Shy Girl

Ballard’s lackluster sophomore outing (after Sugar) is a gory and intense attempt at feminist horror that doesn’t have much new to say. Protagonist Gia, fired from her accounting job, estranged from her alcoholic father, and apparently with only one friend in the world, college bestie Kennedy, is desperate for cash and signs up for a sugar baby app. She meets Nathan, who appears to be a relatively normal, moderately good-looking, middle-aged man, and agrees to a meeting. Unfortunately, Nathan’s appearance is deceptive: his very specific tastes lean toward degrading pet play, and his hidden violent streak emerges the first time Gia tries to say no to him. The resulting plot reads as a simplified blend of Emma Donoghue’s Room and Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch, presenting the horror of Gia’s lost autonomy without any particularly insightful or complex commentary. The vivid, visceral descriptions of escalating violence are hard to look away from, but readers will long for more depth. (Apr.)