Interesting read, my first book from this author. This story flips between past and present tense. A woman fighting her traumatic past. Fast paced page turner. Did not disappoint

This is different and that is good. It tells a story which is worth the hearing but it also offers some amazing characters and a writing style which is somehow modern and vintage at the same time. The style takes you into the mind of the protagonist in a way which conventional, descriptive prose may not. I really liked it.

Thanks to Netgallery and Maggie Moor for this ARC.

This was a great read giving us look back at 1999-2001 through the MC's POV, it was interesting and engaging but the writing in part confused me so rated it as I did but still did like it.

📚Skinless
✍🏻Maggie Moor
Blurb:
Street poetry. Beauty. Danger. Survival.

Lower East Side, NYC, 1999–2001. Fresh from teenage homelessness and abuse, Charmay—velvet‑voiced, street‑tough—sings to find the self she lost. Struggling to survive the PTSD she calls “Skinless”—and alcohol’s grip—she invents a glittering alter ego, Cindy, an elegant, high‑earning magnet for power and manipulators.

Past and present blur as she slips through the city’s underground; three forces a mercurial producer she chases, a hustler‑lover she needs to trust, and a Wall Street financier who bets on Cindy, not Charmay—each claws her raw, pulling her toward a different self. Family ties—and a father’s silence—pull her toward Cindy; the music pushes her to face Skinless. Pressure builds—hustles collide—masks switch places, tangling her in a web of deceit, control, and longing for intimacy. Cindy makes a play. Beats. Bullets. Bedsheets.

When the curtain falls, her choice is wear the mask that kept her alive—or sing in her honest voice and walk into the unknown.

Told in Charmay’s raw first‑person voice, Skinless is razor‑taut literary psychological suspense—a portrait of a woman fighting to heal. For readers of The Bell Jar, Just Kids, and literary noir.
My Thoughts:
This book is a hidden gem, apparently a debut work from author Maggie Moor. A story of a young woman Charmay who is raised in a dysfunctional family and sexual abuse from her drunken stepfather which left her jaded with very cynical view of men. This is a narrative in the first person of how she survived raising herself up from the streets of San Franciso and New York City, maneuvering a relationship triangle between her husband who is the local weed kingpin.The author takes you deep into the thought process of the main protagonist, who is sharp witted, resourceful, and dangerous. She can feign sweetness
to obtain what she wants from a man but has the ability to spit venom that can emasculate one in the bat of an eyelash. She goes deep into the character's family background, her opinion of her world, her surrounding extensive knowledge on various subjects from street survival, film and music production, to the art of studying gems. Goes into such deep description of characters and events that you can almost taste it. I would recommend this book to those that enjoy psychological suspense then add this to your TBR List.
Thanks NetGalley, Pearl of Peace Publishing and Author Maggie Moor for the complimentary copy of "Skinless" I am living my voluntary review in appreciation.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Skinless is a visceral, unflinching psychological novel that refuses to sugarcoat pain but also refuses to let trauma be the final word. Maggie Moor’s writing grips you from the first line with a raw, street-poetry voice that maps trauma, survival, identity, and longing. Charmay/Cindy’s dual existence, which oscillates between vulnerability and a survival mask, is the heart of the book: a testament to the brutal costs of survival and the stubborn hope for authenticity.

This is not a comfortable read, but it is a powerful one. It demands empathy, endurance, and courage from the reader. For those willing to engage with discomfort, Skinless offers a deeply human, emotionally honest story of survival, survival’s shadows, and the possibility of reclaiming one’s voice. I recommend it to readers of literary noir, psychological suspense, and character-driven, emotionally raw fiction.