Agnes is our incredibly naive main character who feels stuck in a stifling religious life with her mother and sister in a drab London suburb. Her dream to become a fashion photographer is going nowhere and she feels her friends don't understand her or share her ambition.
On a cleaning job alongside her mother, she meets the captivating and glamourous Emily and gets seduced into the seedy world of 'sugaring', even with the unsavoury aspects.
I thought the writing and the pacing were good, I was never bored, but ultimately, I think this novel doesn't go far enough into the impact of this kind of lifestyle has, especially on a vulnerable person like Agnes. After finishing this book I felt incredibly sad, but not as incensed as I had expected to given the subject matter.
3.5 stars

I adored this cover so just had to pick it up and it did not disappoint!!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

3.75 stars
Despite this starting off quite slow and it taking me longer than it would usually to get into it, I was ultimately glad that I persevered.
It eventually had an almost addictive quality to it, which made me want to read more and more.
At times it was maybe a bit simplistic, especially when given the subject matter but I liked the insight that it gave.
I also appreciated that it didn't quite glamourise the sugar baby lifestyle either, which was what I was expecting it to do.
Definitely one to pick up if you're looking for something a bit different.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book could so easily be an autobiography for someone in this day and age. The insight into the life of someone wanting a better life is quite believable. The characters are well done although not always likeable! Enjoyable read.

A more fun and light hearted read than I was expecting. I really wanted this to go more in depth on the life as a sex worker, and religious and race elements to it as well as more -- and it never quite expanded on surface level. Still, a decent enough read to pass the time!

I really enjoyed reading this book, I thought it was a fun read but there were definitely some pacing issues at some points. I think certain sections in the book definitely didn’t advance the plot that much e.g. when the main character took a trip with the married couple - that whole section wasn’t needed.

"Sugar, Baby" by Celine Saintclare is an alluring romance that intertwines passion and societal critique. With rich character dynamics, Saintclare crafts a narrative exploring love's complexities and societal expectations. The novel's steamy romance and sharp insights make it an engaging read that transcends the traditional romance genre.

Agnes Green is 21 years old and believes herself to be stuck in the downtrodden town she lives in with her religious mother and younger sister, cleaning houses for a living. When the daughter of a client, Emily, takes an interest in Agnes and introduces her to the world of 'Sugar Babies', Agnes moves to London and begins a glamorous lifestyle beyond her wildest imaginations.

This was a really enjoyable read that I flew through in under 2 days. Agnes as a main character is refreshing and someone you want to see get the best in life - we follow her as she deals with the religious trauma she feels growing up under a 'fire and brimstone' religious mother, and a childhood that equated sex and sensuality with hell. During Sugar, Baby, Agnes steps into her role as a beautiful woman and for the first time in her life, takes back the power she always felt beyond her grasp and owns herself as a woman who can make men fall to her knees - and while she still struggles, she stops being so ashamed of her sexuality and her enjoyment of carnal pleasure.

It seemed absurd not to make the most of its potential for pleasure when the pain came guaranteed

Agnes is also a woman of colour, and we see her experience is a bit different to that of her sugar baby friends, not only due to her skin colour but also her working class background - she doesn't have a rich family she can fall back on, and can't take off to family holiday homes when it all gets too much. It's not just a bit of fun to Agnes, but the only means she has to make a living.

I also enjoyed that while some alarming things did happen to Agnes, nothing happened that really hurt her or was against her own wishes (there could be a discussion about this in terms of Gloria's money/the Miami party but I think we still see Agnes 'in control' of the sexual interactions she had during that. Not to say that, as Agnes says herself, there might be delayed trauma response to it all). We see Agnes play at her Sugar Baby lifestyle, really give it a go, have a good fun with it as she says to Jess, and then decide if she wants to keep at it.

This book is fresh, sexy and fun with a touch of risque and glamour that makes it different and enjoyable.

Okay, this was intoxicating. The writing is gorgeous and the narrative flows so easily, despite being over 400 pages it never felt too long or difficult to get through. A novel bursting with fun and vivacity and abundant with poignant moments. More in depth to come, but it was truly a joy to read. (Also the only thing I’ve been able to ingest during this slump) - such a sparkling debut and I can’t wait to see what they write next!! A strong 4.5 for me.

So grateful to Atlantic Books for letting me access an advance copy in exchange for an honest review :)

i found this a very simplistic and superficial exploration of sex work. i thought many aspects were lazy and predictable, from the mc's past and supposed personality to the side characters

Thanks so much to netgalley & the publishers for providing me with an advance copy of this book!

After all the hype around Sugar, Baby online, I was super excited to get around to reading it but it sadly didn’t meet my expectations. I ended up eating this a 2.75 - which I think I’m in the minority with!!

This book felt extremely false and very affected to me. We follow Agnes, a young Black woman who works with her deeply religious mother, who is a cleaner. She meets Emily, the daughter of one of her cleaning clients, who uses her as a kind of project to test out her new theories on. She’s writing a book - essentially a ‘how to get men to adore you’ guide - and wants to introduce agnes to the world of sugaring and see just how easily a total outsider from an entirely different walk of life can assimilate into this world.

Sounds great, right? However, this project seems to be entirely ditched after its first mention. Agnes just enters this highly fashionable, idealised life and there’s no real buildup to her involvement. She embodies the persona of the vixen, whilst Emily is more of a princess character - these are, imo, really reductive and a bit of a cliched view of sex workers and sugar babies. It seemed to me that all the labels, all the traditional things we might expect, existed at large within this book. And it’s a shame because it had the potential to really look at this with a critical and resonant eye, but it didn’t. There’s the entire religious background Agnes comes from, which, whilst it kind of takes centre stage, never really comes to fruition - it crops up when convenient to show that Agnes doesn’t just fall into this life with ease, but there’s no real reflection of crisis of faith which we would expect, and would’ve given this more depth. Don’t get me started on the st agnes story at the end, which really seemed just too convenient to tie up the book.

There’s a sub plot where Agnes creates an instagram account to anonymously document the sugaring lifestyle - this seemed pulled from a pinterest ‘coquette’ board, but I liked the idea enough. All we heard was ‘there were a few posts, then it all went bad’ essentially. It would’ve been so interesting to hear the how and why of this, the affects documenting sugaring had on agnes and maybe how it contributed to her love of photography - or does her dream to be a photographer only fall in conveniently when Agnes needs something to do in the novel.

All in, the story became far too convoluted and unrealistic for me to follow - I think even being swept up in the glamour of this lifestyle, the trip Agnes makes with Sergei and his wife is insanely unrealistic and too all-absorbing. Why does she seem to have zero contact with the outside world during this time? She speaks to none of the girls she’s grown so fond of in London. It’s just unrealistic and didn’t reasonable with me on the whole as a novel, unfortunately.

This book started off quite slow but when it picked up speed it got interesting really quick. It was entertaining, funny and thought provoking. I really liked it. :)

Agnes Green is 21 years old and still lives at home in London with her sister Marlena and their very religious mother, Constance. Sick of Constance's rules and her relationships going down the toilet, Agnes dreams up other truths to entertain herself while cleaning houses for rich clients. When Emily, the glamorous daughter of one of Agnes' clients, approaches Agnes with a proposition, Agnes is intrigued. Torn between her religious upbringing and her desire to be a sexually liberated young woman (and just making a few quid), Agnes enters a world where women are a commodity - by choice. But is it as glamorous as it first appears? And what happens if Constance finds out?

I really enjoyed this book. I thought Agnes was a fantastic main character, and I found her internal struggle with religious guilt really poignant and probably something a lot of people who grew up with a religious childhood could identify with.

Whatever your opinion on Sugar Babies (In 2019, it was reported in Image magazine that there were almost 100,000 women registered as Sugar Babies on a well known site in Ireland - as opposed to under 30,000 men) there's no doubt that there's a very seedy side to it. I was really glad that this book didn't go the way I thought it would - I didn't want to read another book about a woman being harmed. Instead, we have a tale of a headstrong, independent young woman trying to make peace with her past, her belief system, her working class roots and her moral compass. Loved it (even if it did take a slightly weird turn at one point). It was fun, sassy, and modern.

Thanks so much to Atlantic Books for the ARC via Netgalley.

At first I found this book intriguing - the concept seemed like exactly the kind of story I would enjoy. And I did enjoy the main character's sudden entry into the world of being a sugar baby, it was fascinating to see her go from one world into another. But everything was paced so slowly that I began to lose interest. There's only so much time I can spend following her career change before I start wanting more to happen in the story.

This is the book equivalent of a Lana Del Rey album.

Agnes lives with her super religious mother and must follow by her rules. One day whilst working as a cleaner she strikes up a friendship with Emily, who introduces her into the world of dating rich men for money.

Sugar, Baby is fast paced and intoxicating - you become transfixed by Agnes and her exploits very quickly, It takes you from the Mayfair club scene to the poolside in Miami, as you watch her life spiral out of control.

It’s a dark and heady read - and the somewhat abrupt ending will leave you wanting more.

I loved the themes within the book, especially the exploration of sex work. It was messy and Agnes was certainly at times challenging but overall, I really enjoyed it!

This debut is a novel about the sugar baby phenomenon, but with a twist: A young Black woman with a religious immigrant mother drops out of school, works as a cleaner and accidentally befriends a rich clique of models / sugar babies.

I picked it up on a whim, because the cover was gorgeous. But there’s substance to back up the aesthetics that I truly didn’t anticipate.

I loved the female characters and how we explored their differences and reasons for entering the sugar baby life. It’s luxurious, spicy, wild and a delicious read to get lost in!

Sugar, Baby follows Agnes and her introduction to the world of sex work through being a sugar baby to rich men. it was an interesting exploration of religious guilt, morality, free will and exploitation.

I really enjoyed this book. A dark, mesmerising look at the glamour and decadence, but also the danger of the sugar baby lifestyle and sex work industry. The cover was absolutely gorgeous, which drew me straight to it - but the aesthetic was certainly matched by a weight and depth I hadn't quite anticipated. The topics covered - religious trauma, hypersexualisation, female sexuality, desire - and specifically the persecution of female desire - sex work and morality, the way sex work affects relationships... all of it nuanced, engaging, and thoughtfully handled. This book gave me a lot to think about - it's definitely stuck with me!

Celine Saintclare has had a fantastic idea for a plot here - a headstrong, sexy protagonist in the form of Agnes, a slew of hot models, and men with more money than sense. I was expecting raunchy, glamourous tales as Agnes quit her job as a cleaning lady, reassessed her relationship with her extremely devout mother, and worked her way up in the sugaring world.

Unfortunately, I don't think this book landed as a whole. The pacing didn't flow for me; the first few chapters were a bit of nothingness and quite a few of the characters barely contributed to the overall plot.
I was hoping for more intimacy and behind the scenes looks at the world of sugaring, but I was left feeling as if a lot of loose ends had been left to dangle.

Overall, I felt that this copy felt quite early-stage in its editing process; with a bit more reworking and punch I felt like it could've been magical! I was hoping for much more of a sexy, Sex In the City vibe.