Lovers XXX

by Allie Rowbottom

Los Angeles, 1982: best friends Jude and Winnie are eighteen and working at a strip club. Soon they progress to modelling for Penthouse and Hustler, then to shooting hardcore porn. Dazzled by the drugs, sex and parties their new life offers, they are also beset by sexism, bitter competition and the precarity of life on the margins. When their friendship ends in recrimination and a dramatic act of betrayal, Jude goes missing and Winnie can find no trace of her.

Thirty years later, newly divorced and down on her luck, Winnie is ready to face her past. Determined to solve the mystery of what happened to Jude, she sets out to brave the dark underbelly of the adult industry. What follows is a gutsy, propulsive look at sex and power that builds to an unforgettable revelation about love.


'Impossible to put down!' Madeline Cash, author of Lost Lambs

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Queer, Literary Fiction, Adult, LGBT, Mystery

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 2, 2026

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really hope the publisher has the guts to submit this rather explicit feminist novel about the porn industry for some literary prizes, especially the Booker, because this is fantastic: Rowbottom tells the story of two friends, Jude and Winnie, who run away from home and stumble into the sex industry in L.A., first as exotic dancers and nude models, then as adult performers. It's the early 80's, and they live through the end of the classic production period with premieres in movie theaters and enter the new world of porn mass distributed on VHS that sets in motion a shift to the extreme. What renders this book so compelling is that the author does not only seem very knowledgeable about her subject, no: This is a page turner with a fast story line that still thrives on complex character description. It's both a thriller and a character study, and I was glued to these pages.

Jude and Winnie are childhood friends, both from broken homes, both dreaming of becoming writers. The first half of the book focuses on Jude who just got out of reform school and now travels to L.A. to search for Winnie. After getting lost in a heroin haze with Vietnam veteran Laird, she finds Winnie working in a strip club and living in an apartment belonging to Brad, a porn mogul scouting video vixens. The friends turn into Velvet Waters and Puss Boots, two starlets trying to make it with the help of adult star Cherry Lynn... CUT! The second half of the book jumps to 2015, and after being separated for decades, Winnie now sets out to search for Jude, who might or might not be dead. Will Winnie find redemption?

What's astounding is that this is a novel about the exploitation of women and porn, but free of cliches. Wait, you might say now, two girls from broken homes do drugs and have sex for money with sleazy video vixen fuck boys? Isn't that, like, cliche to the max? But this text is smart: The characters are so self-aware, their psychological reasoning is so plausible, their vulnerability so palpable, and they are not simply victims, but three-dimensional persons being victimized. Jude and Winnie are caught up in a Gordian knot of troubles, both looking at the world from different places of trauma, both with a different attitude to sex, both with different coping mechanisms. It shows that the author has thought this topic through, has anticipated the readers' expectations, has read a lot of material about porn, and does not think in moral absolutes regarding the medium, but wants to talk about how the male domination of the industry is the root of the problem, and the stigmatization of women caught in the saint/whore dichotomy.

This is a book about capitalism, and how the patriarchy commodifies female bodies - and the text does not hold back. The way the narrative is constructed, with plenty of foreshadowings and puzzle pieces that are slowly put together, adds plenty of suspense, but more than anything, this is a story about love and how the world harms and compromises people. For everyone in this novel, life is relentless and shows no mercy - but the characters can choose to show mercy to each other. Often, they don't, for various reasons. The text also points to the real-world famous men who helped glamorize the scene and lifestyle that victimizes fictional Jude and Winnie: Warren Beatty, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson (I dare you to google these dudes with "porn"), William S. Burroughs and Charles Bukowski (sex and drugs as material for art, as self-expression), Larry Flynt (protection of porn as free speech). This does not mean that all men in the novel are bad though, and not all sex in the novel is violent, not even all sex that is filmed for public consumption. Andrea Dworkin and Catharine A. MacKinnon and their anti-porn arguments feature and are valued, then their hypocrisy is illustrated. The world is complicated, and the novel does not aim to diminish its complexity.

There is a lot of nuance to be found here, and plenty of scenes and singular sentences that encourage discussions and move readers. A great book, I hope it will get the recognition it deserves, and judges and readers alike will not dismiss it because they fear the topic it handles so intelligently.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovers XXX is a sharp, unsettling, and unexpectedly fast moving book about friendship, capitalism, and the porn industry at a moment of massive cultural shift. Set first in 1980s LA and later in the long shadow of that era, it follows Jude and Winnie, two young women from broken homes whose shared dream of becoming writers leads them instead into stripping and porn. Rowbottom refuses both sentimentality and moral absolutism, her characters are exploited, yes, but also self aware, strategic, contradictory, and painfully human.

The first half explodes with speed and danger, the later retrospective slows the pace but deepens the emotional reckoning, building to a sad, earned ending. This is not erotic fiction but a critique of patriarchy, of choice under capitalism, of how consent can still coexist with harm.

This is dark, gripping, and full of lines that sting long after you close the book.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly moving, dark, painful and tender. Allie knocks it out of the park with the cinematic, smart story of two women entwined with porn in the 1980s, coming of age and understanding what they really desire. But the book is more than that- it is also a commentary about the commodifications of women’s bodies, their desires and their pain for male pleasure and profit. Someone else commented on here this book needs to be up for the Booker Award and I couldn’t agree more. I cannot wait for the rest of the world to get their hands on this, honored to have been able to read an ARC.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jude knew, she knew that women wanted as much as men, sexually speaking. But they were told to want less. Everywhere but porn they were told that.

Well, this is provocative and surprising from the Virago imprint. Rowbottom has written a nuanced book about the 1980s US porn industry that shifts from the horrific (filmed real-life rape) to this kind of insight into the headspace of some of the young women who made their money from sex films.

By giving us two very different young women - traumatised Winnie and harder, sexier, rebellious Jude - the book portrays a gamut of experiences. Jude is seduced by the money, the drugs, the lifestyle, the dream of making it as a star, possibly even a cross-over into 'real' films even as she knows, with her cynical hat on, that that doesn't happen. But she takes it in her stride, navigating the exploitation and witnessing the fall-outs and suicides while maintaining a kind of protective carapace of her own.

This is a book of two halves and it's the first section that gripped me. In the second part, set thirty years later, we switch from Jude to Winnie as the journeys are reversed and this time it's Winnie who goes looking for her friend. In the abstract this works as a premise, allowing a retrospective by fifty-something Winnie to review her youth and the industry itself - but the lack of pace drops away from the energetic, kinetic first part, even while we move towards a sad and satisfying ending.

I don't know what research Rowbottom did but this feels like a completely plausible story, set against a context when porn moved from movie theatres to home videos available to men to rent or buy on the high street, leading to a burgeoning of the industry even ahead of online.

There is no sentimentality here about the women involved in porn but there is empathy and respect: almost all the female characters have had poor, no-education, abusive and abandoned pasts, and the sheer amount they can earn - a thousand pounds a day in the 1980s - helps us understand the choices. At the same time, the book doesn't pull its punches in terms of the young women crying behind closed doors, the drugs that are enablers and pacifiers, and the way that consent doesn't prevent exploitation.

I would have loved to have heard more from the point of view of the male porn actors: here they are bit players, but a throwaway comment about their pressure to perform, the use of viagra and the anger and violence that might result from their inability to get and keep an erection on film is a whole other story I'd have liked to have explored.

Nevertheless, this is a book I couldn't stop reading. There's an especially pointed comment where Winnie thinks about Andrea Dworkin's work and the alternative possible response to her past from her fellow creative writing teachers: 'but if anyone at the school found out, she imagined they'd consider porn subversive, performative, a punk, feminist backstory to gossip about respectfully amongst themselves' - ouch!

Many thanks to Little Brown/Virago for an ARC via NetGalley

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

Lovers XXX starts in 1982 in Los Angeles. Jude is eighteen and goes to LA to live with her old friend, Winnie. Winnie works at a strip club and Jude soon joins her. Jude then starts modelling for Penthouse and Hustler and then she gets invited to shoot hardcore porn. Porn gives Jude a good income and the drugs blind Jude to the reality of what she is doing. Winnie starts shooting porn too but the male run environment of porn leads to sexism between the women. Jude and Winnie’s friendship ends and everything blows up for Jude as she goes missing. Thirty years later, Winnie is ready to face her past after a recent divorce. She wants to find out what happened to Jude and starts investigating which means going over what she did in the porn industry and remembering painful memories of a broken friendship.

When I first started reading this, I wasn’t sure what to think about the story. At first I thought the writing was a little weak but the further I got into the book the stronger the witting got. As I kept reading, I became engrossed in the book and I found the world Jude and Winnie were in to be fascinating. This book does not hold back in terms of content, this discusses the sex acts the girls did in the scenes but it is not erotic. This book is a critique of the porn industry and shows how exploitation did occur in the industry and how it occurs now in different ways. There is frequent drug use in this and it was painful to see the way the girls were exploited. At the heart of this book is the connection between Jude and Winnie and I found parts of their relationship to be beautiful at times. I found the ending to be quite emotional and I developed a strong connection to these characters. I enjoyed the ‘historical’ vibes of this novel as part one is set in the 80s. There is sexual abuse in this so I would advise readers to know their triggers before reading this. I will be recommending this novel though as I think it is a fantastic exploration of the porn industry in both the 80s and the modern day.

Favourite quote -
“The whole Women Against Pornography movement took everything to extremes for the good of no one, just like the pornographers had done. Capitalism won over women, as usual. Porn could hardly be described as playful now, and the violence was worse than ever. Worse, Winnie suspected, than she could imagine, though she didn’t care to go poking around and confirming this suspicion.”

[Carrie Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐃𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 "𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬; 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞, 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭; 𝐝𝐞𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐭; 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡; 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲."

It's Los Angeles in the 1980s, and Jude and Winnie are two best friends chasing something bigger than the lives they came from. What begins with stripping turns into modeling for magazines and eventually pulls them into the adult film industry, where the glamour is loud, the highs are intoxicating, and the cost is quietly devastating. When their friendship fractures in a moment of betrayal and Jude disappears, the story leaves that question hanging for decades. Thirty years later, Winnie is forced to confront the past she tried to outrun, retracing their steps through an industry that took more than it ever gave.

What struck me most about this book is how reflective it is without ever losing its edge. It does not sensationalize the world these women moved through, but it does not soften it either. There is a constant tension between the illusion of freedom and the reality of control, and that contrast is where the story really lands. I found myself thinking a lot about the narrative that pornography equals empowerment, and how this book quietly dismantles that idea by showing the imbalance of power, the competition, and the way women are so often positioned as both the product and the expendable part of the machine. It challenged arguments I had heard for years, yet never came across as preachy.

By the story's closure, it felt very much like a reckoning. This is not just about what happened to Jude, but about what happens to women in spaces that promise liberation but operate on something far more transactional. There is something deeply human in the way Winnie looks back, not just with regret, but with a clearer understanding of what was taken and what was never really hers to begin with. It left me sitting with that uncomfortable question of what freedom actually looks like and who gets to define it. Many thanks to Soho Press for this thought-provoking early copy that will publish June 2, 2026.

[Emily Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

Wow. For a book with such a difficult subject matter, Lovers XXX was a truly gripping and beautifully written book with the most atmospheric writing and genuinely interesting set of characters. Exploring themes of body autonomy, patriarchal ownership of women, drugs, poverty, abuse and the life of sex work in the 1980s, this isn’t a fun time read. However, for a literary fiction novel the character work and plot line kept me hooked throughout and I felt like I was there with the girls in the hot Californian sun.

I think this was a very respectful take on sex work and the author has clearly done her research. It explores the historical abuse and lack of care of sex workers through Winnie’s story directly alongside the liberation of sex and power it can build for characters like Cherry and to an extent, Jude. There were times where I wanted to bundle everyone in this book up and protect them from the harm they were clearly subject to, but at the same time there was no judgement of the work itself, simply sadness at the conditions the girls found themselves in and the seedy underbelly of the industry in the essence of being owned by men in these co-op housing situations.

Another great plot device was the fast forward to the future where Winnie is looking for Jude. This kept the interest going for me and made me feel really emotional. I love how the narrative was flipped for how Jude felt about Winnie, and then Winnie feeling about Jude. It was also really interesting to find out what happened to Cherry and the male figures in the present day after the horrors of the 80s were left behind.

I highlighted so so many beautiful quotes from this book as Allie’s writing is so descriptive and lush. It really helped me to put myself in the shoes of the characters especially when they were young as runaways and made me feel emotionally connected to them.

If you enjoy reading books about women’s rights and more importantly women’s wrongs, this could be the one for you. Emotional, beautiful, raw and wrapped up in political dialogue about women’s autonomy, lovers XXX was a really unique read.

[Chelsea Bieker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s put it this way—imagine if Fates and Furies met Boogie Nights and then was infused by Allie Rowbottom’s singular vision, generosity, and ruthless attention to the line, and you might start to understand Lovers XXX. But to fully understand, this is a book that must be read. There are no summaries and no blurbs that can possibly capture its masterful rendering not only of a specific era (the 1980s video porn world) but of the nuances of female friendship across a lifetime. This was the era when porn was moving into a different stratosphere via home video and at the same time, the lessons of the book are timeless. It’s funny. I’ve read so many drafts of this book—Allie is in my writing group—and I almost always forget the book is in some way about porn. I am not interested in porn at all personally and so if I was told oh, this is a book about porn! I’d pass probably? But somehow, as a book about porn, this book is NOT about porn! What a sleight of hand. At least in my reading, I did not come away feeling that’s what it was about. It’s like the most literary, tender, true telling of two girls embroiled in a scene with no way out and the aftermath of their choices. Told in two exacting parts from each girl/woman’s perspective, Rowbottom builds a world you will not be able to look away from. I think some readers might not want to hedge out of their comfort zones but trust me when I say, this is one of the finest works I’ve read in SO long. It’s gutsy too, to take such a taboo topic and humanize it, and to reveal the heart at the center. Isn’t this what we want books to do?

As a writer who chooses to write about “dark” topics, I know it will alienate some readers who want to stay in Emily Henry land. I think we choose our readers, and that is okay. Like domestic violence perhaps, porn is one of those worlds we’d rather not look at too closely at but stay at a superficial distance. This book is asking you to look at two women in a man’s world. Two women who will love, betray, and reckon with each other. It’s beauty through and through.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the neon-lit haze of 1980s Los Angeles, two young women follow a trail breadcrumbs into the adult film industry, where friendship, ambition, and survival become increasingly difficult to separate. What started as freedom and reinvention quickly descends into something more volatile, shaped by desire, power, and the cost of staying afloat in a world built to chew up and spit out.

This is a novel that absolutely refuses to slow down. It is 0 to 100mph in the first three pages flat, and never considers the breaks. It’s propulsive in a way that makes it easy to turn the pages, moving from one moment to the next without ever really pausing for breath. That momentum is impressive, but it also kept me at a distance; I wanted more time inside certain emotional beats, more space for the weight of it all to settle.

Still, it’s hard to deny the pull. There’s a fun audience for this kind of relentless pacing, entertainment, and gritty atmosphere. I can see it landing exactly as intended for readers who want a story that doesn’t hesitate, apologize, or look back. It didn’t fully give what I personally had hoped for, but it moves with a kind of conviction that will absolutely work for others.

[Krissy (books_and_biceps9155) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen up my friends, if you have ever listened to me (and we like the same vibes) you NEED to get this book. It will literally be the book of the Mother Fing year in my opinion. It’s going to live rent free in my brain and @netflix needs to option this ASAP because holy hell….This covers so much, is so incredibly smart and well written its insane. I don’t want to ramble because you won’t read it all but, when I tell you I read EVERY . SINGLE. WORD and did not skim, took my damn time… Don’t even get me started on the iconic cover.

Taking place in the 80s and told in 2 parts (June and Winnie). The first half is explosive, high speed and high stakes of sex, drugs and lots of manipulation. The second half slows down and starts to get you to question, think and reflect on so much. By design its genius. The ending made me cry. I could literally go on and on about this.

Capatalism, sexism, and how the patriarchy exploits and leverages women. This is a love letter to females, friendship and a relentless fight to own our own bodies. Its dark, gripping and Rowbottom is unflinching. She shows no mercy and the characters don’t either. Pick it up and don’t be a prude! It’s so important, now so more than ever. Thank you SO much to @sohobooks for this copy!

[Luca Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

First:

The place is Los Angeles, the year is 1982. Jude is one of a pair of best friend barely legal teens (Jude and Winnie, respectively) grappling for money and power. They find that making porn is the door to both. Or is it?

They do a lot of cocaine. Jude leases a yellow convertible; Jude and Winnie and every other girl compete for notoriety. Jude loves Winnie in a real way, and then she fucks her over royally. Winnie is a writer and writes a shocking tell-all article in the newspaper about being underage in the porn industry. The dog runs away. Everything is a mess.

Second:

The place is Malibu, the year is 2015. Winnie hasn’t seen Jude since the mid-80’s and maybe Jude is dead. Winnie is scarred from her time in the industry. She wrote a fiction book, finally, but it didn’t sell well (tale as old as time). She is divorced and something is missing. Maybe finding Jude will fill the hole?

--

I found this book to be masterful. It was fun and gripping and cringey and deeply sad. I felt attached to the main characters! I cried at the end. Allie Rowbottom has a confidence as an author that is propulsive. I loved Aesthetica, and Lovers XXX still managed to blow my expectations out of the water. A must read!

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

THIS is the sort of storytelling I’ve been craving lately. Lovers XXX captivated my attention from the very first page. This book was gritty, bold, and incredibly self-aware. The writing was electric and so immersive I almost felt like I was sitting in a movie theatre instead of reading. And the characters were so realistically flawed that it was impossible not to feel heartbroken for them.

I was not expecting the relentless grip this would have on me. Truly blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pacing, but never in a way that felt rushed or reliant on shock value. Every moment was intentional, designed to pull you in deeper while opening up a greater discussion. The subject matter won’t be for everyone, but it’s undeniable the importance this story holds. This needs to be on your radar if it isn't already!

Jude and Winnie ☹️🖤 These two were the absolute heart of this book and will stay on my mind for a very long time. I can only hope to find another story that will make me feel as deeply as this one did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[Always Reading Between The Wines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovers XXX by Allie Rowbottom
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Set in the porn industry in the 1980s, Lovers XXX follows two young women, Jude and Winnie, as they navigate friendships, working in the sex industry and growing up.

Due to its subject matter, its obviously a diffocult book at times and may not be for everyone. That being said, its so emotional that I'd highly recommend. Whilst the two women enter the industry for similar reasons, both Jude and Winnie have different views of the work they do and different ways of coping. The whole book is more about the exploitation at the hands of capitalism and the patriarchy that gives the sex industry its enduring status; than it is about erotic fiction.

There are trigger warnings, so be aware of those if you're going to give it a go, but its a highly recommended reads and one that left me feeling emotional and deep in thought.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested Lovers XXX after hearing about it on a podcast.

This book is not going to be for everyone- the subject matter can definitely be challenging to read about. The story follows 2 young women as they get into the porn industry. There is also a lot of casual drug use. If this won’t bother you, I would definitely recommend this book!

It felt so gritty and raw and was completely captivating. While the writing was just ok, the plot swept me up and I didn’t want to put it down. It was a very engaging read. I would have liked just a little more from the ending but it wrapped up enough to feel satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional roller coaster through the lives of two different girls in the eighties who both fall into the porn industry. Jude loves the sex while Winnie disassociated from it uses the anger to fuel her writing.
No emotions are spared, from the anger and injustice ... the frustration.... the characters are realistically flawed. It doesn't make for an easy read at times, there are rape trigger warnings and substance abuse.
Grab your sunglasses, pour a screwdriver and hold on for the ride!!
Thanks to netgalley for the advance copy.

[natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book more than I expected - has the readability of a thriller but the writing of literary fiction…and I couldn’t put it down. The characters were dynamic and the story was surprising and tragic. I didn’t LOVE the second half (Winnie’s) quite as much; I felt it meandered a bit. but the ending surprised me and brought me back around.

I think this book will be really popular when it comes out!!!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a fantastic novel that tackles complex topics with so much care. You can tell the writer has a lot of respect for the women in the novel, as well as sex workers in general. The women were dynamic, and their friendship ebbs and flows were relatable. I thought the setting of 80s LA was so vividly portrayed and was a gorgeous backdrop for the story. Highly recommend this novel and the author's debut, Aesthetica. Can't wait to read more from Rowbottom.

[Tiffany Dyba · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED!
A friendship for the ages. Would follow them anywhere. Sexy. Dark. I was sad when it was over. Obsessed.

[Sophia June · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best novels I have ever read.

[Valentina Vapaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

obsessed with this dark, queer and raw story! I cried so much at the end!!!!

[Riley]

I had so much anxiety! <3
(Complimentary)

[Emma Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

[hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you virago for this advanced review copy. really enjoyed this! two best friends enter the adult entertainment industry in the 80s. a gorgeous portrayal of female friendship while engaging in the harsh realities of sexism, objectification, and substance abuse within the industry, and how this impacts the relationships of the girls. a really visceral depiction of the exploitation of young women. could not put this down and absolutely devoured it.