While this book explored intriguing themes, I had a hard time connecting with the story. However, that is obviously on me and not the book. I recognize that it has great potential to appeal to other readers and I encourage others to try it out! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

• ruth, a stripper, lives with her ex-boyfriend dino in a massive victorian when one day he disappears. on a journey to figure out where he went, taking her to dive bars & bus depots & bdsm dungeons (where she takes a gig), and meeting a number of people along the way, including emeline, the strip club’s new hire who seems eerily familiar.
• this is a story of power, love, & loss, the the way the three main themes intertwine in ruth’s narrative voice is very well done. she’s a girl longing for connection (something we can all relate to), just not always in the best places.
• i thought this book was the perfect amount of “unhinged woman figuring out her life” and i really didn’t see the twist at the end coming, which made for a fun conclusion.

I will always pick up books like this because the ideas of gaze and power interest me. I would have worshipped this book in my early twenties. But having read a few books that addresses these topics, I'm not entirely sure what's new about this one. How does it separate itself from the tens of books that talks about power, sex, and gaze from sex work or adjacent perspectives? It's more slice of life than a thriller-ish book that I thought it was going to be from the blurb, but that's okay, it focused more on Baby/Ruth's everyday feelings and grief.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an audio ARC.

4.5/5

For a novel about a stripper and a dominatrix, this was incredibly relatable. It covers love and loss, passion and rage, and everything in between. This was beautifully written, and I can't wait to read it again.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I'm a bit torn on how I feel about this book. It was certainly a unique experience reading it -- it felt like a mix between Margo's Got Money Troubles and The Hop by Diana Clark, both of which I loved. Perhaps it was because I listened to the audio instead reading with my eyeballs.

I love an unreliable narrator as much as the next person, but wished there had been slightly more truth revealed -- I ended the book unsure of what was true and what wasn't, but not in a fun way. But I think maybe my expectations were just a bit off going into the book.

I think readers will enjoy this one -- especially those who loved the aforementioned books, as I do think it's an excellent mix of the two.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy of Soft Core by Brittany Newell.

This was almost a DNF for me, I have a pretty weak stomach and gagged a bit during the beginning. I’m glad I kept going, but while I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it either. We’re following Ruth/Baby who is a sex worker looking for her MIA boyfriend. The writing was beautiful and descriptive but fell flat at the end. A lot of side quests and random loose ends. 3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC of Soft Core by Brittany Newell narrated by Christine Lakin. This book fell very flat for me, and while I can appreciate a young girl struggling to find herself and worried about how the world perceives her, this book seemed chaotic with no real purpose. I feel like it wants to be relatable to girls in their early 20's who feel lost and want to give up and say "screw it, I'll just become a stripper!" but Ruth is late 20's and seems content doing nothing with her life. The entire book is just following Ruth/Baby through her daily life, and it reads more like a diary than anything. The description was misleading, as I thought there would be effort into looking for Dino after he went missing, but instead, she just carries on with life, half worried about him but doing nothing to try to locate him. The narrator had great vocal switches, but she read too slow for my liking. I wanted to DNF at 30% but ended up speeding the audio up to 1.5x just to get through the book.

soft core by brittany newell 💓 a young woman's madcap search for her missing ex-boyfriend takes her into the sexual underground.

immediately while reading the first chapter I knew I was going to love this book. to start, THE WRITING- the descriptions were so vivid I felt like I was there. the sultry, moody venues where the air is heavy with sought after perfumes. newell captured the bittersweet, raw and gritty essence of working in clubs while navigating the complex emotions of being young and vulnerable.

💭 the pacing is dreamlike, mirroring our fmc’s descent into desperation. beneath the messy exterior all she yearns for is overcoming her loneliness with love and cherishing the minimal moments of connection that she gets. yet at the end of the day… who doesn't? soft core is more of a literary fiction (heavy on the vibes) with mysterious elements sprinkled in!

after deep diving and reading every interview where this author was talking about this book, I learned that all of the “dungeon” scenes are nonfiction and based on real events that happened to newell while working at fantasy makers, a famed BDSM home! thank you for letting us take a sneak peek into your world 👀

fair warning: the ending is lowkey up for interpretation so if that’s not your jam, good luck charlie! thank you macmillan audio for an early copy! the narration was a top tier performance 🎧 5 stars!

I really wanted to love this book. The description had me hooked—an underground world of exotic dancing, a desperate search for a missing boyfriend, and a promise of something brutally funny and dark. Plus, that cover? Stunning. But the actual story didn’t match the hype, and my excitement faded fast.

Instead of a gripping, dark journey, ‘Soft Core’ felt like floating through life with a main character, Ruth (aka Baby), who didn’t seem to care much about anything. The search for Dino? Barely there. She just goes about her life, imagining she’ll see him. The book is heavy on description, light on plot, and while the writing isn’t bad, it felt chaotic at times to me. There were moments that felt added just for shock value (like the BDSM dungeon job), but nothing ever really hit. Even the humor was missing for me.

I don’t mind an unreliable narrator or a meandering story if there’s a point, but I never found one here. Nothing shocked her. Ruth felt so detached from everything that I was too. I struggled to stay engaged. I have no triggers so it wasn’t that it was too scandalous either.

That said, I think the narration on the audio was pretty good and I think Soft Core will find an audience—there are plenty of great reviews—but it wasn’t for me. Maybe my thriller-loving brain wanted more structure, or maybe I just needed more to care about. Either way, I was disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance listen copy in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me.

DeAnn
@deannsreadingriot

A stripper named Baby lives with her ex-boyfriend Dino, in a beautiful Victorian in San Francisco. One day, Dino disappears and Baby is thrown for a loop. She goes on a journey of self-discovery, gets another job at a BDSM dungeon and really tries to figure out what love is all about. It's funny and sad and wonderful all at the same time. Highly entertaining and poignant.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

First off I want to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I listened to the audiobook version. Soft Core is written by Brittany Newell and the audiobook is narrated by Christine Lakin.

Right away, I was drawn to the cover, very pink and very sexual. The cover and title are very -shock value- so I was immediately drawn in.

The story follows a sex worker named Ruth (who also goes by Baby). She lives with her lover Dino, who is a Ketamine dealer. One day Dino disappears without a trace and Ruth goes on a quest to find him. The meat of Soft Core is showing the readers the under belly of the sex work trade and it’s very raw, there is no sugar coating. The description alone of tasting the sweaty dollar bills transported me to a smoky apartment.

Ruth is trying to make ends meet, like all of us. She’s likeable at times but other times I’m like, Baby, what are you doing? The story mostly focuses on her interactions with her clients and leaves the plot at a Denny’s parking lot. But Brittany does a decent job of sacrificing plot and leaning more toward ambiance and setting.

That said, the ending was underwhelming but I really did enjoy the wild ride.

This tender and realistic novel about young adulthood will surprise people drawn to the racy title and cover. Hopefully they stick around because it's a refreshing exploration of young womanhood in the practical world of sex work

[TW/CW: Language, drinking, smoking, drinking pee, drug use, cheating, child abandonment, toxic family relationships, alcoholism, eating disorder, bullying, family drama, use of c-word]

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Ruth is lost. She’s living in a drafty Victorian with her ex-boyfriend Dino, a ketamine dealer with a lingerie habit, overdosing on television and regretting her master’s degree. When she starts dancing at a strip club, she becomes Baby Blue, seductress of crypto bros, outcasts, and old lovers alike. Plunged into this swirling underworld of beautiful women, fast cash, ungodly hours, and strangers’ secrets, Baby’s grip on reality begins to loosen. She is sure she can handle it—until one autumn morning when Dino disappears without a trace.
Thus begins a nocturnal quest for the one she still loves—through the misty hills of San Francisco; in dive bars and bus depots; at the BDSM dungeon where she takes a part-time gig. Along the way, she meets Simon, a recluse who pays her for increasingly bizarre favors; a philosophizing suicide fetishist named Nobody; and Emeline, the beautiful and balletic new hire who reminds Baby of someone . . .
Release Date: February 4th, 2025
Genre: Women's fiction
Pages: 352
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Some of the most insane things mentioned

What I Didn't Like:
1. Writing got to be too much
2. Felt like there was no point and aimless
3. Over the top things happening to just happen

Final Thoughts:
Nothing is worse than reading a book and thinking it'll go somewhere or have a message. I felt like I was trapped on the ocean in a boat being hit by wave after wave. Half way through this book I kept trying to understand where it was going and what the book was trying to tell me. In the end though I felt like it was all pointless. You're just traveling around with Ruth as she does the most crazy things but getting little pay off for the adventures.

Ruth's boyfriend is missing and outside of his warning to not call the cops she does nothing to find him. How is she paying rent when he was so secretive about his money? Why did she start to think she saw him in so many people? None of this is explained. You're just cast into this ever moving too crazy unbelievable world that Ruth owns. The language is peppered with complex sentences that you shouldn't think too hard about. Ruth decides to move in a new person. It all seems like worthless.

We never learn about why Dena was messing around with Ruth or if she was. How did she end up in her life but small world her dad was the one that Ruth used to sleep with.

Every page felt like a hurtle. I read another book from this author; Oola and did not like it either. Those characters in the book also went no where and the story just sits in this almost limbo. It all felt so stale and meh.

My review for Oola
IG | Blog

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Netgalley for the ebook edition of this book and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Okay, is this cover something or what? 🫣 I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a straight-up cover want.

The story is about Ruth who‘s a dancer in a strip club. Her ‘kind of’ boyfriend/room mate goes awol one day and as she obsessively searches for him, she becomes more and more unravelled.

I definitely recommend this to readers who appreciate a flawed, unreliable and slightly unlikable protagonist. It’s a down & out, gritty story laced with lots of sex, drugs, and childhood trauma.

I thought the narrator did a brilliant job bringing Ruth aka Baby off the pages and I loved how the cray-cray ending left everything open for speculation.

What a ride! I think it would be easy to write this off as purely sensational based on the subject matter alone, but it's so much more than that. For people feeling lost or on the cusp of change, this could be a life changing story.

Soft Core written by Brittany Newell and narrated by Christine Lakin was underwhelming at best. The description teased a search for an ex-boyfriend that took a young woman into the sexual underground when the woman was already in the sexual underground when she met the boyfriend. I expected at least a search or quest to find the ex-boyfriend, but Soft Core reads more like the memoir of a stripper.

Spoilers: Ruth/Baby lives with her cross dressing drug dealer ex-boyfriend. When Dino doesn’t come home, Baby does *nothing* and carries on with life. There is no search. Yes, she thinks she sees Dino all around in other men’s features. I’m not sure whoever wrote the description read the final version of the book.

Where to begin!
I am very thankful to have the chance to read this ARC- so thank you NetGalley!
I think I’ve rated this book the way I did because there was plenty I enjoyed but there’s some loose ends I feel could’ve had better closure or even just been explored more. I think some of the “side quests” the main character Baby, goes through could’ve maybe had a bit more substance.
This all being said, I did like the premise and I will want to get a copy of this book when it is published!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading this book. The story follows Ruth, a dancer at a strip club who is searching for her boyfriend who disappeared.
The book brought me an a wild ride through the dark, gritty and sometimes funny nights Ruth lived through.
I appreciated the rich world-building and attention to detail—it's clear that the author poured a lot of thought into creating a believable and immersive experience.
This was a different kind of book that I enjoyed and I’m happy to have received an ARC from NetGalley.

Like many others, the cover of this book immediately grabbed my attention. Then I read the description and thought, This has to be a must-read! Or so I thought 😩. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

I think many readers, like myself, may feel a disconnect going into this book expecting something different. I was hoping for a “madcap,” page-turning, euphoric, and chaotic exploration of the dark realities of the sexual underground with a compelling mystery on the side. While the story was chaotic at times, it ultimately felt repetitive and, frankly, boring.

This book leans heavily into being a character-driven story, delving into the descending psyche of its protagonist, Baby. It’s definitely for readers who value vibes and atmosphere over plot. Let me tell you right now—the plot is not in the room with us.

I initially thought I was lucky to have the audiobook for this read, as I usually enjoy when the narrator matches the book’s energy. However, the book’s energy was so mild that I believe a more animated narrator might have helped bridge the gap between what I expected and what I got. That said, Lakin’s narration did capture the essence of Baby and her counterparts, just not in a way that captivated me or added to the experience.

While the story often felt repetitive and mundane, I did appreciate its honest depiction of sex work as a job like any other—one that can be monotonous and routine. The book does well in exploring the day-to-day realities, conversations, and culture of those in the industry. However, I struggled to connect with Baby as a character. I don’t need a character to be likable, reliable, or even particularly redeemable, but I do need them to be charismatic and energetic in their flaws, and I just didn’t find that here.

The book leans heavily on the shock value of Baby’s clients and the work she does, but for me, it didn’t feel revolutionary. I was left wishing for more of a plot to ground the story. I can see how some readers might be enthralled by the layers of loneliness and longing that the book captures, but it didn’t resonate with me on that level.

That said, Soft Core is by no means poorly written. It’s vivid and intentional in its imagery and scenes. Having now read it with a clearer understanding of what the book is trying to be, I plan to revisit it with adjusted expectations and see how my perspective might shift.

Beyond appreciative to Netgalley, FSG, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC and ALC.

Ruth is living with her drug dealer ex-boyfriend who goes missing. Meanwhile, she is on a path of self-discovery whens he stumbles upon an opportunity to work at a night club as "Baby." She transitions into more of a BDSM site for work. I knew that it would be something a bit out of my comfort zone and typical genre. What I didn't expect was just a real lack of a plot. I didn't connect with much here and it just felt like reading words on a page like okay? okay... okay?

If you're looking for reading for the vibes, this is more of that type of book! Not for me - narration was fine.