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Lovers XXX: A Novel
Set against the neon-lit porn world of 1980s Los Angeles, a raw and evocative portrait of sex, friendship, and the perilous edge of liberation for two young women—from the author of Aesthetica.
For fans of Mary Gaitskill, Emma Cline, and Rachel Kushner.
Los Angeles, 1982. Eighteen-year-old Jude, newly out of reform school, is searching for her best friend, Winnie, when she falls under the spell of an older man with a motorcycle, a needle, and a taste for danger.
What begins as an escape spirals into motel rooms, stickups, and drug binges. Jude eventually finds Winnie, now Velvet, dancing at a Sunset Strip club. Together they imagine a future—bartending, writing, building a life of their own—but the same world that offers glamour and freedom threatens to consume them. Survival means navigating men who promise love, power, and escape—always at a cost.
Lovers XXXis a cool-eyed re-creation of the world of ’80s adult filmmaking, and a hypnotic novel of friendship, self-invention, and sexual identity beyond binaries. Above all, it is a singular love story between two vulnerable, defiant women.
For fans of Mary Gaitskill, Emma Cline, and Rachel Kushner.
Los Angeles, 1982. Eighteen-year-old Jude, newly out of reform school, is searching for her best friend, Winnie, when she falls under the spell of an older man with a motorcycle, a needle, and a taste for danger.
What begins as an escape spirals into motel rooms, stickups, and drug binges. Jude eventually finds Winnie, now Velvet, dancing at a Sunset Strip club. Together they imagine a future—bartending, writing, building a life of their own—but the same world that offers glamour and freedom threatens to consume them. Survival means navigating men who promise love, power, and escape—always at a cost.
Lovers XXXis a cool-eyed re-creation of the world of ’80s adult filmmaking, and a hypnotic novel of friendship, self-invention, and sexual identity beyond binaries. Above all, it is a singular love story between two vulnerable, defiant women.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published June 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 269 reviews
June 25, 2026
3.5 ⭐️s
The cover, title, premise, and 80s setting immediately caught my attention.
This is the story of Jude and Winnie, eighteen-year-old best friends who dream of becoming writers. In 1982, they end up in Los Angeles, broke and desperate for work, so they take jobs at a strip club. From there, they move on to nude modeling and eventually the porn industry. Amid the drugs, parties, and growing competition, the lines begin to blur, their friendship unravels, and one day Jude vanishes without a trace.
This took me longer than usual to read, not because of the book itself, but because my schedule has been crazy the past few weeks.
The first half of the book felt somewhat like a fever dream as we watch Jude and Winnie's transition into the porn industry. It is bleak and heartbreaking at times. The story also explores nature versus nurture and the insecurities both women struggle with.
For how close these two were supposed to be, I never really felt that friendship on the page. We are mostly told about their bond through snippets from when they were younger rather than seeing it develop in the present. While I mostly enjoyed the story, the pacing was a bit uneven for me, with the first half being much stronger than the second. Around the midway point, the story slows considerably, loses some momentum, and becomes a little repetitive in places. After all the buildup surrounding the mystery of Jude's disappearance, I found the somewhat ambiguous ending a bit dissatisfying. It felt rushed and left me wanting just a little more.
This is purely a personal preference, but while I am all for a feminist read, when every male character is portrayed as a bad guy, it starts to feel unbalanced, less realistic, and ultimately less enjoyable for me.
Sophie Amoss' narration captured the tone of the story and the emotions of the characters really well.
This was a solid read, but I needed a little more to bump it up another star. This was my first book by the author, but it piqued my interest enough that I'll definitely be reading more of her work.
Now available! My thanks to RBmedia and Netgalley for my ALC 🎧
The cover, title, premise, and 80s setting immediately caught my attention.
This is the story of Jude and Winnie, eighteen-year-old best friends who dream of becoming writers. In 1982, they end up in Los Angeles, broke and desperate for work, so they take jobs at a strip club. From there, they move on to nude modeling and eventually the porn industry. Amid the drugs, parties, and growing competition, the lines begin to blur, their friendship unravels, and one day Jude vanishes without a trace.
This took me longer than usual to read, not because of the book itself, but because my schedule has been crazy the past few weeks.
The first half of the book felt somewhat like a fever dream as we watch Jude and Winnie's transition into the porn industry. It is bleak and heartbreaking at times. The story also explores nature versus nurture and the insecurities both women struggle with.
For how close these two were supposed to be, I never really felt that friendship on the page. We are mostly told about their bond through snippets from when they were younger rather than seeing it develop in the present. While I mostly enjoyed the story, the pacing was a bit uneven for me, with the first half being much stronger than the second. Around the midway point, the story slows considerably, loses some momentum, and becomes a little repetitive in places. After all the buildup surrounding the mystery of Jude's disappearance, I found the somewhat ambiguous ending a bit dissatisfying. It felt rushed and left me wanting just a little more.
This is purely a personal preference, but while I am all for a feminist read, when every male character is portrayed as a bad guy, it starts to feel unbalanced, less realistic, and ultimately less enjoyable for me.
Sophie Amoss' narration captured the tone of the story and the emotions of the characters really well.
This was a solid read, but I needed a little more to bump it up another star. This was my first book by the author, but it piqued my interest enough that I'll definitely be reading more of her work.
Now available! My thanks to RBmedia and Netgalley for my ALC 🎧
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
June 26, 2026
3.5 I really appreciated how Lovers XXX challenges society's deep-rooted perceptions and stigmas surrounding women in the adult film industry, reframing the work as different forms of expression and art. The story kicks off in the 1980s, following two childhood friends who both come from difficult backgrounds and share a dream of becoming writers. As teenagers, they enter a whole "new world" to support themselves—starting with exotic dancing before transitioning to nude modeling and eventually adult films. It's a gritty look at the reality of doing what it takes to survive, complete with the expected sex and plenty of drug use. After a major falling out, the friends lose touch, and the narrative skips forward to their lives in 2015.
While I thought the audiobook narrator did a fantastic job, the pacing made me wonder if this story might actually be better experienced via a physical read. I didn't always feel entirely pulled into the book, finding myself deeply engaged in some parts while losing interest in others. The ending was great. Ultimately, though, I loved the overarching theme and the powerful way it challenges the outlook on women in this line of work.
*ALC (thank you, RBmedia | Recorded Books/ NetGalley)
While I thought the audiobook narrator did a fantastic job, the pacing made me wonder if this story might actually be better experienced via a physical read. I didn't always feel entirely pulled into the book, finding myself deeply engaged in some parts while losing interest in others. The ending was great. Ultimately, though, I loved the overarching theme and the powerful way it challenges the outlook on women in this line of work.
*ALC (thank you, RBmedia | Recorded Books/ NetGalley)
Review of advance copy received from Author
I did an interview with author Allie Rowbottom on
First, Allie Rowbottom could teach a masterclass on character development and vivid scenery creation. Readers will feel transported to 80s parties with neon lights and shag carpets, cocaine dusting the air and cigarette smoke lingering. This book was completely immersive and felt impossible to put down. Second was the subtle, yet incredible way Rowbottom made the revelations obvious to both readers and the characters, simultaneously. I think it's possible this is just a me thing, but the manipulation was so well crafted that I too believe some of the evils weren't really too evil, until they were. A good example is Brad - I found I wasn't too mistrustful of him (he did house and feed the girls), until my trust was broken. Maybe I'm just gullible but I thought this was powerful. Third was the bold, ambitious approach to the porn industry which Rowbottom completely nails. Porn and sex workers are a taboo topic and it would take careful consideration to make this accessible and not overly vulgar. Her research surely did pay off and Rowbottom nailed the accessibility of the book. Although readers will need to be OK with reading very blunt depictions of what goes into the filming of a porn video! Fourth is the shifting of relationships to men in the book. From trust, to bonds broken/mistrust, to revenge, Rowbottom has written a story of female suffering to empowerment. There is a reason I think this will be the feminist book of the YEAR! Lovers XXX is tragic, yet emboldening.
Don't be afraid to read this book. I know you all read 50 Shades of Grey. You can read a longer more in depth review of mine on Substack (book talk with lauren).
Thank you Allie Rowbottom for a copy!
You can find me on Substack!
First, Allie Rowbottom could teach a masterclass on character development and vivid scenery creation. Readers will feel transported to 80s parties with neon lights and shag carpets, cocaine dusting the air and cigarette smoke lingering. This book was completely immersive and felt impossible to put down. Second was the subtle, yet incredible way Rowbottom made the revelations obvious to both readers and the characters, simultaneously. I think it's possible this is just a me thing, but the manipulation was so well crafted that I too believe some of the evils weren't really too evil, until they were. A good example is Brad - I found I wasn't too mistrustful of him (he did house and feed the girls), until my trust was broken. Maybe I'm just gullible but I thought this was powerful. Third was the bold, ambitious approach to the porn industry which Rowbottom completely nails. Porn and sex workers are a taboo topic and it would take careful consideration to make this accessible and not overly vulgar. Her research surely did pay off and Rowbottom nailed the accessibility of the book. Although readers will need to be OK with reading very blunt depictions of what goes into the filming of a porn video! Fourth is the shifting of relationships to men in the book. From trust, to bonds broken/mistrust, to revenge, Rowbottom has written a story of female suffering to empowerment. There is a reason I think this will be the feminist book of the YEAR! Lovers XXX is tragic, yet emboldening.
Don't be afraid to read this book. I know you all read 50 Shades of Grey. You can read a longer more in depth review of mine on Substack (book talk with lauren).
Thank you Allie Rowbottom for a copy!
You can find me on Substack!
June 29, 2026
I don’t know how one writes about the 1980s adult film industry without making it feel lurid or sensationalized, but Allie Rowbottom managed to do just that with Lovers XXX.
It’s the story of Winnie and Jude, best friends who reunite in California after graduating high school. Broke and desperate, they take jobs at a strip club to make money – but it isn’t long before the allure of an even bigger payday leads them to nude modeling, and eventually into the porn industry. In this dazzling, deceptive world of drugs, parties, and sex, Jude and Winnie soon find themselves in competition with one another – until the day Jude disappears.
Rowbottom explores female sexual agency, power imbalances, exploitation, abuse, ambition, and the stigmas of women in pornography in a gritty narrative that is compelling in some ways, lacking in others. Atmospherically, Lovers XXX transported me to California in the 1980s, to dark dens of depravity and salacious adult film sets that, at the time, were largely unregulated. Rowbottom writes with surety, and she exposes the murkiest aspects of the early days of porn without being gratuitous or unnecessarily explicit.
Both Winnie and Jude are well-developed, complicated characters, with rich inner lives and complex motivations. What I was missing was a strong connection between them. I didn’t get a real sense of the depth of their friendship; the strength of their bond didn’t come across on the page.
I also didn’t care for the structure of the book, which I felt didn’t do the narrative any favors. I would’ve rather read Jude’s and Winnie’s perspectives in alternating chapters instead of spaced decades apart. I understand the decision to organize the book that way, but for me, it became repetitive and somewhat lessened the impact of some of the book’s more profound and revelatory moments.
But even with its flaws, Lovers XXX is an important, provocative, feminist work of fiction that shines a light on controversial and taboo subjects, through the eyes of two compelling and complex women. I enjoyed Sophie Amoss’s narration of the audiobook, although I would’ve also appreciated separate performers for Winnie and Jude. Thank you to RBmedia for the complimentary listening opportunity.
It’s the story of Winnie and Jude, best friends who reunite in California after graduating high school. Broke and desperate, they take jobs at a strip club to make money – but it isn’t long before the allure of an even bigger payday leads them to nude modeling, and eventually into the porn industry. In this dazzling, deceptive world of drugs, parties, and sex, Jude and Winnie soon find themselves in competition with one another – until the day Jude disappears.
Rowbottom explores female sexual agency, power imbalances, exploitation, abuse, ambition, and the stigmas of women in pornography in a gritty narrative that is compelling in some ways, lacking in others. Atmospherically, Lovers XXX transported me to California in the 1980s, to dark dens of depravity and salacious adult film sets that, at the time, were largely unregulated. Rowbottom writes with surety, and she exposes the murkiest aspects of the early days of porn without being gratuitous or unnecessarily explicit.
Both Winnie and Jude are well-developed, complicated characters, with rich inner lives and complex motivations. What I was missing was a strong connection between them. I didn’t get a real sense of the depth of their friendship; the strength of their bond didn’t come across on the page.
I also didn’t care for the structure of the book, which I felt didn’t do the narrative any favors. I would’ve rather read Jude’s and Winnie’s perspectives in alternating chapters instead of spaced decades apart. I understand the decision to organize the book that way, but for me, it became repetitive and somewhat lessened the impact of some of the book’s more profound and revelatory moments.
But even with its flaws, Lovers XXX is an important, provocative, feminist work of fiction that shines a light on controversial and taboo subjects, through the eyes of two compelling and complex women. I enjoyed Sophie Amoss’s narration of the audiobook, although I would’ve also appreciated separate performers for Winnie and Jude. Thank you to RBmedia for the complimentary listening opportunity.
June 27, 2026
My bookstagram friend Krissy (@books_and_biceps9155) put Lovers XXX on my radar. After reading her rave review on the novel and seeing it compared to Joan Didion meets Lauren Groff, I had to pick it up.
Even though I didn't find any Joan Didion or Lauren Groff in this novel, I am happy to report that Lovers XXX deserves all the hype that Krissy gave it!
This provocative, gritty, and oh-so-sexy story gripped me from the beginning and didn't let go until the very end. I could see how Lovers XXX was influenced by Shirley Hazard's Transit of Venus and I loved all the mentions of Eve Babitz in the novel. With themes of hedonism, friendship, feminism, and autonomy, it's such a unique and completely original tale with fully developed characters that it's one I won't be forgetting anytime soon.
I listened to the audiobook version which is read by Sophie Amoss who did an amazing job bringing this story to life.
Lovers XXX by Allie Rowbottom was published on June 2 so it's available now. Many thanks to Libro.FM and Recorded Books for the gifted audiobook!
Even though I didn't find any Joan Didion or Lauren Groff in this novel, I am happy to report that Lovers XXX deserves all the hype that Krissy gave it!
This provocative, gritty, and oh-so-sexy story gripped me from the beginning and didn't let go until the very end. I could see how Lovers XXX was influenced by Shirley Hazard's Transit of Venus and I loved all the mentions of Eve Babitz in the novel. With themes of hedonism, friendship, feminism, and autonomy, it's such a unique and completely original tale with fully developed characters that it's one I won't be forgetting anytime soon.
I listened to the audiobook version which is read by Sophie Amoss who did an amazing job bringing this story to life.
Lovers XXX by Allie Rowbottom was published on June 2 so it's available now. Many thanks to Libro.FM and Recorded Books for the gifted audiobook!
August 15, 2026
Such a great, compulsive read! I lost sleep staying up to finish this one. The setting, the writing, the characters, the societal commentary—everything worked for me. No notes!
This was a June BOTM add-on, and I’m so glad it was offered. I’m not sure I would have discovered this book otherwise.
Go in knowing only the synopsis and let the author take you on the journey!
This was a June BOTM add-on, and I’m so glad it was offered. I’m not sure I would have discovered this book otherwise.
Go in knowing only the synopsis and let the author take you on the journey!
Did Not Finish
July 20, 2026DNF @ 20% I just could not for the life of me get into this.
July 8, 2026
A literary fiction set in the 1980s that follows best friends Jude and Winnie, who have just turned 18 and are working at a strip club. Their friendship is an ‘us against the world, we can survive as long as we have each other kind of bond’. And survival is exactly what they need.
Amid the chaos of drugs, sex, and parties, their search for independence eventually leads them into the adult film industry, where they navigate exploitation, sexism, feminism, desire, competition, and so much more.
Thirty years later, Winnie is forced to reflect on a past she’s spent years trying to bury. But if she wants to find her best friend Jude, she’ll have to confront the memories she’s worked so hard to leave behind.
This was a captivating read—heavy at times and difficult because of the subject matter. It’s a thoughtful exploration of the early adult film industry and the exploitation of young women: their bodies, their minds, the grooming, the false sense of choice and security, and the lasting impact it leaves long after they’ve tried to move on.
Amid the chaos of drugs, sex, and parties, their search for independence eventually leads them into the adult film industry, where they navigate exploitation, sexism, feminism, desire, competition, and so much more.
Thirty years later, Winnie is forced to reflect on a past she’s spent years trying to bury. But if she wants to find her best friend Jude, she’ll have to confront the memories she’s worked so hard to leave behind.
This was a captivating read—heavy at times and difficult because of the subject matter. It’s a thoughtful exploration of the early adult film industry and the exploitation of young women: their bodies, their minds, the grooming, the false sense of choice and security, and the lasting impact it leaves long after they’ve tried to move on.
July 18, 2026
I have very mixed feelings about this one…on one hand, I was absolutely consumed with the overall plot: 1980s, drugs, sex, Hollywood. It was the perfect formula, however, I found myself forcing to finish it in the second half. At one point, it just became pretty repetitive & I was losing interest quickly. And the entire second half of the book was just really boring to me. There were so many times I genuinely had no clue why Jude or Winnie were doing the things they were doing. The random man that Winnie encountered (who was a total creep!!) was just weird. It was just very…odd. And I really didn’t care for this author’s writing style either—it felt like it was trying to be deep and profound but I was just confused most of the time and the pacing was just too slow for my liking.
Read
June 13, 2026i'm not connecting w this one for some reason but ty to the author for sending me an arc 🫶🏻
July 2, 2026
There is a LOT of drugs and sex in this book. About halfway through I was like “why am I reading this?!” But by the time I got to the end, I was happy I stuck it out. Gorgeous writing, despite the sleazy, sleazy undertones throughout the entirety of this novel. The California porno culture in the 80s was captured brilliantly and it felt like I just lived Winnie and Jude’s experiences. Off to take a shower now and scrub the grimy feeling of this book off of me!
May 21, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of this book!
There are a lot of interesting and bold themes in this book - a look into the world of pornography in the 1980s, the trauma and impact it had on the young women trapped in its clutches. Unfortunately I kind of struggled to get through this one and I can’t really say why, I think a lot of the book focused on the character’s inner monologue and the plot drags a little during the second half. To be honest I don’t know if there were any twists or developments that I wasn’t expecting already, it pretty much followed the plot I was expecting based on the synopsis. The bond between the two girls enduring and developing throughout the book was probably the highlight, I think that understanding how deeply they care for each other from the beginning was a little hard to grasp considering Jude forgets she exists until she has no other options and they immediately begin to have tension as soon as they move in together, but overall I would say this book did a pretty good job of capturing the story/setting it set out to do.
There are a lot of interesting and bold themes in this book - a look into the world of pornography in the 1980s, the trauma and impact it had on the young women trapped in its clutches. Unfortunately I kind of struggled to get through this one and I can’t really say why, I think a lot of the book focused on the character’s inner monologue and the plot drags a little during the second half. To be honest I don’t know if there were any twists or developments that I wasn’t expecting already, it pretty much followed the plot I was expecting based on the synopsis. The bond between the two girls enduring and developing throughout the book was probably the highlight, I think that understanding how deeply they care for each other from the beginning was a little hard to grasp considering Jude forgets she exists until she has no other options and they immediately begin to have tension as soon as they move in together, but overall I would say this book did a pretty good job of capturing the story/setting it set out to do.
June 8, 2026
Thank you Allie Rowbottom and NetGalley for the advanced audiobook.
Wow! I could not put this down. The writing is fantastic and I really enjoyed how the narrative unfolded.
This story is about much much more than porn. It's a painful love story full of regrets and revelation. I identified so much with Winnie and I felt the depth of the story the author was trying to portray. Fundamentally, what it can feel like to be a woman in a world ruled by men.
I feel I read this story right at the right time in my life and I'm sure it will not be one I forget.
Beautiful read.
Wow! I could not put this down. The writing is fantastic and I really enjoyed how the narrative unfolded.
This story is about much much more than porn. It's a painful love story full of regrets and revelation. I identified so much with Winnie and I felt the depth of the story the author was trying to portray. Fundamentally, what it can feel like to be a woman in a world ruled by men.
I feel I read this story right at the right time in my life and I'm sure it will not be one I forget.
Beautiful read.
June 5, 2026
I was not expecting a book at pornography to be this heavy. This is a deeply feminist novel that explores the exploitation and misogyny of the porn industry. Additionally, it's also an exploration of identity, self worth, and relationships. And how society's views of women shape those things.
This is a beautifully written and thought provoking book that I'll be thinking about for a long time.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a beautifully written and thought provoking book that I'll be thinking about for a long time.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 8, 2026
This was good from the beginning to the end! Nothing felt like fluff or filler, and it all had meaning and worked together.
Did Not Finish
July 1, 2026i won’t leave a star rating because i hate when people dnf and leave one star but i couldn’t even get 50 pages in. this is atrocious. the plot and writing isn’t only bad & lazy, but it reads like a sheltered suburban 14 year old who’s never experienced the world trying to write something gritty for wattpad (18 year old goes to la and her first hour there gets addicted to heroin?). i usually don’t dnf even when i don’t like a book/don’t think it’s good, but i can’t justify being /this/ miserable when reading a book. kudos to everyone who finished and rated this, you’re stronger than me.
February 2, 2026
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.
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.
August 4, 2026
Watching the elegantly soignée and poised Allie Rowbottom interviewed by Free Press, I could scarcely believe she had immersed herself in the culture of the 1980s Los Angeles hard-core porn industry. But I was surprised and delighted to hear that she shared my fascination with Judee Sill, the etherial singer songwriter whose spirituality derived from recovery from heroin addiction, a recovery all too brief. Jude in this novel, like Judee, has been in reform school and has a brief career as an armed robber under the spell of a bad boyfriend, but is not a musician but a porn actress, who has joined her teenaged BF and lover Winnie in LA, working at a strip club called Ladies of the Valley till she finds she can make more money in XXX videos. Winnie used the stage-name Velvet and Jude becomes Puss Boots. The “industry” is run by men with creepy names like Brad Donado, Tom Best, and Bob Nine. Winnie and Jude live in Laurel Canyon in a kind of commune owned by Brad called the Fuck Palace. Winnie is an aspiring writer, whose first try for publication, an attempted contribution to Penthouse Letters (Allie Rowbottom is a brilliant parodist), is rejected, but whose expose—while working underage she was raped on the set—blows the roof off the LA porn scene and ends with the men doing prison time.
Love XXX it divided into two segments, the first set in 1983 from the 3rd-person POV of Jude, the second more than 35 years later featuring the now middle-aged Winnie. She has been in a bad marriage with a successful but adulterous novelist (moral perhaps, men who create literary fiction are often as sleazy as men who make pornography) and has published a poorly received novel. Now she is living in Malibu in a condo she acquired from her ex. She sets out find out what became of her estranged friend Jude, looking up the people they knew back in the ’80s. There is a hilarious scene where Winnie confronts an el-creepo hypocrite who recognized her as Velvet, humiliating him in front of his wife and children.
I loved this book. It is beautifully written. Allie Rowbottom has a perfect ear for coarse expletive- laden discourse of “the industry”; she transforms it into a form of poetic diction. Sometimes she seems to be channeling Joan Didion. Mythically, the setting works perfectly. To a traditional Christian—or for that matter, a secular radical feminist like Dworkin or MacKinnon—this is Sodom and Gomorrah. And in their own ways, Winnie and Jude are the Angels of Death in the story of Lot in the Book of Genesis, bringing down not fire and brimstone from Heaven, but the wrath of California law on the heads of the porn industry. But most moving for me was the love and friendship between Winnie and Jude, and the wrenching pain of their separation. I could not stop reading far into the night to find out if Winnie would find Jude and if they could reconcile. If you have ever loved someone you have estranged and found attempts to reconcile fruitless, you’ll understand.
Love XXX it divided into two segments, the first set in 1983 from the 3rd-person POV of Jude, the second more than 35 years later featuring the now middle-aged Winnie. She has been in a bad marriage with a successful but adulterous novelist (moral perhaps, men who create literary fiction are often as sleazy as men who make pornography) and has published a poorly received novel. Now she is living in Malibu in a condo she acquired from her ex. She sets out find out what became of her estranged friend Jude, looking up the people they knew back in the ’80s. There is a hilarious scene where Winnie confronts an el-creepo hypocrite who recognized her as Velvet, humiliating him in front of his wife and children.
I loved this book. It is beautifully written. Allie Rowbottom has a perfect ear for coarse expletive- laden discourse of “the industry”; she transforms it into a form of poetic diction. Sometimes she seems to be channeling Joan Didion. Mythically, the setting works perfectly. To a traditional Christian—or for that matter, a secular radical feminist like Dworkin or MacKinnon—this is Sodom and Gomorrah. And in their own ways, Winnie and Jude are the Angels of Death in the story of Lot in the Book of Genesis, bringing down not fire and brimstone from Heaven, but the wrath of California law on the heads of the porn industry. But most moving for me was the love and friendship between Winnie and Jude, and the wrenching pain of their separation. I could not stop reading far into the night to find out if Winnie would find Jude and if they could reconcile. If you have ever loved someone you have estranged and found attempts to reconcile fruitless, you’ll understand.
July 6, 2026
unfortunately, this book just did not hit for me.
when i first saw it on book of the month, i was attracted by the perversity of it. particularly in how it was marketed to really expose the porn industry through a female gaze. it felt like a really compelling story that i would love to read. unfortunately, the story just did not deliver.
on the surface level, i found the writing to be a bit grating. it was a bit too cerebral for the story that it was trying to tell. it took itself too seriously at the expense of basic comprehension. several sentences did not make sense. there were several instances where the clarity of the writing suffered because the writing was trying too hard to be something that it wasn't. nothing about the story felt natural in terms of the technical construction of the writing.
beyond this, the story is marketed as the ebbs and flows about two childhood best friends tackling the porn industry together. yet, and i am being so genuine when i say this, i do not believe that they are friends or that they've known each other for more than two seconds. the writing relies on itself having said: "they're best friends and promised to leave town together" to do the heavy lifting. the two of them don't talk. they have very little in common. when they do talk, it's tension city and it quite frequently appears that one is pissed at the other. i don't believe that they are friends at all which makes the story a bit hard to tackle.
which, actually, is another critique that i have. the dialogue throughout the novel is quite strange. most dialogues are like max 4 lines and people are not actually responding to each other. one person will say something, someone else will repeat it, and then the conversation moves in a completely different direction. it's exceptionally weird and makes it hard to build cohesion for the story.
all this to say, i did find there to be parts of the story that were interesting, but primarily, they came in jude's portion of the novel. ultimately, it made the pacing feel a bit strange and hard to hold on to. jude's portion of the novel is more embracing the reality of the golden age of porn and the intersection of being a woman, in porn, at a time when drugs are rampant and i think that had the capability of being interesting. that being said, though, unfortunately a lot of these points are undercut by the portrayal of men. i am NOT pro-man, but when you write a novel where every man is so inherently evil, it reads rather like a caricature than like you are trying to make any cohesive point and ultimately undercuts the thing that you're trying to do in the first place. (kind of like how Yesteryear's main critique has been that it is speaking to an audience that was already tuned in, that's what you've got here.)
the novel was a miss for me. i'm bummed. you could have been something!
when i first saw it on book of the month, i was attracted by the perversity of it. particularly in how it was marketed to really expose the porn industry through a female gaze. it felt like a really compelling story that i would love to read. unfortunately, the story just did not deliver.
on the surface level, i found the writing to be a bit grating. it was a bit too cerebral for the story that it was trying to tell. it took itself too seriously at the expense of basic comprehension. several sentences did not make sense. there were several instances where the clarity of the writing suffered because the writing was trying too hard to be something that it wasn't. nothing about the story felt natural in terms of the technical construction of the writing.
beyond this, the story is marketed as the ebbs and flows about two childhood best friends tackling the porn industry together. yet, and i am being so genuine when i say this, i do not believe that they are friends or that they've known each other for more than two seconds. the writing relies on itself having said: "they're best friends and promised to leave town together" to do the heavy lifting. the two of them don't talk. they have very little in common. when they do talk, it's tension city and it quite frequently appears that one is pissed at the other. i don't believe that they are friends at all which makes the story a bit hard to tackle.
which, actually, is another critique that i have. the dialogue throughout the novel is quite strange. most dialogues are like max 4 lines and people are not actually responding to each other. one person will say something, someone else will repeat it, and then the conversation moves in a completely different direction. it's exceptionally weird and makes it hard to build cohesion for the story.
all this to say, i did find there to be parts of the story that were interesting, but primarily, they came in jude's portion of the novel. ultimately, it made the pacing feel a bit strange and hard to hold on to. jude's portion of the novel is more embracing the reality of the golden age of porn and the intersection of being a woman, in porn, at a time when drugs are rampant and i think that had the capability of being interesting. that being said, though, unfortunately a lot of these points are undercut by the portrayal of men. i am NOT pro-man, but when you write a novel where every man is so inherently evil, it reads rather like a caricature than like you are trying to make any cohesive point and ultimately undercuts the thing that you're trying to do in the first place. (kind of like how Yesteryear's main critique has been that it is speaking to an audience that was already tuned in, that's what you've got here.)
the novel was a miss for me. i'm bummed. you could have been something!
June 21, 2026
This is a grimey, sleazy, dark story about the adult industry that’s fuelled instead by emotion and sapphic desire rather than horny lust. While of course there are plenty of scenes throughout the book, they don’t overpower the literary force of the story as the focus is on the women rather than the industry. And this is something I really enjoyed about the book — Rowbottom focused on the commentary surrounding the industry more than the industry itself. So we got to see perspectives on women, sexism, feminism, misogyny, domestic violence, addictions, empowerment, politics, etc. rather than (just) the sex and drugs.
I think what I liked most, though, is that this is a quasi-coming-of-age literary fiction for Jude’s half, and a mystery for Winnie’s half. Rowbottom switches the vibe of the book smoothly between the two, and it was interesting to see some of the same events from different literary moods.
All that said, though, I did struggle clinging onto the characters, as the writing left me feeling sort of detached. Because of this, it was difficult to merge the intentions that are so clearly present in the text with the characters inside the text.
I think what I liked most, though, is that this is a quasi-coming-of-age literary fiction for Jude’s half, and a mystery for Winnie’s half. Rowbottom switches the vibe of the book smoothly between the two, and it was interesting to see some of the same events from different literary moods.
All that said, though, I did struggle clinging onto the characters, as the writing left me feeling sort of detached. Because of this, it was difficult to merge the intentions that are so clearly present in the text with the characters inside the text.
June 12, 2026
A tale of friendship and love, as well as an unflinching look at the sex industry in the 1980s. The focus of this book is definitely our two main characters’ relationship and how it changes as they become involved in nude modeling and porn. Although, I’m not sure how accurately the book portrays the sex industry of that era.
I really liked the first half of the book, which is told in the past from Jude’s POV. The second half is told in the present from Winnie’s POV and this section just wasn’t as gripping for me personally. The ending does provide closure though and I was satisfied with the conclusion. Overall, this was an interesting read and I enjoyed the friendship at its core.
I really liked the first half of the book, which is told in the past from Jude’s POV. The second half is told in the present from Winnie’s POV and this section just wasn’t as gripping for me personally. The ending does provide closure though and I was satisfied with the conclusion. Overall, this was an interesting read and I enjoyed the friendship at its core.
June 9, 2026
Intriguing premise but it was just too slow.
June 24, 2026
5/5 ⭐️
Loved this tender, intense, heartbreaking, and titillating novel. This is the story of two childhood friend that reconnect as teenagers in LA. They both start stripping and quickly get wrapped up into the porn industry the 1980s. Times were good and times were very very bad.
The first half of the book is their story of navigating this industry and the later half is 30 years later when one of them has disappeared.
It was a beautiful ode to complicated friendship and when opportunity to make money and be in tune with their bodies looked glossy like the pages of Hustler. But ultimately the porn industry is controlled by and made for men and they cannot help but succumb to the pitfalls of that reality.
Gripping, intense, and a lovely ending!
Loved this tender, intense, heartbreaking, and titillating novel. This is the story of two childhood friend that reconnect as teenagers in LA. They both start stripping and quickly get wrapped up into the porn industry the 1980s. Times were good and times were very very bad.
The first half of the book is their story of navigating this industry and the later half is 30 years later when one of them has disappeared.
It was a beautiful ode to complicated friendship and when opportunity to make money and be in tune with their bodies looked glossy like the pages of Hustler. But ultimately the porn industry is controlled by and made for men and they cannot help but succumb to the pitfalls of that reality.
Gripping, intense, and a lovely ending!
June 7, 2026
This is definitely one of those books that stays with you long after you finish it. It is beautifully written while also being brutally explicit about topics that remain controversial and, in many ways, still under-discussed. The novel explores the adult film industry, female friendship, survival, ambition, and the painful process of trying to reinvent your life, and it manages to weave all of these themes together in a deeply compelling way. What affected me most was the relationship between Winnie and Jude. Their friendship says so much not only about womanhood, but about life itself. Watching them begin this journey at such a young age and then eventually find their way back to each other at completely different stages of life felt incredibly emotional. The novel captures how people can leave entire versions of themselves behind in pursuit of survival, success, or reinvention, yet still remain haunted by the people who once knew them best.
I also appreciated how honestly the book portrays betrayal within female friendships. Their relationship is messy, painful, and at times deeply hurtful, but the betrayal never feels one-dimensional. It grows out of survival, comparison, insecurity, and the desperation to succeed in an industry that constantly exploits vulnerability. That complexity is what made the emotional dynamics feel so real and delicate.
Despite dealing with heavy subject matter, the book never felt boring to me. It was consistently thought-provoking and emotionally engaging. I also really enjoyed the author’s other novel, Aesthetica, which similarly explored controversial topics in a sharp and unsettling way. But this book affected me on a much more emotional level. What frustrated me the most, in a good way, was realizing how little the adult film industry seems to have evolved from the 1980s until today. The novel quietly exposes how exploitation simply changes its appearance over time rather than disappearing altogether. There was something genuinely heartbreaking about that realization, and it made the story feel disturbingly relevant.
I also appreciated how honestly the book portrays betrayal within female friendships. Their relationship is messy, painful, and at times deeply hurtful, but the betrayal never feels one-dimensional. It grows out of survival, comparison, insecurity, and the desperation to succeed in an industry that constantly exploits vulnerability. That complexity is what made the emotional dynamics feel so real and delicate.
Despite dealing with heavy subject matter, the book never felt boring to me. It was consistently thought-provoking and emotionally engaging. I also really enjoyed the author’s other novel, Aesthetica, which similarly explored controversial topics in a sharp and unsettling way. But this book affected me on a much more emotional level. What frustrated me the most, in a good way, was realizing how little the adult film industry seems to have evolved from the 1980s until today. The novel quietly exposes how exploitation simply changes its appearance over time rather than disappearing altogether. There was something genuinely heartbreaking about that realization, and it made the story feel disturbingly relevant.
June 11, 2026
This one definitely snuck up on me. Incredible critique on the exploitation and impact the sex industry can have on young women. While this is not a romance book, there is certainly a great love explored. Rowbottom weaves together such an intricate web of sex, drugs, friendship, loss, & lies. What a pleasant surprise to delve into these complex characters and their world. The first half of the book is pretty intense for both Jude & Winnie, fast-paced and really brings you to the 80s backdrop seamlessly. Their POVs masterfully illustrate the feelings/thoughts/actions both employ to cope with their newfound jobs in the sex industry. In the latter half, Winnie has been out of the industry for decades and for just as long—Jude has been missing. Winnie, determined to write a novel following her article, endlessly searches for Jude. What happens when every lead she follows points to another Jane Doe? And how does this journey force Winnie to confront herself in ways she previously refused to? Lovers XXX is not what you might think; yes, it is gritty & precarious in nature, but it is also so nuanced & implores the reader to investigate how they themselves have coped with identity and/or self worth in a patriarchal society that perpetuates the constant sexualization and exploitation of women.
June 24, 2026
2.5 stars, all the makings of a great novel: sex, lesbians, drugs, etc
But came off way more juvenile and flat that I wanted. Truly guilty of pandering to the illiterate gen pop, it constantly told us the feelings rather than showing us the yearning, etc.
But came off way more juvenile and flat that I wanted. Truly guilty of pandering to the illiterate gen pop, it constantly told us the feelings rather than showing us the yearning, etc.
May 30, 2026
Winnie and Jude have been best friends since they met. Both suffering trauma from events of their past, they pledge to look out for each other. When Jude eventually finds Winnie in LA she is working as a dancer in an adult bar. Desperate for money, Jude accepts a job…and soon finds herself taking up the offer to model.
In the 80s this is a pretty standard euphemism for porn work…and before you know it Jude finds herself as part of a close-knit group producing porn. We follow the girls through their experiences, and their self-awareness of their situation serves only to emphasise their vulnerability in this industry. Drugs and abusive situations abound as those involved come to terms with the shifting face of their work.
A standout moment is Winnie’s decision to write about the rape she endured and how those around her failed to protect her. Seen as betraying the group, Winnie’s act has major repercussions. Then Jude appears to go missing.
The book then picks up decades later when Winnie, newly divorced, decides to try and confront her past and find out what happened to Jude once and for all. This timeline felt quite disjointed, but it resolved itself well.
Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication in exchange for my honest review.
In the 80s this is a pretty standard euphemism for porn work…and before you know it Jude finds herself as part of a close-knit group producing porn. We follow the girls through their experiences, and their self-awareness of their situation serves only to emphasise their vulnerability in this industry. Drugs and abusive situations abound as those involved come to terms with the shifting face of their work.
A standout moment is Winnie’s decision to write about the rape she endured and how those around her failed to protect her. Seen as betraying the group, Winnie’s act has major repercussions. Then Jude appears to go missing.
The book then picks up decades later when Winnie, newly divorced, decides to try and confront her past and find out what happened to Jude once and for all. This timeline felt quite disjointed, but it resolved itself well.
Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication in exchange for my honest review.
June 10, 2026
I found this was okay. It follows the lives of two young women as they get caught up in the porn industry. We see their sufferings, addiction, and ultimately how it ruined peoples lives. Hearing how males ran this world in the 80s, making it so toxic and dangerous made me want to slap them in the face.
I wish there was a little more added to the end about how today it’s changed. How women do choose this as a job and run their own businesses. I can see people having a narrative of sex workers and this just solidifying their negative belief?
Overall the story was interesting, it felt fresh, has great details, and represents a really heavy topic. At the start I found myself zoning out a lot, half way the POV switched and the story picked up. I personally didn’t feel drawn to the main characters. Their stories are emotional and heartbreaking, but i didn’t feel that for them (i was sad but on a very impersonal level).
The audio is amazing and narrated so well, but I struggled with this format. Reading might have been better to keep focus? Thankyou NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC.
I wish there was a little more added to the end about how today it’s changed. How women do choose this as a job and run their own businesses. I can see people having a narrative of sex workers and this just solidifying their negative belief?
Overall the story was interesting, it felt fresh, has great details, and represents a really heavy topic. At the start I found myself zoning out a lot, half way the POV switched and the story picked up. I personally didn’t feel drawn to the main characters. Their stories are emotional and heartbreaking, but i didn’t feel that for them (i was sad but on a very impersonal level).
The audio is amazing and narrated so well, but I struggled with this format. Reading might have been better to keep focus? Thankyou NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC.
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