Reading Ungirls

In the near future, lab-grown sex dolls are the pleasure toy of choice in this disturbing and provocative short story from Lauren Beukes, the bestselling author of The Shining Girls.

Actor and sex worker Nats is experienced at putting on a show. However, her new gig supplying intimate whispers for growgirls takes her to a place darker and lonelier than she could have ever imagined. The lab-grown dolls can respond to pleasure or pain; their synthetic heads contain only the simplest AI to prevent any pesky robo sex doll uprisings. But just because growgirls don’t have a brain, doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice…

Ungirls is part of Disorder , a collection of six short stories of living nightmares, chilling visions, and uncanny imagination that explore a world losing its balance in terrifying ways. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single disorienting sitting.

About the Author

Lauren Beukes is the bestselling author of The Shining Girls , Broken Monsters , Moxyland , and Zoo City. She is also a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker, former journalist, and cocreator of the horror comic Survivors’ Club. Her work is published in twenty-four countries and has received multiple awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Zoo City , and the August Derleth Award, the Strand Critics Choice Award, and the University of Johannesburg Prize for The Shining Girls.