I never know what to call books like Soft Core. It is deeply sexual without actually being sexy, beautifully honest about the grosser elements of sex and femininity, with a plot that feels like a portrait of a life that is at once achingly familiar and wholly unfamiliar. I didn't expect to love this as much as I did, but I am so glad that I took a chance on it.

The book is a wild ride into the heart of the underworld where sex, drugs, and fractured relationships collide with sharp wit and tender vulnerability. Ruth, or Baby Blue as she becomes when she starts dancing at a strip club, is a mess in such a relatable way—lost, self-destructive, and deeply, achingly human. Her search for her missing ex-boyfriend, Dino, pulls her deeper into the chaotic, seductive world of night shifts, strange men, and even stranger desires. What starts as a madcap quest for a missing person soon morphs into a much darker journey of self-discovery, love, and obsession.

Newell's writing is brutally honest. I actually laughed out loud several times, which is a feat. Despite the humor, the book also has a raw, poetic quality that cuts deep. The characters she introduces—Simon, the reclusive man who hires Ruth for increasingly bizarre tasks; Nobody, a suicide fetishist with a philosophical streak; and Emeline, the mysterious and graceful new stripper—are all vivid, complex, and impossible to forget. Each one feels like a piece of the puzzle that’s both confounding and oddly beautiful as Ruth tumbles deeper into her unraveling world.

The setting is electric—San Francisco’s dive bars, foggy streets, and BDSM dungeons serve as the backdrop for Ruth’s desperate search, and Newell does an incredible job of making these places feel as much a part of the story as the characters themselves. The novel’s pacing is frenetic, almost dreamlike at times, mirroring Ruth’s descent into her own unraveling sanity. As she chases after Dino, she is forced to confront herself in ways that are both shocking and, strangely, cathartic.

At its core, Soft Core is about yearning—yearning for love, for connection, and for meaning in a world that often feels unmoored and out of control. Ruth is unflinchingly flawed, but her vulnerability and relentless pursuit of something, anything, to fill the emptiness she feels make her a character you can't help but root for, even as she spirals.

The book is definitely not for the faint of heart—it’s explicit, raw, and unapologetically messy—but it’s also deeply poignant, a haunting exploration of desire, self-destruction, and the human need to be seen. With its mix of humor, tenderness, and sharp commentary on the complexities of modern life, Soft Core is brilliant.

I'm confident that it'll rank among my favorite books this year. An easy 5 stars. If you don't mind an ethereal story in which there are no concrete resolutions, you'll love this odd, dreamy story.

Went into this read without any background and maybe that was a mistake? I am having trouble coming up with a review that includes any substance… perhaps I am too literal?? The writing was great and the descriptions allowed me to visualize everything. That being said, I was confused several times when Baby jumped from one thing to another. It felt unfinished but maybe that was the point? Idk but this wasn’t really a read for me lol

Rating: 2 stars

Soft Core had an intriguing premise, but it ended up feeling like a chaotic mess that never quite found its footing. The story tries to balance humor, heartbreak, and the dark underbelly of self-destruction, but it often felt more disjointed than immersive. Ruth’s journey through the nightlife and underground scenes could have been compelling, but instead, it leaned heavily on shock value without much emotional depth.

While the writing had its moments of raw, almost poetic introspection, the characters felt more like caricatures than real people, making it hard to connect with their struggles. The plot meandered in ways that sometimes felt aimless, and the pacing dragged in places where it should have picked up.

Overall, it had potential, but it didn’t quite deliver the depth or engagement I was hoping for. If you’re looking for something gritty and surreal, it might work for you, but it left me feeling underwhelmed.

Soft Core is truly a mood read—raw, poetic, and deeply reflective. While it may not resonate with everyone, it will absolutely captivate readers seeking a profoundly emotionally intelligent exploration of everyday life, mental health, and self-discovery. Brittany’s ability to craft such a compelling narrative is a testament to her deep understanding of these themes.

The story masterfully captures the grit and heartbreak of coming into one’s own, spotlighting the exotic dancing and BDSM scenes with an unflinching lens. Through Baby, the protagonist, I felt an aching longing, genuine loneliness, and a drive for something more, even as she grappled with the realization that she hadn’t grown enough to truly embrace the “more” she sought. Baby’s rawness, her immaturity born of trauma and life experiences, and even her moments of seeming instability felt deeply authentic. The more I sat with her story, the more I understood and empathized with her struggles, finding myself immersed in her world.

Brittany’s depiction of Dino and Baby’s connection was especially poignant. While some may struggle with the narrative around Dino, I saw it as a poetic meditation on love, grief, and longing. Love rarely makes sense, and its loss often leads us to fixate on both the beauty and the pain it brought. The way Brittany conveyed this was both beautifully broken and profoundly moving.

The book’s emotional weight and poetic prose stayed with me long after I finished reading, particularly Baby’s realizations and her descriptions of intense situations. However, I did find myself wishing for a more balanced pacing. The beginning felt overly dense with detail, while the ending seemed rushed, leaving some relationships unresolved and loose ends untied. Tying up these threads could have elevated the story even further.

Overall, Soft Core is a powerful, thought-provoking read that explores the rawness of life and the complexity of personal growth. It's very human. It’s a book that lingers with you, forcing you to sit with its truths long after the final page.

I tried really hard to get into this one, and while I'm really thankful to Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Brittany Newell for granting me advanced access to this title, I think I'd much rather hand it off to a friend for them to take a stab at it.

here's one for the readers that like the unhinged girlies. this book is a descent into obsession for ruth, also known as the dancer baby blue, over an ex-boyfriend who has no qualities worth caring about at all from what i can see.

this book is pretty disgusting and i don't mean the excessive sex. just the memory of the number of times we had to hear about dino's fleshy, hairy belly makes me want to gag. it's hard for me to understand ruth's obsession over this man once he drops out of the picture, it's hard for me to understand her insistence in constantly looking for him everywhere she goes and the extreme sort of listlessness she feels in his absence.

don't go into this expecting much plot. there most plot you'll find is when ruth meets a friend at the bdsm club where she works, then finds out her friend is the daughter of a man that used to be her client, which really pushes the accelerator on her sense of chaos. ruth seems a person fully impacted by and making decisions based on the idea that men will eventually reject her and she'll do anything to prevent that from happening, including manipulate and hurt people.

don't go into this expecting any sort of self-reflection. this book falls exclusively into the category of vibes, no plot, no emotional growth. unfortunately, that made it very much not for me.

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.

The narrator also did a great job of capturing how I imaged Ruth would sound. It was completely believable and never took me out of the story.

I’m only a few books into 2025, but I feel that Soft Core will be a hard one to beat. It was the perfect blend of not safe for work, tantalizingly explicit storyline mixed with suspense and mystery. The cover is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to display this book on my bookcase for all to see and side eye me about

This a slice of life book about a sex worker who is trying to find her missing ex-boyfriend. There are some mystery elements along the way - someone is leaving her random notes at work, and a unknown person is emailing her. These "mysteries" help propel the book along while we follow our main character's sex work, romances, and friendships with coworkers.

I found this to be heavy on the vibes and light on the plot. We are following the main character as she tries to figure out her motivations, desires, fantasies, romances, and life. The main character is unreliable and semi-unlikeable, so if you do not like those qualities in a book, I would not recommend this.

I personally found this to be an intriguing and disheartening look into someone's psyche. The descriptions of sex work were interesting -client's kinks, sexual preferences, fantasies, etc. There's one quote about lasagna that made me laugh out loud. It's not a feel-good type of book though.

I'd recommend this if you are a fan of The Guest by Emma Cline, Down the Drain by Julia Fox, and/or All Hookers Go To Heaven by Angel B.H.

Trigger warnings for sexual content (obviously) and discussions about suicide.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Macmillan Audio for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was different but I liked the main character, I wanted her to continue to discover who she was as a person.

Christine Lakin was a perfect choice to narrate this story!
This book is a wild ride. You realize that our narrator is unreliable around 30% in and from that part onward you have to hold on tight. I believe the official description calls this story “savage and tender” and those are perfect descriptors.
I also know I tend to love books with stream of consciousness and Baby’s mind is a confusing and rich sandbox. I know that this story is not for everyone, but for it is for— it’s spectacular. I was more interested to be in her world than I was in the plot, but I was also very interested in how this story was going to conclude. I was not disappointed. It really fit the chaotic nature of the story.

Okay this was so fun! I loved that it was from the perspective of a sex worker just going through the daily ups and down of her life and her job.

I did the Audio book version and it was entertaining to listen to it felt like this could have been a memoir even though it’s fiction.

The only part I didn’t quite like is the overuse of the perfume which is also the title of the book called “soft core”. I think using the title of the book 1-2 times in the story would have been a better choice than over using it. It was used too many times that it felt overdone.

Overall I will absolutely be reading more from this author. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐️

I really didn’t know what to expect when I started to read this book. I had some thoughts that maybe this would play out to be a mystery, but this book was nothing of the sort. Softcore is a look into the life of a sex worker that focuses on the emotions and thoughts of the sex worker rather than the work itself. It is such a detailed story and does an amazing job humanizing all the characters in a setting that people will always dehumanize. While there are some plot points that are present throughout the novel, it is mainly a look inside the characters life and mental health and how the main characters job impacts it.

The audiobook was a great listen, and the tone of the narrator and story really reminded me of the book Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin. It really felt like you were being told what was happening from the main character herself in the audiobook.

I only wish that the ending was a bit clearer and wrapped up some of the plot points in the book better, but it does make sense with the rest of the story why it ended the way it did.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audio-copy.

Soft Core by Brittany Newell was just okay for me. The story follows Ruth, aka Baby, a stripper searching for her missing ex-boyfriend, but it quickly becomes more about her emotional unraveling than the search itself. While the book has some interesting, raw moments, I found the plot a bit all over the place. The writing is poetic and evocative, but the pace felt slow at times, and I struggled to connect with Baby as a character. If you enjoy character-driven stories and don’t mind a meandering plot, this could work, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

While interesting at first, the plot seemed to get lost along the way. Not sure whattt the point of this was. If a book is going to character driven they need to be much more interesting than Baby was. I kept waiting for something to regrant my attention to keep my interest but it just didn’t come.

I listened to Soft Core in one day. While I typically gravitate toward physiological thrillers, this was more of a drama. You can’t help but root for Baby (aka Ruth), as she navigates life, loss, and a string of startling notes.

While I’m sure some people would clutch their pearls and call Soft Core “vulgar”, I thought it was fairly tame for the subject matter!

I liked it all the way up until the end. I didn’t even understand what I read. So many random loose ends. Like the chick got fired and whatshisface was passed out and what happened with that? Not important, I guess. And the other guy is just there in the kitchen and life is happy and perfect? I just don’t know.

Brittany, you had me until you lost me.

Soft Core is a fascinating tale about loneliness and desire. I really enjoyed this read for its interesting setting and disaffected narrator. I do think the pacing does struggle in some areas due to its somewhat repetitive nature.
It would be great for fans of the movies Zola and Belle de Jour.

Thank you for the audiobook.
I literally finished this not knowing what to think. The author did a great job, it was very well written felt poetic in a sense. but when I say the whole thing left me feeling like a full on fever dream, i felt like a fever dream. I’ll definitely recommend this. The narrator also did a great job.

2 stars

This book just wasn’t for me, though I can see how others might enjoy it. The premise sounded intriguing, but I found the story dragged on without much plot to hold my interest. While the characters and setting had potential, the narrative felt unfocused, and I struggled to stay engaged. If this sounds like your kind of story, you might connect with it more than I did. Unfortunately, it just didn’t click for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for my gifted audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Fast-paced book that had me engaged from the opening and held my attention through until the end.. Highly entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.