pickAn entertaining audiobook featuring 20 something sugar babies, mainly Agnes, who stumbles into this scene with a group of friends. Agnes dates older (married) men for money. The arrangements are at times uncomfortable for me to read, but also, eye-opening for readers. I didn‘t love it and I‘m afraid it won‘t stick with me for long but it was a worthwhile and quick listen.
pickI liked this one. It honestly didn‘t have something that I can pinpoint I had not read in similar stories, but I was entertained.
Also, just survived a 20-hour power outage and this book helped me get through it!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A glittering, provocative champagne cocktail of a book that both entertains and challenges readers. I thought it was such a heady, razor sharp examination of power, desire, class, shame, and religion. If beauty can be a weapon, who really wields it?
“I can admit it. It feels good to be wanted, to be delectable, delicious. But if I‘ve learned anything it‘s that I don‘t want to be consumed. I have teeth of my own.”
pickOkurrrrr! I appreciated the acknowledgement of privilege and class throughout this exploration of a character‘s experience with sugaring; I want more though! And I loved the imagery, voice and characterization of the night out with the group of sugar babies; I wish there were more!
“The Good Guy, my favourite myth.”
- Sugar, Baby by Celine Saintclare
pickI went into this with mild trepidation as I haven‘t really been getting along with novels about 20-somethings lately. But I needn‘t have worried. This is a confident and compelling debut that sheds light on “sugar babies” and the world they inhabit. Saintclare weaves race, class, and religion into the narrative in a totally organic and compelling way. Nice pick @AardvarkBookClub !
pickNice choice #aardvark! This is a solid debut that ended up with a more complex MC than I initially thought she‘d be.
Agnes grew up without a dad in a working class English town she calls The Wastelands. When a young woman whose house she cleans offers to move her to London and teach her to be a sugar baby, Agnes jumps at the chance to rebel against her religious mom. Initially impressed, she slowly learns the dark side of the lifestyle.
When a storm gives you branches, why not use them in your @AardvarkBookClub photo?? Already started and am enjoying the tagged book! #aardvark
pick“This is a propulsive read that tackles myriad attitudes toward sex work, from condemnation to celebration, through a distinctly feminist lens. Accompanying the partying with perceptive social commentary, Saintclare refuses to romanticize the gritty details of sugaring-inviting the reader into a whirlwind of champagne, sex, and money that is at times claustrophobic, scary, and toxic.“
– Kirkus Reviews
Went all out with #aardvark this month! Just felt like treating myself, and these sounded interesting. 👍🏻😎
pickA literary debut of fiction focusing on sex workers. College age Agnes and her party ways leads her on a path desperate for money. Financially strapped, she begins a career as a 'sugar baby', offering herself to affluent older men. Eventually, this lifestyle shifts her attention to prostitution as she sells her soul and her sanity in an industry that is unflinching and unkind to workers in the industry.
so-so⭐️⭐️
I listened to the audiobook and I thought Agnes had no depth and is a bit childish. I like that there were a group of sugar babies and you learnt a little about all of them. I thought there was potential for the religious background but it wasn‘t explored. It‘s interesting how being a sugar baby provides such a good wage and lifestyle compared to normal jobs but brings so much stigma and judgement.
#fiction #sugarbaby #audiobook
Sugar, Baby | 
