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Sweetener
From the author of A Good Happy Girl, a lesbian screwball comedy following two exes who turn to online dating after their dramatic split—only to end up seeing the same woman
In Sweetener, recently separated wives, both named Rebecca, can’t seem to disentangle their lives. Lonely and depressed, Rebecca is scraping by as a part-time cashier at an organic grocery store. Despite having less than ten dollars in her bank account, she lists herself as a sugar mama on a lesbian hookup app. Enter Charlotte, a charismatic artist who, unbeknownst to Rebecca, is also dating her wife.
Meanwhile, the other Rebecca, a newly sober doctoral student, has renewed her efforts to foster a child. The catch? Because the Rebeccas are still legally married, she needs her wife to attend parenting classes with her as part of the approval process.
Neither of them asks whether this means they’re getting back together, but the idea alone sends Charlotte into a tailspin. As Charlotte navigates her desire for each Rebecca—or her desire for attention—her world becomes more and more Gumby-like and surreal. It doesn’t help that she’s been wearing a fake pregnancy belly to all of her dates, and only one of the Rebeccas knows it isn’t real.
Sumptuous, sticky, and slightly absurd, Sweetener brings together three women fixated on the fantasy of motherhood, and trying to figure out what kind of mother, partner, or sugar mama they want to be.
In Sweetener, recently separated wives, both named Rebecca, can’t seem to disentangle their lives. Lonely and depressed, Rebecca is scraping by as a part-time cashier at an organic grocery store. Despite having less than ten dollars in her bank account, she lists herself as a sugar mama on a lesbian hookup app. Enter Charlotte, a charismatic artist who, unbeknownst to Rebecca, is also dating her wife.
Meanwhile, the other Rebecca, a newly sober doctoral student, has renewed her efforts to foster a child. The catch? Because the Rebeccas are still legally married, she needs her wife to attend parenting classes with her as part of the approval process.
Neither of them asks whether this means they’re getting back together, but the idea alone sends Charlotte into a tailspin. As Charlotte navigates her desire for each Rebecca—or her desire for attention—her world becomes more and more Gumby-like and surreal. It doesn’t help that she’s been wearing a fake pregnancy belly to all of her dates, and only one of the Rebeccas knows it isn’t real.
Sumptuous, sticky, and slightly absurd, Sweetener brings together three women fixated on the fantasy of motherhood, and trying to figure out what kind of mother, partner, or sugar mama they want to be.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2025
35 people are currently reading
6232 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
July 25, 2025
Nobody does weird in a beautiful way like Marissa Higgins.
Sweetener is about two married / recently separated women named Rebecca who, unbeknownst to them, are both seeing the same woman, Charlotte.
Charlotte meets one Rebecca, referred to as "Her Rebecca", on a Sugar Momma website. She develops one-sided feelings, and wants something more. As a result, she begins to fixate on, and then develop a relationship with the other wife, referred to as "Other Rebecca".
All stand something to gain and lose through intimacy with one another- and I found the ending explosive.
My favorite thing about Higgins's writing style is that you'll be in the middle of reading something truly uncomfortable and then be smacked by the most painfully, gut-wrenchingly relatable sentiment you've ever read. Her books delicately balance being earnest, while not taking themselves *too* seriously.
Memorable, complex and tender!
Thank you to the publisher, Catapult, for an early copy, in exchange for an honest review!
Sweetener is about two married / recently separated women named Rebecca who, unbeknownst to them, are both seeing the same woman, Charlotte.
Charlotte meets one Rebecca, referred to as "Her Rebecca", on a Sugar Momma website. She develops one-sided feelings, and wants something more. As a result, she begins to fixate on, and then develop a relationship with the other wife, referred to as "Other Rebecca".
All stand something to gain and lose through intimacy with one another- and I found the ending explosive.
My favorite thing about Higgins's writing style is that you'll be in the middle of reading something truly uncomfortable and then be smacked by the most painfully, gut-wrenchingly relatable sentiment you've ever read. Her books delicately balance being earnest, while not taking themselves *too* seriously.
Memorable, complex and tender!
Thank you to the publisher, Catapult, for an early copy, in exchange for an honest review!
September 18, 2025
this was so shane/jenny/bette/tina/helena peabody coded
November 30, 2025
My Selling Pitch:
Girlypop pretends to be pregnant while she dates both halves of a separated lesbian couple who are trying to get approved to foster a baby. Sounds juicy and messy, but everyone just sucks the whole time!
On my do not read list.
Pre-reading:
I love this cover. I keep meaning to read Good Happy Girl, but I still haven’t gotten to it.
(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
So you can’t differentiate between multiple storefronts, but you have the same name as your wife. Interesting.
Why has literature become allergic to quotation marks? You’re not all Sally Rooney?
It’s funny how many mommy books I keep reading.
I don’t really understand what’s happening.
Is that real? You can’t share a bed if you want a divorce, and you have to wait a year? That seems horrible.
I’m not liking this so far. I don’t relate to anyone in this book.
Everyone in this book sucks!
It’s kind of like a worse Big Swiss.
I’m not enjoying this. I would DNF here if I did that. I’m about a third of the way through.
Do I have to does the dog die this book because that’s really rude and that plant is def toxic? (Dog is harmed but lives.)
I don’t understand what these people want with a baby. They can't look after themselves or a dog, let alone an infant.
I'm amazed how common fisting is in the lesbian books, and I’m like where is it in the straight romances? And then I remember how the girlies are settling for men with baby carrots who pout over vibrator assistance.
It's not cool to dose people. It's not funny. It is assault.
I understand the appeal Charlotte and grocery store Rebecca hold for each other. I can’t figure out what the fuck either of them is doing with the other girl. She contributes nothing. She literally only adds problems. She doesn’t even let her dog out to piss.
I’d try calling the bar first.
The dog ate the poison plant like keep up.
But like what’s up with the blasé child molestation thing????
Please don’t kill this dog.
Oh cool, more avoidance. That’s healthy.
I’d say who’s giving these lunatics children but like that is the foster system in America.
Oh. Oh fuck, is she stealing a baby? (Kinda wish they had fought over apples in the supermarket so she could’ve been like how do you like them apples but I’m just lame.)
That’s not an ending.
Post-reading:
Babe, I love a weird book, but what was this?
Legitimately all that I’m taking away from this book is the nipple play.
Everyone in this book sucks. There’s nothing redeemable about any of them. And that’s cool if you wanna have messy people messing with each other in a Conversations with Friends vibe, but not when you start hurting innocent babies and animals? Especially when there’s no consequences for their actions.
I’m just not sure what part of this was supposed to entertain me or what part I was supposed to like. It’s people cheating on each other and trying to solve other people‘s problems instead of their own, but no one gets fixed by the end of this book. The ending of this book is the only time the plot moves, and then it just cuts out. It’s not a satisfying ending.
I don’t mind experimental formatting. I am a Sally Rooney girl till I die. This is another book that doesn’t have quotation marks, but it doesn’t add anything to the story. It just makes it harder to read, and it’s already pretty hard to read because you have two characters with the exact same name, and all three of the main characters’ narrative voices sound identical.
We breeze past some pretty explicit child rape. The book felt a bit like kitchen sink trauma. We throw in mommy issues, and addiction, and eating disorders, but don’t fully develop any of them. They all just end up reading like background white noise, while you’re plowing through this, trying to find a concrete plot to string this story together. Spoiler, there’s not really one for you to find. At its core, it’s two lesbians using another woman to hide from the problems in their relationship, but you don’t root for any of them to turn it around because they’re all awful.
I’m not sure why we spend so much time talking about Charlotte’s spider art. I don’t know if it was supposed to emphasize that they’re all tangled in a web together, or if it was a spiders devour their mates type thing. Charlotte doesn’t force these women into any decisions. She doesn’t cannibalize their relationship. They make their own choices.
I think the prologue primes you for kooky, Fleabag-style messy girl fiction, but you won't find that here. This book is messy, but it’s never funny. The whole time I was reading it, I was wishing it was something else.
The only part of this book that worked for me was when grocery store Rebecca was white knuckling her way through a mushroom trip and fisting her girlfriend on a changing table. That was fever dream bonkers, and I wanted more of that, but it feels so tonally different from the rest of this book. Most of this just feels like avoidant behavior.
I didn’t have a good time. I won’t be recommending this. I’d still like to give the author’s first book a shot because so many people rave about it, but this one didn’t work for me at all. Somebody get these bitches a baby alive doll and call it a day.
Who should read this:
Fans of messy queer characters
Ideal reading time:
Anytime
Do I want to reread this:
Nope.
Would I buy this:
No, and it’s a shame because I love that cover.
Similar books:
* Big Swiss by Jen Beagin-messy girl lit fic, queer romance, affairs, mental health
* Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney-lit fic, queer romance, affairs
* Deliver Me-lit fic, horror, queer, unreliable narrator, pregnancy, mental health, abuse
* House of Beth by Kerry Cullen-horror, revenge thriller, queer
* In Tongues by Thomas Grattan-lit fic, queer, affairs
* That’s What She Said by Eleanor Pilcher, contemporary, rom-com, queer
* Soft Core by Brittany Newell-messy girl lit fic, psychological horror, unreliable narrator, queer, abuse
* Private Rites by Julua Armfield-lit fic, dystopian, Shakespeare retelling, family drama, queer
* You, Again by Kate Goldbeck-rom-com retelling, unlikable characters, queer
* Piglet by Lottie Hazell-lit fic, family drama, eating disorders
* Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly-lit fic, family drama, queer romance
* Come and Get It by Kiley Reid-lit fic, queer, social commentary, mental health, affairs
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Girlypop pretends to be pregnant while she dates both halves of a separated lesbian couple who are trying to get approved to foster a baby. Sounds juicy and messy, but everyone just sucks the whole time!
On my do not read list.
Pre-reading:
I love this cover. I keep meaning to read Good Happy Girl, but I still haven’t gotten to it.
(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
So you can’t differentiate between multiple storefronts, but you have the same name as your wife. Interesting.
Why has literature become allergic to quotation marks? You’re not all Sally Rooney?
It’s funny how many mommy books I keep reading.
I don’t really understand what’s happening.
Is that real? You can’t share a bed if you want a divorce, and you have to wait a year? That seems horrible.
I’m not liking this so far. I don’t relate to anyone in this book.
Everyone in this book sucks!
It’s kind of like a worse Big Swiss.
I’m not enjoying this. I would DNF here if I did that. I’m about a third of the way through.
Do I have to does the dog die this book because that’s really rude and that plant is def toxic? (Dog is harmed but lives.)
I don’t understand what these people want with a baby. They can't look after themselves or a dog, let alone an infant.
I'm amazed how common fisting is in the lesbian books, and I’m like where is it in the straight romances? And then I remember how the girlies are settling for men with baby carrots who pout over vibrator assistance.
It's not cool to dose people. It's not funny. It is assault.
I understand the appeal Charlotte and grocery store Rebecca hold for each other. I can’t figure out what the fuck either of them is doing with the other girl. She contributes nothing. She literally only adds problems. She doesn’t even let her dog out to piss.
I’d try calling the bar first.
The dog ate the poison plant like keep up.
But like what’s up with the blasé child molestation thing????
Please don’t kill this dog.
Oh cool, more avoidance. That’s healthy.
I’d say who’s giving these lunatics children but like that is the foster system in America.
Oh. Oh fuck, is she stealing a baby? (Kinda wish they had fought over apples in the supermarket so she could’ve been like how do you like them apples but I’m just lame.)
That’s not an ending.
Post-reading:
Babe, I love a weird book, but what was this?
Legitimately all that I’m taking away from this book is the nipple play.
Everyone in this book sucks. There’s nothing redeemable about any of them. And that’s cool if you wanna have messy people messing with each other in a Conversations with Friends vibe, but not when you start hurting innocent babies and animals? Especially when there’s no consequences for their actions.
I’m just not sure what part of this was supposed to entertain me or what part I was supposed to like. It’s people cheating on each other and trying to solve other people‘s problems instead of their own, but no one gets fixed by the end of this book. The ending of this book is the only time the plot moves, and then it just cuts out. It’s not a satisfying ending.
I don’t mind experimental formatting. I am a Sally Rooney girl till I die. This is another book that doesn’t have quotation marks, but it doesn’t add anything to the story. It just makes it harder to read, and it’s already pretty hard to read because you have two characters with the exact same name, and all three of the main characters’ narrative voices sound identical.
We breeze past some pretty explicit child rape. The book felt a bit like kitchen sink trauma. We throw in mommy issues, and addiction, and eating disorders, but don’t fully develop any of them. They all just end up reading like background white noise, while you’re plowing through this, trying to find a concrete plot to string this story together. Spoiler, there’s not really one for you to find. At its core, it’s two lesbians using another woman to hide from the problems in their relationship, but you don’t root for any of them to turn it around because they’re all awful.
I’m not sure why we spend so much time talking about Charlotte’s spider art. I don’t know if it was supposed to emphasize that they’re all tangled in a web together, or if it was a spiders devour their mates type thing. Charlotte doesn’t force these women into any decisions. She doesn’t cannibalize their relationship. They make their own choices.
I think the prologue primes you for kooky, Fleabag-style messy girl fiction, but you won't find that here. This book is messy, but it’s never funny. The whole time I was reading it, I was wishing it was something else.
The only part of this book that worked for me was when grocery store Rebecca was white knuckling her way through a mushroom trip and fisting her girlfriend on a changing table. That was fever dream bonkers, and I wanted more of that, but it feels so tonally different from the rest of this book. Most of this just feels like avoidant behavior.
I didn’t have a good time. I won’t be recommending this. I’d still like to give the author’s first book a shot because so many people rave about it, but this one didn’t work for me at all. Somebody get these bitches a baby alive doll and call it a day.
Who should read this:
Fans of messy queer characters
Ideal reading time:
Anytime
Do I want to reread this:
Nope.
Would I buy this:
No, and it’s a shame because I love that cover.
Similar books:
* Big Swiss by Jen Beagin-messy girl lit fic, queer romance, affairs, mental health
* Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney-lit fic, queer romance, affairs
* Deliver Me-lit fic, horror, queer, unreliable narrator, pregnancy, mental health, abuse
* House of Beth by Kerry Cullen-horror, revenge thriller, queer
* In Tongues by Thomas Grattan-lit fic, queer, affairs
* That’s What She Said by Eleanor Pilcher, contemporary, rom-com, queer
* Soft Core by Brittany Newell-messy girl lit fic, psychological horror, unreliable narrator, queer, abuse
* Private Rites by Julua Armfield-lit fic, dystopian, Shakespeare retelling, family drama, queer
* You, Again by Kate Goldbeck-rom-com retelling, unlikable characters, queer
* Piglet by Lottie Hazell-lit fic, family drama, eating disorders
* Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly-lit fic, family drama, queer romance
* Come and Get It by Kiley Reid-lit fic, queer, social commentary, mental health, affairs
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 11, 2025
3.75⭐️ - Sweetener was weird and messy, yet somehow also kind of beautiful?
The story follows Charlotte, a woman who pretends to be pregnant and somehow ends up dating both halves of a recently separated lesbian couple (both named Rebecca) who are in the middle of trying to foster a baby. Sounds chaotic? It really was.
I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a good job, but honestly, this one would have been so much easier to follow with dual narrators. There were a lot of moments where I got confused trying to keep track of who was who.
As for the characters, I didn’t exactly connect with any of them. They were all fairly unlikeable, but in a way that still kept me intrigued. The writing had this strange, lyrical quality to it that made the chaos feel almost intentional, and once I wrapped my head around what was actually happening, I found myself gripped and really enjoying the ride.
Overall, this was a wild and messy book that won’t be for everyone, but if you like stories that are a little offbeat, unsettling, and completely unhinged, you may love this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.
The story follows Charlotte, a woman who pretends to be pregnant and somehow ends up dating both halves of a recently separated lesbian couple (both named Rebecca) who are in the middle of trying to foster a baby. Sounds chaotic? It really was.
I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a good job, but honestly, this one would have been so much easier to follow with dual narrators. There were a lot of moments where I got confused trying to keep track of who was who.
As for the characters, I didn’t exactly connect with any of them. They were all fairly unlikeable, but in a way that still kept me intrigued. The writing had this strange, lyrical quality to it that made the chaos feel almost intentional, and once I wrapped my head around what was actually happening, I found myself gripped and really enjoying the ride.
Overall, this was a wild and messy book that won’t be for everyone, but if you like stories that are a little offbeat, unsettling, and completely unhinged, you may love this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.
August 20, 2025
Sweetener proves lesbian drama is God’s greatest genre. Girl so confusing final boss. ILY Marissa!!!
September 18, 2025
File under books that make me go, “wtf”
May 19, 2025
a gratifying exploration of the dynamic between a handful of really really messed up lesbians. higgins did a great job illustrating exactly how her characters thought through every bad decision they made in this book (and there are a lot of them). the story is unique and i enjoyed that the characters weren't just strange for the sake of being strange. they felt like real people to me.
i laughed. i cried. i said "what the fuck?" many times. def pick this up if you're willing to empathize with some people you wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole irl.
ty under the umbrella for the arc 🙂↕️
i laughed. i cried. i said "what the fuck?" many times. def pick this up if you're willing to empathize with some people you wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole irl.
ty under the umbrella for the arc 🙂↕️
August 18, 2025
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this ALC in exchange for an honest review!
I personally could not connect with this book. Having two characters named Rebecca confused me very much! Especially since I was listening as an audio book, and I kept getting both of the Rebeccas mixed up. Also, I really could not follow along with the story line. I was pretty confused as to what was going on the whole time.
I hope whoever picks up this book has a better experience with it than I did! I also recommend this in physical or digital format, as the audio book format could be a little confusing :)
I personally could not connect with this book. Having two characters named Rebecca confused me very much! Especially since I was listening as an audio book, and I kept getting both of the Rebeccas mixed up. Also, I really could not follow along with the story line. I was pretty confused as to what was going on the whole time.
I hope whoever picks up this book has a better experience with it than I did! I also recommend this in physical or digital format, as the audio book format could be a little confusing :)
August 15, 2025
Sweetener by Marissa Higgins. Thanks to @catapult for the gifted copy ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rebecca and Rebecca have just separated and gone their separate ways in their marriage. They can’t seem to entangle themselves from each other. Meanwhile, Charlotte is dating both Rebecca’s, without their knowledge.
While I was probably not the target audience for this one, I found it interesting and dramatic, in a want to look away but can’t way. You just know no one is acting in their own best interests. It was certainly a choice having two characters named Rebecca and I had to stop and think at times which was which, but it ended up not effecting my enjoyment of the story.
“How easy to pretend you belong in a place once your body is present.”
Sweetener comes out 8/19.
Rebecca and Rebecca have just separated and gone their separate ways in their marriage. They can’t seem to entangle themselves from each other. Meanwhile, Charlotte is dating both Rebecca’s, without their knowledge.
While I was probably not the target audience for this one, I found it interesting and dramatic, in a want to look away but can’t way. You just know no one is acting in their own best interests. It was certainly a choice having two characters named Rebecca and I had to stop and think at times which was which, but it ended up not effecting my enjoyment of the story.
“How easy to pretend you belong in a place once your body is present.”
Sweetener comes out 8/19.
September 26, 2025
Marissa Higgins nails lesbian shenanigans once again.
Unimportantly, this book provides me with a new Would you Rather scenario: Would you rather date someone with your name or date two people with the same name?
But the important part is those two people are married/separated and don't know you're seeing both of them. And also you're faking a pregnancy as the product of your colliding art, kink, and mental health issues.
What fun.
Unimportantly, this book provides me with a new Would you Rather scenario: Would you rather date someone with your name or date two people with the same name?
But the important part is those two people are married/separated and don't know you're seeing both of them. And also you're faking a pregnancy as the product of your colliding art, kink, and mental health issues.
What fun.
August 19, 2025
Sweetener is like biting into something slightly sticky and unexpectedly strange—seriously, it’s hard to pin down but impossible to stop thinking about. It’s a disjointed, surreal reflection on love, pain, and the messy ways women fill the gaps in their lives, no matter how uncomfortable or confusing. The story follows two women named Rebecca—both recently separated from their wives—that neither of them fully understands or is ready to face. Rebecca, the broke grocery store clerk, is scraping by as she joins a sugar mama app and ends up connecting with Charlotte, an eccentric artist who’s wearing a fake pregnancy belly (and yes, has no idea her “baby bump” isn’t real). Meanwhile, the other Rebecca is a doctoral student with big dreams of fostering a child, even as her own past trauma lurks beneath the surface. Neither woman asks the obvious questions—about their love lives or their futures—and that hesitation slowly becomes a kind of beautiful chaos.
Higgins’s prose is sparse, rhythmic, and jagged, like shattered glass reflecting a fractured world. It’s layered with trauma, longing, and identity unraveling, all wrapped in a dreamlike atmosphere that feels just slightly off-kilter—but that’s totally intentional, mirroring how these women are shaped by love, survival, and the ever-present threat of losing themselves. Like Higgins’s debut, this book is not easy or “fun,” but it’s brutally honest and uncomfortably relatable. The narrative lingers in discomfort but somehow finds its own kind of beauty in the mess of it all. The ending hits hard, explosive in a way that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.
What I love about Higgins’s writing is her ability to capture the painfully real moments—those gut-punch sentiments that make you almost cry because they’re so familiar—wrapped in this weird, unpredictable package. Sweetener feels like a slow-motion, abstract dance through trauma, desire, and dissociation—oscillating between earnest and absurd but always deeply resonant. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you’re into literary fiction that refuses to be comfortable and challenges your expectations about love and life, this one will leave a mark. It’s weird, it’s raw, and it’s memorably tender.
Higgins’s prose is sparse, rhythmic, and jagged, like shattered glass reflecting a fractured world. It’s layered with trauma, longing, and identity unraveling, all wrapped in a dreamlike atmosphere that feels just slightly off-kilter—but that’s totally intentional, mirroring how these women are shaped by love, survival, and the ever-present threat of losing themselves. Like Higgins’s debut, this book is not easy or “fun,” but it’s brutally honest and uncomfortably relatable. The narrative lingers in discomfort but somehow finds its own kind of beauty in the mess of it all. The ending hits hard, explosive in a way that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.
What I love about Higgins’s writing is her ability to capture the painfully real moments—those gut-punch sentiments that make you almost cry because they’re so familiar—wrapped in this weird, unpredictable package. Sweetener feels like a slow-motion, abstract dance through trauma, desire, and dissociation—oscillating between earnest and absurd but always deeply resonant. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you’re into literary fiction that refuses to be comfortable and challenges your expectations about love and life, this one will leave a mark. It’s weird, it’s raw, and it’s memorably tender.
Read
August 5, 2025thank you to Edelweiss & Catapult for the advanced digital copy.
this book is out August 19th, 2025.
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i really wanted to love this. the premise is delightfully messy. two ex-wives, both named rebecca, are unknowingly dating the same woman. and i'm always drawn to queer fiction that leans into emotional chaos and formal experimentation. but while sweetener had moments of sharp, beautiful writing, the overall reading experience left me more confused than compelled.
the prose is fragmented and often lovely, with a poetic rhythm that captures grief, loneliness, and queer longing in unexpected ways. but the lack of quotation marks made dialogue feel muddy and hard to follow, especially in a book already steeped in dissociation and emotional instability. i don't mind strange or surreal and i do, in fact, usually seek it out, but there were moments that pushed it too far for me, like an offhanded line about licking snot off the hands of a child that fully took me out of the scene.
a lot of the novel orbits themes of motherhood, pregnancy (both real and faked), and the desire to be needed. motherhood stories are a personal ick for me, so i know that shaped my reaction. but even aside from that, i struggled to connect with the characters' motivations. i understood rebecca, our main narrator, in all her exhaustion and yearning. but charlotte, who decides to date both rebeccas, wears a fake pregnancy belly, and moves through the story with a strange mix of chaos and control, remained opaque to me. i couldn't tell if the novel wanted me to see her as symbolic, manipulative, tragic, or something else entirely.
ultimately, sweetener is one of those books that i admire more than enjoy. it's slippery, unsettling, and uninterested in clean arcs or likable characters. that alone isn't a problem. in fact, it's often a strength. but here it left me feeling unmoored. i really love higgins' writing, but i think instead of considering this book bad, i would need to consider it Not For Me.
this book is out August 19th, 2025.
--
i really wanted to love this. the premise is delightfully messy. two ex-wives, both named rebecca, are unknowingly dating the same woman. and i'm always drawn to queer fiction that leans into emotional chaos and formal experimentation. but while sweetener had moments of sharp, beautiful writing, the overall reading experience left me more confused than compelled.
the prose is fragmented and often lovely, with a poetic rhythm that captures grief, loneliness, and queer longing in unexpected ways. but the lack of quotation marks made dialogue feel muddy and hard to follow, especially in a book already steeped in dissociation and emotional instability. i don't mind strange or surreal and i do, in fact, usually seek it out, but there were moments that pushed it too far for me, like an offhanded line about licking snot off the hands of a child that fully took me out of the scene.
a lot of the novel orbits themes of motherhood, pregnancy (both real and faked), and the desire to be needed. motherhood stories are a personal ick for me, so i know that shaped my reaction. but even aside from that, i struggled to connect with the characters' motivations. i understood rebecca, our main narrator, in all her exhaustion and yearning. but charlotte, who decides to date both rebeccas, wears a fake pregnancy belly, and moves through the story with a strange mix of chaos and control, remained opaque to me. i couldn't tell if the novel wanted me to see her as symbolic, manipulative, tragic, or something else entirely.
ultimately, sweetener is one of those books that i admire more than enjoy. it's slippery, unsettling, and uninterested in clean arcs or likable characters. that alone isn't a problem. in fact, it's often a strength. but here it left me feeling unmoored. i really love higgins' writing, but i think instead of considering this book bad, i would need to consider it Not For Me.
December 24, 2025
It’s sapphic and it’s fucking weird. So naturally, I loved it.
I originally picked this up back in September via audio and I felt that I didn’t really care for it because I was so confused. There are two Rebecca‘s that are dating the same person so not having a copy to follow along with threw me off. I was so confused I DNF at about 45%. However, I felt that this was something that I would normally like so I decided to do give it a other shot and do a tandem reading and I’m so happy I did because I really liked it!
If you’re not into weird-girl lit stay away from this. If you are into weird-girl lit pick this up.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC. all opinions are my own.
I originally picked this up back in September via audio and I felt that I didn’t really care for it because I was so confused. There are two Rebecca‘s that are dating the same person so not having a copy to follow along with threw me off. I was so confused I DNF at about 45%. However, I felt that this was something that I would normally like so I decided to do give it a other shot and do a tandem reading and I’m so happy I did because I really liked it!
If you’re not into weird-girl lit stay away from this. If you are into weird-girl lit pick this up.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC. all opinions are my own.
September 19, 2025
This book maddened me. I didn’t like any of the characters and found the writing style really difficult to parse through. There were so many interesting weird ideas floated but it didn’t seem to come to fruition.
September 8, 2025
this was a WILD ride, i’m still processing what I just read. I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what disaster would happen next.
my biggest complaint is that the shifting perspectives got confusing, especially because the author doesn’t use quotation marks. so one might enjoy it more on audio!
def not perfect, but wildly entertaining
my biggest complaint is that the shifting perspectives got confusing, especially because the author doesn’t use quotation marks. so one might enjoy it more on audio!
def not perfect, but wildly entertaining
August 16, 2025
Hahaha! Wow. This was messy and fun. The last 3-4 chapters really sold me because I love when an author gets progressively weirder.
We are following two women who are recently separated/potentially getting a divorce and they both end up dating the same woman without the other one knowing.
It was so great. And I really enjoyed watching their relationships intertwine.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC!
We are following two women who are recently separated/potentially getting a divorce and they both end up dating the same woman without the other one knowing.
It was so great. And I really enjoyed watching their relationships intertwine.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC!
August 14, 2025
Higgins' prose is so readable, I hated putting this book down. If readers can stomach the bad behavior, I find her writings of sex and (cruel) relationships absolutely enthralling.
While the book is absurd situationally, and no children are actually present, there's a fascinating investigation and queering of the care-taking-drive. Especially in characters so ill-equipped to mother, it turns laughable.
Revel in the delusion with a cast of dysfunctional lesbians using each other up.
While the book is absurd situationally, and no children are actually present, there's a fascinating investigation and queering of the care-taking-drive. Especially in characters so ill-equipped to mother, it turns laughable.
Revel in the delusion with a cast of dysfunctional lesbians using each other up.
August 31, 2025
Sick women doing sick things… per the author :/
Super unlikable characters with repetitive inner thoughts that make all of the characters melt together into a confusing mess. The synopsis sounded like a wild mess and I was very excited! Unfortunately all of the fun and excitement ends with the synopsis. I didn’t understand the point or the message unless the point was just to cringe?
The audio version of this book is very fine. It was already hard to tell Charlotte and Rebecca apart and the voice being so similar from character to character made it even more difficult.
Overall, I think I’m done picking up books by this author. ( I also disliked a good happy girl ) and I don’t know who I could possibly recommend this story to. It wasn’t interesting or entertaining.
Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for providing me with an arc copy of this book!
Super unlikable characters with repetitive inner thoughts that make all of the characters melt together into a confusing mess. The synopsis sounded like a wild mess and I was very excited! Unfortunately all of the fun and excitement ends with the synopsis. I didn’t understand the point or the message unless the point was just to cringe?
The audio version of this book is very fine. It was already hard to tell Charlotte and Rebecca apart and the voice being so similar from character to character made it even more difficult.
Overall, I think I’m done picking up books by this author. ( I also disliked a good happy girl ) and I don’t know who I could possibly recommend this story to. It wasn’t interesting or entertaining.
Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for providing me with an arc copy of this book!
June 30, 2025
1.5 ⭐️. Respectfully, I have no idea what happened....nor do I really care.
thank you to Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press and NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review
thank you to Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press and NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review
August 30, 2025
Her last book was my fav of the yr. I gave this one 9 chs, but it just didn’t grab me though the premise is good: Divorcing lesbians both named Rebecca still want a kid and they’re unwittingly both dating the same sugar mama. And that sugar mama wears a fake pregnancy belly, because, like both of them, she always wants to be noticed and has family issues. That sounds awesome, right?
Yet I think my main problem is I just don’t like sugar mama Charolette. (I don’t mean I want her to be a good person, but have more distinct personality from the wives and in general.) She has all the most boring parts of Patrick Bateman in her sociopathy/manipulative mirroring yet somehow it’s not as ironic. Plus one Rebecca is a bakery cashier (which could be cute and on theme with the title), but it tries too hard to be accessible maybe, that it comes off too pedestrian. Probably because so many lames thought her last book was too weird, but that’s exactly why I loved it.
Here, we have too many boring Reddity retail complaints and organic food porn. Yes, some grounding works, but it’s clogging the pace and I hate the popular push for working class or relatable writing. If you lived something all day, why would you wanna go home and read more mundanity? That’s why I loved the overload of perverse desperation in the first book. Here, we have great ideas but I want them more fleshy. More fake pregnancy and hostage kink. More on the one wife’s alcoholism and the other’s foster home background up front.
Oh well, I’ll be patiently waiting for her next book (maybe check out her little poetry book).
Yet I think my main problem is I just don’t like sugar mama Charolette. (I don’t mean I want her to be a good person, but have more distinct personality from the wives and in general.) She has all the most boring parts of Patrick Bateman in her sociopathy/manipulative mirroring yet somehow it’s not as ironic. Plus one Rebecca is a bakery cashier (which could be cute and on theme with the title), but it tries too hard to be accessible maybe, that it comes off too pedestrian. Probably because so many lames thought her last book was too weird, but that’s exactly why I loved it.
Here, we have too many boring Reddity retail complaints and organic food porn. Yes, some grounding works, but it’s clogging the pace and I hate the popular push for working class or relatable writing. If you lived something all day, why would you wanna go home and read more mundanity? That’s why I loved the overload of perverse desperation in the first book. Here, we have great ideas but I want them more fleshy. More fake pregnancy and hostage kink. More on the one wife’s alcoholism and the other’s foster home background up front.
Oh well, I’ll be patiently waiting for her next book (maybe check out her little poetry book).
September 2, 2025
There is a lot to unpack in this story, and yet at the same time I don’t really know what the heck I read.
The premise centers around two married but recently separated women, both oddly named Rebecca, who happen to separately meet Charlotte on a Sugar Momma app. All three women are seeking a form of fulfillment in their lives through intimacy, each risking something to seek that fulfillment.
On the surface, I was intrigued by the premise, a mystery of sorts in how the pieces were going to unravel with what was at stake. I get that Higgins is known for writing weird, but too many sections of the story were disjointed and confusing, parts transitioning without clear cues, context seemingly missing from others as if this was a later book in a series. More than once I wondered if the book was too cerebral for me. It’s lauded as a “screwball comedy” but read a lot more serious.
The majority of the characters in the book suffered from trauma or emotional instability that wasn’t fully tended to within the course of the novel, experiences that would have a large impact on their behaviors and decisions that were mentioned, maybe even breezed through, that deserved more care and attention. I needed more in order to truly understand these women.
And then the story just ends with a fantastical twist. Maybe if there had been less spiders, more explanation of the characters’ motivations, and a tad more resolution to the drama/conflict, I would have truly enjoyed this more. 2.5 stars
I thought the audio was well-produced. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to experience the audiobook.
The premise centers around two married but recently separated women, both oddly named Rebecca, who happen to separately meet Charlotte on a Sugar Momma app. All three women are seeking a form of fulfillment in their lives through intimacy, each risking something to seek that fulfillment.
On the surface, I was intrigued by the premise, a mystery of sorts in how the pieces were going to unravel with what was at stake. I get that Higgins is known for writing weird, but too many sections of the story were disjointed and confusing, parts transitioning without clear cues, context seemingly missing from others as if this was a later book in a series. More than once I wondered if the book was too cerebral for me. It’s lauded as a “screwball comedy” but read a lot more serious.
The majority of the characters in the book suffered from trauma or emotional instability that wasn’t fully tended to within the course of the novel, experiences that would have a large impact on their behaviors and decisions that were mentioned, maybe even breezed through, that deserved more care and attention. I needed more in order to truly understand these women.
And then the story just ends with a fantastical twist. Maybe if there had been less spiders, more explanation of the characters’ motivations, and a tad more resolution to the drama/conflict, I would have truly enjoyed this more. 2.5 stars
I thought the audio was well-produced. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to experience the audiobook.
September 10, 2025
I listened to Sweetener on audiobook and really enjoyed the narration—it brought out Higgins’ sharp, layered writing in a way that felt intimate and raw. That said, I struggled at times to keep track of the different Rebeccas, which made the reading experience a little confusing. In her first book, Good Happy Girl, the character voices felt easier to separate, but in Sweetener, the cast blurred together for me. Many of them seemed to share similar self-sabotaging tendencies, which made it harder to connect with them individually.
Even with that challenge, I still found Higgins’ exploration of identity and self-destruction compelling, and the audiobook format carried a lot of emotional weight. For readers who appreciate complex, messy characters and don’t mind leaning into ambiguity, this book will resonate.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC of this title.
Even with that challenge, I still found Higgins’ exploration of identity and self-destruction compelling, and the audiobook format carried a lot of emotional weight. For readers who appreciate complex, messy characters and don’t mind leaning into ambiguity, this book will resonate.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC of this title.
December 29, 2025
A collection of lesbians in different toxic relationships with each other, one of which is pretending to be pregnant. I really wanted to like this.
2/3rds of the characters being named Rebecca was confusing at first, but what really made the story hard to follow was the disjointed narrative and lack of quotation marks for dialogue.
At times I liked the writing style, but most of the time I felt a little lost in someone’s rambling mind. It felt like the author was trying too hard to be shocking and different when their focus should have been spent elsewhere.
2/3rds of the characters being named Rebecca was confusing at first, but what really made the story hard to follow was the disjointed narrative and lack of quotation marks for dialogue.
At times I liked the writing style, but most of the time I felt a little lost in someone’s rambling mind. It felt like the author was trying too hard to be shocking and different when their focus should have been spent elsewhere.
August 9, 2025
Thank you to Catapult for the advanced copy for an honest review. This was not for me. It was chaos in story and in format. Having two characters named Rebecca immediately complicated things in a way I couldn’t unravel. Then the format didn’t include quotations when there was dialogue so I couldn’t tell what was plot and what was dialogue. It had no real direction and j just don’t think I’m the audience for it but I hope whoever this is meant for really really enjoys it
dnf
September 15, 2025DNF at 34%, wanted to like this bc i really enjoyed a good happy girl, but i didn’t connect with this at all and started dreading picking it up…nothing was particularly bad, but i found the two characters with the same name AND the lack of quotation marks too confusing. maybe i’ll revisit this when my brain is less busy
August 16, 2025
Sweetener is one of those books where the premise instantly grabs you: two separated wives, both named Rebecca and spelled the same, are unknowingly dating the same person, Charlotte. When Charlotte figures out what's going on, her own issues and a strange sense of intrigue lead her to continue the bizarre situation rather than put a stop to it.
The plot gets even more complicated as Charlotte, pretending to be pregnant, appeals to one of the Rebeccas, who is trying to adopt a child of her own and sees this as an opportunity to have the family she yearns for. The second Rebecca is asked to pretend she and the first are still together for the social worker’s approval for her mission to have a child that is her own through the foster care system. A lot of wtf moments followed, not just with the strange storyline, but with the writing itself. I found myself confused by sentences that seemed completely out of place and just didn't make sense. At one point, I even had to look up if this was supposed to be a horror, because it was so weird!
While the audiobook narration was great, I have to wonder if this was a book that needed to be read for better comprehension, or if the strange and confusing writing was meant to be part of the experience. It had such great promise with its intriguing plot, but it left me very confused.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 8/19/25
The plot gets even more complicated as Charlotte, pretending to be pregnant, appeals to one of the Rebeccas, who is trying to adopt a child of her own and sees this as an opportunity to have the family she yearns for. The second Rebecca is asked to pretend she and the first are still together for the social worker’s approval for her mission to have a child that is her own through the foster care system. A lot of wtf moments followed, not just with the strange storyline, but with the writing itself. I found myself confused by sentences that seemed completely out of place and just didn't make sense. At one point, I even had to look up if this was supposed to be a horror, because it was so weird!
While the audiobook narration was great, I have to wonder if this was a book that needed to be read for better comprehension, or if the strange and confusing writing was meant to be part of the experience. It had such great promise with its intriguing plot, but it left me very confused.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 8/19/25
August 28, 2025
3.25 — If you want a sapphic story with characters whose lives and decisions will make you say "what the hell" every other page, boy do I have the book for you.
December 2, 2025
Weird to the point that I almost didn’t like it but then I kinda did
December 26, 2025
omfg such a weird one
December 7, 2025
Huh??? But also yeah, go off!
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