I couldn't put this one down! Such an adventure into the underbelly of sex work through the main character Ruth's experiences in the San Fran area. This book encapsulated grief, longing, desire, jealousy, and sexiness into a powerful narrative. The author has a talent for crafting a web of mystery in the plot, leaving the reader to question what is real vs. madness. Between Dino's disappearance, the notes, the email exchanges, there's a lot of questions that are left lingering even after closing the book. Can't stop thinking about it!

Soft Core was a romp, to say the least. An intense and vivid memoir novel from pro-domme Brittany Newell, we follow Ruth, our unreliable narrator, as she tumbles down many sickly rabbit holes in San Francisco and finds her power while navigating love, friendship, and revenge, all while juggling a career in SW.

The narrative of Soft Core becomes increasingly fleeting and unhinged; however, the writing style remains fluid and engaging enough to keep the reader wanting more.

On reflection, I am left attempting to braid together a few loose ends: the fate of Nobody and the many unanswered questions regarding Dino. Intentional? I believe so; however, I would have preferred some closure on these aspects.

All in all, Soft Core delivers a story with real heart, and given a bit more attention to concluding a few key plot lines, this may well have been a four-star read for me!

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC.

I'm all about a book that focuses more on vibes than plot, and Soft Core fits perfectly within that category. Ruth is a dancer at a strip club, and one day, her older boyfriend Dino disappears without a word. This isn't a mystery or thriller, but Dino's disappearance is the catalyst for all of Ruth's (aka "Baby's") actions going forward. She's constantly questioning things as her life goes on.

Soft Core takes us into the underbelly of the world of stripping and BDSM clubs and shows us how gritty yet mundane it can be. The details are fantastic, and as I read, I could practically smell the wafts of perfume and see all of the glitter. I never knew where the story was going, and I enjoyed the ride.

LitHub included this book in their list of novels to read if you loved Anora (https://lithub.com/what-to-read-next-based-on-your-favorite-film-of-the-year-redux/ where it shares space with Margo's Got Money Troubles, which I loved!). As someone who had so much fun watching Anora, I decided to check it out. The book is an honest portrayal of a woman (Ruth/Baby) who works at a strip club as a dancer, and in the wake of her ex-boyfriend's (Dino) disappearance, she goes on a search for him—along the way, she also becomes a dominatrix. The book does a great job of describing the dynamics between the girls working at the club and the dungeon—how they talk to each other and about each other—and there’s a tenderness to it that I really liked. There’s an authenticity to these descriptions (especially important considering the author herself works as a dominatrix!). They discuss their favorite perfumes and the reasons behind their choices, men's kinks are listed like a grocery list, and clients at the dungeon are described in vivid detail—not only authentically, but also with humor, tenderness, and humanity.

The book also spends a lot of time with the central character, Ruth, who is reckoning with longing, loneliness, and familial trauma. While she makes friends (particularly Mazzy and Ophelia) and seems to be surrounded by people who care about her, she often feels unworthy of their affection and indulges in self-destructive behavior and unravels. The author also talks very realistically about the pitfalls of the job, and how, while violence itself may not be constant, its potential always surrounds her.

The book’s most tender moments come in Ruth’s musings about Dino—her nervousness after not having seen him for a while because she had become so habituated to his presence, how Dino made sure she was always well-fed and now that he's gone, food no longer holds the same appeal to her, how, when she inhabits his bed, she tries to minimize her movements to preserve his scent on the sheets because she misses him so much.

I think the book also does a great job of depicting love in the form of small moments: like eating M&Ms in bed together and giving your partner their favorite colors, or Ruth's attraction to Dino's little belly fat that she found tender and soft, or their grocery hauls. This is not a book that ties things up neatly in the end—so if you want a book that provides clear answers, this may not be for you. But if you're here for the vibes, I'm sure you'll have fun!

As far as comparisons with Anora go, I can see some similarities between her and Baby, particularly in how both women assert agency over their bodies. Though they project a facade of happiness, both women are cloaked in aching loneliness, forced to bend to circumstances in lives that seem crafted to bring about their undoing.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author (Brittany Newell), and the publisher (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) for an advanced copy. Thoughts and review are completely my own.

(Will be sharing to my Instagram closer to the publishing date)

This was not what I expected. It jumped around way too much for me. It also was trying for depth but just did not deliver for me. I think I'm just not the reader for this book.

Soft Core is an easy-read, slice of life book following a woman in her twenties who works as a sex worker and lived with her ex-boyfriend Dino, although her life is upended when Dino suddenly disappears. I liked the use of the unreliable narrator in this book, it was a fun reading experience to constantly question if what was happening was real, or if the narrator was making things up. I think the book would’ve benefitted from being a little shorter, as some of the scenes became repetitive towards the end. But an interesting read which people will enjoy if they like books with unreliable narrators that feel like a fever dream.

A strong debut novel. I think this was a cover request for me, but glad I read it. Will definitely find it's niche in the literary fiction world.

This book hooked me from the start. I felt like I was there in the club with Ruthie, a fly on the wall watching she and Dino. When Ruthie yearned, I yearned. When she grieved, I grieved. The characters were well thought out, interesting, and relatable. Brittany’s writing is thoughtful and beautiful. This is definitely one of my new favorite books.

You're telling me a queer dominatrix wrote a tender portrait of sex work that's published by FSG? Fuck yes.

Soft Core absolutely lived up to my expectations. Our protagonist - Ruth by birth, but Baby by profession - lives with her ex-boyfriend. When he suddenly disappears without warning, Baby moves from stripping to working at a BDSM dungeon. The story feels a bit slice-of-life in the way we meet many characters around Baby who are absolutely fascinating, but we do not get resolutions on most plot points. Vibes > plot.

The way Newall captures the disgusting elements of sex and femininity was refreshingly honest. An example of a passage I appreciated which also generally reflects the tone and writing:
As we ate I was reacquainted with that glorious postcoital hunger. It was one of those things I'd loved most about sleeping around: the private bliss of settling into my bed, still leaking a stranger's juices, and eating the snacks I'd accrued on the long journey home. Gummy worms, Oreos, seltzer, saltines. Out with my date earlier in the night I would purposefully eat very little, so as to (A) compound my drunkenness, (b) minimize the bloat, and (C) save myself for this ritual. As I feasted in bed, I would think of an expression I'd heard my mom use: She's a bottomless pit. It felt true. Post-pounding, I was at home in my role as a hole. I felt both queenly and gross, indulging what felt like an innate need to be filled. 

This book reminded me a bit of Lauren Oyler's Fake Accounts, in the way our protagonist feels a bit aimless after her ex-boyfriend drops out of the picture, and very much of Alexandra Kleeman's You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine in the perpetual (un)becoming, uncertainty of what is truly going on, and the strange female friend. This book is best suited for those who are interested in stories about non-normative human relationships, an intellectual exploration of kink and desire (not smut!), and who don't mind lingering questions when they finish a novel.

I can appreciate the tone of this novel but sometimes the dialogue just made me cringe. I get it lol

The book and the plot summary given do not match at all. We are supposed to follow Ruth / Baby in a madcap search for her missing ex-boyfriend (Dino) while this search takes her into the sexual underground..

But all we follow is Ruth as a sex worker. Nothing happens. At all. The only interesting thing was her conversations with Nobody - which only is about 5% of the book.

I cannot say that I recommend this book at all..

Thank you very much to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and Net Galley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC! I was really excited to read this book because the summary was super intriguing. Unfortunately, it fell short for me.

This novel is character driven, which I typically enjoy, but I could not stand Ruth. She came across as yet another “grimy girl” with nothing particularly unique about her. It was a struggle to get through her depressing narration.

I saw another reviewer note that it’s cool vibes but nothing happens. And I couldn’t agree more. It really felt like nothing happened which was really tough to get behind for me. At times I couldn’t distinguish between past and present.

I did enjoy the descriptions of the perverse/kinks/etc that Newell crafts. I found Ruth’s relationship with Nobody and Simon to be the most interesting parts of the book.

I’m left with the question of what’s the point? What’s Newell trying to say? I can’t answer that, and I think that’s why I’m disappointed.

This was a fun read about a stripper whose live in boyfriend ends up disappearing, and her eventual quest to try and find him, and the more interesting parts of hte sex work world she dives into while she's at it (dungeon work, etc). It's fascinating also because it serves as a kind of retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, almost. It's also written by a professional dominatrix, so you can tell she knows her stuff. Definitely worth your time when this comes out in February.

Ruth is living with her drug dealer ex-boyfriend Dino and dancing at a strip club as Baby Blue. One day Dino disappears without a trace. Ruth is bereft, she didn’t realise quite how intertwined their lives were, how much she had come to rely on him. She sees him everywhere but he never seems to come home.

The synopsis is a touch misleading, she does not go looking for Dino. His vanishing looms large over everything. Ruth starts working at a BDSM dungeon and receives emails from someone named Nobody. She makes friends with Ophelia, a dominatrix from her new job and is slightly unnerved by a new girl at the club, Emeline.

I found this a little slow to start, the first third was… I don’t want to say a slog but it did take me a while to get through. It picks up! And is very compelling. I do wish there had been a little more resolution towards the end though. Some loose ends didn’t feel like they should not have been left loose? But I am nosy. Tell me everything!

Quick synopsis: A 27 year old woman who works as a stripper and lives in a Victorian with her ex bf starts spiraling when she wakes up one day and her ex boyfriend has gone missing.

Review: I had higher hopes for this book. This is definitely a sad girl falling off the rails; no plot just vibes type of story. Which don’t get me wrong I’m usually totally into that but I didn’t feel very captivated by this character or story. I honestly can’t even tell you what happens because it feels like a fever dream, you’re dealing with an unreliable narrator and are never sure what’s real and what’s not; and there’s never any answers- the story just ends. And the fever dream isn’t anything crazy it’s all very plausible things that could be happening but it doesn’t make sense? I think I was waiting for an aha moment and that was probably my problem. Definitely a story that handles loneliness and the need for companionship- whether from a friend, a lover, or a parent. There’s a longing from our main character who above all else just wants/needs someone to love her. This one is for the sad girls who just want to cared for.

I'm glad I read this right after my trip to SF - it made it so much easier to picture the various locations described throughout the book. I loved all the descriptions throughout the book, of people, places, food, etc. I feel like the book doesn't really have a strong plot, and it is more just centered on our MC drifting around. While I like the MC, I felt like I didn't get to know her as well as I would have liked. I felt like she kept me at arms length the entire book, but I did feel like I got to know the other characters pretty well. Loneliness was definitely a central theme of this novel, and the author did a wonderful job of capturing that feeling. Despite the lack of plot and distance from the MC, I still greatly enjoyed this one.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the ARC.

Brittany Newell’s *Soft Core* is a daring and edgy exploration of youth, identity, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world. The writing is raw and unfiltered, capturing the restless energy of its characters and setting.

However, the novel's experimental style and fragmented narrative can feel disjointed, making it challenging to fully connect with the story. While its boldness is admirable, the lack of cohesion and emotional grounding left parts of the book feeling distant.

*Soft Core* is a provocative read with flashes of brilliance, but it may not resonate with everyone. Worth a try for those who enjoy boundary-pushing fiction.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book - I liked the writing style and I liked that it was written from the point of view of the main female character. I did however struggle with the last third of the book and found that I was left wondering what was going on, mainly around the return of Dino. I would have preferred a more definitive explanation as to where he had been and why was he acting like he didn't know who Ruth was. Perhaps it required the reader to read between the lines a little more and interpret it their own way? Either way, it was a pleasure to read and I would recommend it.

The vibes of this book were exactly what I enjoy- very weird. I didn’t LOVE it but also didn’t hate it. Would definitely recommend to lovers of out-there low plot books.

If the cover of this one doesn’t pull you in immediately, the blurb most definitely will. The author is a dominatrix in real life so you know the experiences of the main character are going to be well written with no reservations.

I really enjoyed the mystery at the start of this book, you could feel the sisterhood of the ladies at the strip club, the loneliness from the men and I loved that there was no shame or judgement portrayed in this book by what Baby does for a job. Whilst working at the strip club Baby’s ex-boyfriend Dino goes missing, she thinks she sees him everywhere and genuinely this is where I lost my head lol. I’m not quite sure if Baby was unhinged? Was someone actually fucking with her? What in the world was Dino doing? I have so many unanswered questions (some I don’t want to spoil so haven’t listed them) and I’m not sure if I absolutely love that because it creates a protagonist who is completely unreliable and I’m just sat here like what the f? Or I’m hugely stressed out and still need answers 😂

One thing I will say is I found this book hard to put down. If you’re one for definitive answers, you’re not going to get this, but the story feels very fresh and it scream chaotic so I’m super grateful to have read it!