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medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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.
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.