Sugar, Baby

Sugar, Baby is Celine Saintclare’s first novel and it is told in first person from Agnes Green’s POV. Agnes is 21 and she is a cleaner with her mother. Her mother is devoutly religious and very judgemental of Agnes. Agnes feels a little insecure as her best friend Jess is at university but she feels like she is going nowhere due to her being a cleaner. Then she meets Emily whilst she is cleaning Emily’s mothers house. Emily is a sugar baby and is living a luxurious life. She gets Agnes in on it and Agnes soon starts enjoying the same lifestyle. But she soon realises the cost that comes with dining older men and faking a lifestyle. This was a very intriguing novel and I requested the arc because I’ve never read a book involving this lifestyle before. It was written well and the story flowed. The beginning was a little slow for me but then the novel soon took off and I couldn’t stop reading it. It was so compelling and fascinating. Agnes gets into some uncomfortable situations but the way the author wrote them was just so good. I had a really great time reading this and I do think it is a must read. The novel raised so many questions which made the reader think and it was such a complex, nuanced novel. The issue of morality was just so well done. I definitely recommend this novel and I can see many people loving it. I am giving this 4.5 stars rounded down to a 4, I did really like it but it was slightly too long for me towards the end. However, after some time I may upgrade this to a 5 as it was so well done. Saintclare has a true talent and I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Sugar, Baby is a fictional (?) look into the world of women who let men bestow money and gifts on them for the pleasure of their company.
The protagonist is brought up by an extremely religious mother and also works with her as a cleaner. It's on a cleaning job that she meets Emily, a spoilt, rich girl who has it all. Emily changes her life by introducing her to the darker side of life revolving around drugs, drinking, and sex.

The characters are believable, Saintclaint writes with dark humour, and it's a recommendable read.

I loved everything about this book!
I highly recommend for everybody who enjoys a good read.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Really enjoyed this - I’d seen a few bookstagram accounts reviewing it and couldn’t wait to get hold of a copy, so really pleased to have had an ARC.

Agnes as a character is flawed and at times unlikeable, but there’s also a relatable innocence to her. I also found it intriguing how her lifestyle seems fun and glamorous to begin with, but as we (and she) learn more, it becomes dirtier and seedier.

Really enjoyed it and would like to read more of Celine’s work.

Really enjoyed this book - Agnes works as a cleaner with her mum Constance who is fiercely religious and very strict - work means she crosses paths with the beautiful Emily and soon Agnes is taken into the world of model Emily and her equally glamorous friends . Agnes is introduced into the life of being a Sugar Baby - older rich mean who want an ‘arrangement in return for an allowance. Agnes loves life - suddenly she has designer clothes bags and an amazing glamorous life barely thinking of her mum and sister she left behind . However when you look behind the surface is this life any better than that of an escort or prostitute - a thought proving read very apt in todays society where young girls look up to the glamorous life and all the luxuries that go with it

Beautiful writing, fully fleshed out realistic characters, and darkly funny. I really enjoyed this! Also, stunning cover!! Obsessed.

That dreamy cover! It’s superb, and it’s a case of when judging a book by its cover that turns out to be absolutely the correct call. I’ll be looking out for more writing from Saintclaire. This is an intimate deep-dive into the sugaring lifestyle. Every time I thought things might be a little gilded for effect, the characterisation brought me back to full investment in Agnes’s trajectory. It comes across as so real. Let’s just say I’m considering ordering a lavender and pumpkin spice perfume and I’m now following Helmut Newton fan accounts on socials.

Agnes, every move monitored by her strict religious mother, is recruited into the life of "sugaring" - essentially, high-class sex work - by the woman whose house she cleans.

I thought Sugar, Baby was well written and I flew through it. I have to admit, I was waiting and hoping for something meatier in terms of plot, but it turned out this isn't that kind of book. It's more about Agnes's emotional journey in finding her independence and figuring out her place in the world. I enjoyed it!

#SugarBaby #NetGalley

With a dark humour and at times even darker plot, book, this was such a fun read. The characters felt really raw and real and I loved how the plot makes you question a lot of things mainly: how much is money worth to you? and how long can you fake a lifestyle? A really thought provoking read I can see becoming a big hit.

This was a rollarcoaster of a read about today's trials and tribulations of womanhood and sisterhood, Christian guilt, mother daughter relationships, internalised misogyny and forgiveness. I particularly enjoyed Agnes' internal thoughts about her mother and her relationship with God, and watching her self perception change. This is a novel of self discovery in a society that offers women few paths to find it, and offers insight into how women can support each other to get there. Celine Saintclare is an author to watch out for, and I will be reading her again!

"Sugar, Baby" was such an engaging and complex read! In her novel, Celine Saintclare explores topics that require masterful observation skills and sharpness. There are complicated mother-daughter relationship's intersections with faith, race and poverty.

And there is sex work, capitalising on one's beauty and youth, but also desire for sex itself. Agnes' introduction to the world of sugar babying is quite an interesting one, as it seems like she's more of a passion project for one of her mother's cleaning client, which also introduces an interesting dynamic. For model/sugar baby Emily, who came from money, sex work is more of a pass-time, for Agnes sex work will become her sole source of income.

For Agnes, who has the experience of being othered by her peers, treated as a third wheel, being a sugar baby gives a sense of power and also a glow-up. Separated from her mother and trying to navigate her new lifestyle, she experiences the moments of triumph but also major setbacks. There are a lot of grey areas to explore, including potentially traumatic events that the protagonist is not able to process when they're unfolding.

What I found especially interesting, was the narrative choice of first-person perspective that was executed well, according to Agnes' age. Even though she's observing certain dynamics and events (like Yomawu's behaviour during an eventful night out), she's not capable to make a meaning of what she's seeing. That is being left for the reader to figure out and interpret.

Overall, I found "Sugar, Baby" an interesting exploration of sex work, that wasn't neither glamourising, nor daunting this experience.

Sugar Baby is the new and refreshing book from Celine Saintclare and a must read!

We meet Agnes who is working with her Mum cleaning houses when she spots their clients daughter Emily an Instagram party girl. Emily decides to take innocent Agnes under her wing as a new 'sugar baby' - meaning she gets paid to dine and party with rich older men.

The book feels very real and relevant, also very believable as I have seen with my own eyes these clubs, girls, men and parties described in the book.

I loved how fresh, exciting, different and powerful the story was, and even though it was shocking in parts this built up the realness of it for me. The writing, flow and style were also on point and I devoured the book quickly!

I have already recommended this book to many of my friends and will continue to do so. A great summer read for this year.

*4.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Atlantic Books, Corvus for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Sugar, Baby is out on 27 july 2023 and I highly recommend this as a summer read.

This book follows Agnes Green, a twenty-one year old cleaner who gets thrown into the seemingly glamorous world of sugar babying. If you don't know what that is: it's when men pay attractive women to be attractive around them, essentially. Agnes and her new roommates go out for fancy dinners and expense shopping trips, accompanied by men who pay for their every wish. We follow Agnes from London to Paris, to Miami, to Rome, as she developes her Femme Fatale alter ego.

Getting everything you want for free (an endless collection of books, anyone?) in exchange for pretending to be interested in men sounds pretty great to me (just to be clear: I am as of yet not available as a sugar baby in exchange for free books). Sugar, baby succeeds perfectly in combining the whitty and glamorous aspects of Agnes' new job with the darker aspects of being a sugar baby. As the story progresses, more and more cracks start to appear, and I found myself worrying more and more for Agnes and her safety. This book walks a delicate line between advocating for women's rights to do whatever they want with their bodies (including selling them), and highlighting the dangers this can put them in at the same time. My only point of critique is about the ending, which is a bit abrupt. I would have liked to have a little bit more of a glimpse into Agnes' future.

Jumping into the world of sugar babies this boo really drew me in as I rooted for the main character because her circumstances were so different than the other girls. Having nothing to fall back on and trying to make her way in the world this has me flipping the pages until late in the evening.

This book is so good, I couldn't put it down!

Main character and narrator Agnes Green is 21, living with her strongly religious mother in a poor area she refers to as the Wasteland and working as a cleaner. Agnes feels like her life's going nowhere. Then she meets Emily who introduces her to the Sugar Baby lifestyle of gifts, expensive meals and monthly allowances all paid for by men.

I found this book to be so fun and interesting. I've not read anything about sugar babies before and it seemed like such a glamorous lifestyle on the surface! Designer clothes and gifts, fancy meals and nights out and all you have to do is look pretty and have a flirty lunch with a man for it.

Except it goes a lot deeper than that. This book shows Agnes's struggle to match this life up with her strong religious upbringing, and when the boundaries between "sugaring" and straight up prostitution become blurred, how far is she willing to go!

I loved Agnes, and all the characters in the book. It has such an interesting cast. It is glamorous, sexy and fun and I was totally addicted to it!

Out in July, thank you @atlanticbooks for the eCopy to review 💖

Reading this novel and then learning that it is 400 pages was mind-blowing - I devoured this whole book in one sitting believing it to be around 300 pages.

I ADORED this. Reading this book felt like eating chocolate - delicious. When I say I devoured I'm not joking around. The prose was beautiful and so was the writing flowing so easily I could not put the book down for a second.

The premise doesn't do this book the justice it deserves - so many topics covered in this ranging from hypersexualization, religious trauma, morality and sex work, female sexuality, relations formed between sex workers, relations with men and how they can be affected by women's father figure (or lack of), the way sex work affects how sex workers view relationships, and the way that line of work can affect self esteem.
We also get commentary on women and their obsession with beauty and staying youthful.


Truth be told I cannot blame the description of this book for lacking when it came to actually displaying the contents of this book. So many issues covered and so masterfully,it would make for an extremely long synopsis.

The female characters which were keypart of this book were written excellently. All of them displayed different ways sex work had affected them, along with what drove them to it. Each with different backgrounds, personalities and hell even races yet all bound together by sharing an apartment and working as sugar babies.

The dangers of this line of work,the spiraling that led into it along with the suffering it caused to the MC were all so on - point so shocking to see I was simply in awe.

The ending was perfection for this kind of book. I'm not gonna spoiler it but it fitted with the way the rest of the book was written like a perfect puzzle piece.

This book left me raw and contemplating both sexuality and religion at 3 am in the morning. There aren't enough stars I can offer it, it's simply a must read.

If ever there was a guilty pleasure blockbuster it’s ‘Sugar, Baby’

Extremely readable, sexy and just right for a sun lounger with a cocktail in hand. Enjoyed it immensely.

Many thanks for everyone concerned for allowing me to read and review this terrific book.

Firstly thank you to Atlantic Books for providing me with this arc!

I loved this book! I devoured it so quickly and I did not think it would be such a quick read for me! The characters in this story were so exciting and although none of their morals or views ever lined up, their shared camaraderie was something to admire.

Our main character Agnes struggled with her lust for life compared to her religious upbringing. It was so interesting to see the different points where she would feel her religious shame. She just wanted to get through life and doesn't have a plan so falling into the sugar baby world seemed to force her to kind of grow up and figure out what she truly wants. The contrast with Emily grasping onto the sugar baby lifestyle while she is still young and in her prime was so interesting to see because she had her plan to end up 'married and cheating with her tennis instructor' but was not looking forward to it. She judged Agnes for not having a plan but her plan wasn't something she wanted.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and loved the concept as well. I thought I would hate the modern references throughout (including TikTok!) but I feel like it enhanced the story and showed that this could and does happen all the time.