time. The description of the book sounds good, but when it’s actually being read I was so uninterested, bored, and confused.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

I wish I could fully articulate my feeling about this book because it’s just different from the other contemporary books that I’ve read. For one, that cover alone is enough to make me question myself whether or not I’m making the right choice when I requested this from Netgalley. Soft Core is some sort of a diary written by a half-lucid person slash slice-of-life novel. Months ago, I was able to finish Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den which revolves around the lives of prostitute girls back in the 1800s. It was a journey that I enjoyed a lot and something that made me reflective about a lot of things. Soft Core has the same effect although on a much deeper level because the voice of our protagonist, Ruth, felt so vivid. And her manner of describing her day-to-day life as a stripper/exotic dancer/dominatrix/deranged obsessed ex-girlfriend is so palpable, like she actually exists in real life and she’s just standing infront of you, laying out all her secrets for the world to know.

Another thing that stood out to me about this book is how irreverent it is to the society’s expectations. It’s brimming with freedom and has no traces of condescension with regard morality. Ruth’s not ashamed about her body, her sexuality, her choices, her moral values, and her profession. She’s this female, while imperfect and harboring insecurities of her own, embracing all that she was, all that she is, and all that she will be. Despite being somewhat unhinged due to her missing ex-boyfriend, she remained passionate about her job and remained optimistic about life in general. There’s no eye-rolling pity party or the constant moping about how life is so unfair and terrible. There is just Ruth, fixated on surviving and finding her ex-boyfriend.

Aside from the things that I’ve mentioned in the above paragraphs, I also liked the atmosphere of the story. Modern, steamy, gritty and somewhat sad. The dungeons, the bars, the clubs. And of course, Ruth’s flashbacks showed her as someone who’s really tenacious about everything, not caring that her choices can hurt a lot of people, that it can hurt herself, too. But what is tenacity and having lots of money when you still feel empty? This is I suppose is the sad part because Ruth is already at the top of her game when it comes to her professional career. And yet, there’s a hole in her that cannot be fulfilled and she’s behaving like it’s her ex-bf is the sole person who can fill it up. Am I still making sense? I hope I am. As I have said, I cannot fully articulate my feelings for this book.

The only reason why I didn’t give Soft Core are full 5 star rating because there were conflicts that were not resolved at the end of the book. Like what happened with Emeline after that confrontation? And why did Dino did what he did? And who was Mr. Nobody? Book, you cannot just leave me hanging like that. I have religiously read all the lengthy e-mail convos and then, what? You’re just going to end yourself without letting me in on the secret.

TLDR, if you want something that really feels new and will f-ck with your mind, go do yourself a favor and pick up this book. You can be assured that everything that has happened in this book is truly inspired by reality as the author herself is a real life dominatrix. How cool is that?

Totally judged a book by its cover when requesting this - and boy did it pay off. (Let's hear some commotion for the illustrator). I really liked this. It had it all; a touch of body horror, vivid use of kink without it being a smut novel and a sense of human loss. There was a well-used use of mystical realism thrown in, which made the overall plot interesting.

I saw other people call Soft Core a “fever dream” and I agree. It was very cerebral, was Dino ever missing? What was the point of all of the characters? I’m left with more questions and than answers but overall, I enjoyed the book.

3.5/5 stars

This book gave me the same feeling as Alice in Wonderland (2010 version). The atmosphere felt--trippy? Drifting? Like a fever dream? And maybe that's what Newell wanted for the audience. For me, it made it difficult to follow Baby's journey (in the three life stages we kind of see her at, moving from her starting career as a stripper, and then onward), but not in the fact that the plot was hard to follow. Hard in the way of "this is her life. This is the descent she's taking." It's like watching a car accident happen but you can't look away--because I felt for our FMC, no matter what decisions she made.

I would say if the topic of this book *may* be triggering for you, proceed with caution! But, this novel dug deep for me, and I think it's an interesting take on a life many don't know about.

This was a very "readable" read, with a perfect balance of the alien and the relatable. The tone matches other top-notch literary fiction, but the subject matter and setting gives it a fresh twist. I found the ending a bit disappointing—It didn't tie up all the loose ends. But maybe that's the point! Life offers more questions than answers!

If you like New Animal by Ella Baxter and writing style of Melissa Broder, you are going to love this one! Our main character is an exotic dancer, living with her ex boyfriend, enjoying her late twenties until he goes missing. Her world spirals and she finds herself working as a dominatrix (the author herself is one so you know it will be well written). The characters are well fleshed out, the story always taking turns and I found myself unable to put the book down. Thank you to the publisher for an ARC!

As I was reading this book, I felt like I was on a hallucogenic trip myself. A not entirely comfortable one.
I was fully immersed in the seedy life of an not especially kind exotic dancer whose drug dealer boyfriend has gone missing. I think it's extremely well-writted and it's rather confusingly plotted.

I don't think this was particularly the right book for me. I did feel like the synopsis was not fully accurate for the entire book but maybe that's my fault for requesting this arc. However it was an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC! *Soft Core* by Brittany Newell is a bold and unflinching exploration of youth culture in the digital age. The novel captures the aimlessness and raw desires of its characters, portraying their lives with a mix of dark humor and stark realism. Newell’s writing is sharp and often unsettling, reflecting the fragmented, hyper-connected world her characters inhabit. The story’s nonlinear structure and vivid, almost voyeuristic details create an intense reading experience that challenges conventional storytelling. Overall, *Soft Core* is a provocative and thought-provoking debut that offers a gritty, unapologetic look at modern adolescence.

Drifting and dreamy. More mysterious than I thought it would be… almost like a vibey thriller. Incredible writing and details that kept me hooked.

(3.5 stars)
Soft Core grabbed me immediately. It’s a better than average sex work memoir from a pro-Domme, Brittany Newell. It’s better than average because instead of abrasive, disconnected vignettes, it has a cohesive narrative and a gentle voice.

The book is divided into three parts. The first is about Ruth’s time as Baby, a stripper, who finds it hard to shake the smell of the club from her hair: “I smell like an airport bar, the tang of the lonely with hours to kill. I smelled like everyone’s deadbeat dad.” What is great about this section are the girls’ room antics and Ruth’s transitions into and from being Baby: “It would take me about an hour or more to stop flirting with everyone, to stop being Baby and return to Just Me, Ruth in her clogs and thick socks.”

The second part of the book covers Ruth’s time as Sunday, a dominatrix. This section felt a bit sadder to me, particularly Sunday (or was it Ruth) getting sucked into the suicidal time-waster, Nobody. The last third of the book is a bit of a descent into madness as Dino’s absence sees Ruth contemplate the sexual partners she chooses: “his cruelty felt cozy. It felt good in the way of pressing down on a bruise, morbid curiosity meets bored masochism.” The latter two parts didn’t live up to the promise of the strip show start, and felt drearier to read, which stopped me giving it more stars. It also jangled that Ruth didn’t challenge Dino’s behaviour at the club with Emeline, or even ask where he’d been, so I came away feeling she was a bit passive in allowing all sorts of negative behaviour and losing boundaries with clients and real life.

A surreal, sexy piece of contemporary fiction that was both intriguing and confusing at time. Newell has such a gift for prose, and everything felt very real to life. Unlike anything I've read before but I didn't truly love it.

This book was not meant for the likes of me. Maybe it will mean something to disaffected 20-something’s who are still trying to figure things out, I don’t know. And the jacket information is a bit misleading.

Ruth is living with her ex, Dino, a ketamine dealer in an old Victorian house that I’m wondering how they could ever afford in San Francisco. I know it isn’t nice but it’s also San Francisco. Anyway, Ruth starts dancing in a strip club under the name Baby. Then Dino disappears.

Ruth begins to think she sees him everywhere. She then starts moonlighting at a BDSM club and makes a friend. This is kind of it. The book really wants to mean something, but I don’t know what. It’s not bad, it just kind of,,, drifts.

Honestly, this was everything I want in a book. The author did an amazing job on this one. This is the first I’ve read from the author, but I look forward to reading more.

I really enjoyed this book! It had me hooked from the start. Reminded me a bit of Sex in the City & Gossip girl.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Netgalley and Brittany Newell for an ARC copy. All opinions are my own.