What do you think?
Rate this book
Insatiable: The Rise of a Porn Star
In a rare glimpse at the real life of a porn star, Heather Hunter shares a fictional account inspired by her own emergence in the adult film industry with the story of Simone Young. Simone is dying to become a star but her mother thinks if she's old enough to stay out all night partying, then she's old enough to get a real job. And that is exactly what Simone does, only she finds work in a world that changes her life forever. When Simone's best friend Carmen introduces her to the game of sex work, she embarks on a path she could have never imagined. Heather Hunter's Insatiable is sizzling hot erotica and a fascinating look at the life of a porn star.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
7 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 30, 2022
I didn't know this was a novel, thinking it was a memoir of porn star "Heather Hunter." Her name is in huge letters on the book cover, a fully nude lay-out of her photo stretches from the back to front covers, it is subtitled "The Rise of a Porn Star," and there are about 30 full-page photos of her inside the book (some R-rated). But the book isn't about her. It's fiction. Weird.
I should have zoomed into the cover more carefully when I bought it online. In small letters it says, "A novel," so I can't blame the publisher, "author" or co-writer exactly. But it's deceptive--they are trying to make the reader feel like this is Heather's life story but fictionalized. It doesn't work. There are some trashy moments but it's not worth reading and even the pictures are pretty lame. I tossed this in the trash. If you're looking for something real dealing with the life of a porn star you'll remain insatiable.
I should have zoomed into the cover more carefully when I bought it online. In small letters it says, "A novel," so I can't blame the publisher, "author" or co-writer exactly. But it's deceptive--they are trying to make the reader feel like this is Heather's life story but fictionalized. It doesn't work. There are some trashy moments but it's not worth reading and even the pictures are pretty lame. I tossed this in the trash. If you're looking for something real dealing with the life of a porn star you'll remain insatiable.
March 20, 2011
The bargain bin at betterworldbooks.com can be both a pain in the neck and a wonderful place to visit all at the same time. You see, it's great for finding hidden treasures but then there's so much to choose from that I can spend hours browsing through them. In turn, that leads to fatigue and fatigued I was when I choose 'Insatiable' as one of my '5 for $15'. I was so fatigued that I didn't realize this was a novel and I thought I was buying a biography. In a way I was getting a biography though as this novel is a mixture of life experiences mixed with fiction; the type of book where the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
The story follows the rise to fame in the adult industry of Simone Young (the fictional Heather Hunter if you will) and the path she took to get there. Simone starts out as a naive young woman with strong sexual desires and through the lure of money begins to act upon those sexual desires. At first the sex for money is in the form of prostitution, albeit more high class prostitution, and she progresses from there into exploring her own sexuality, becoming a stripper and on into adult movies. Even though she starts her journey by prostituting it was very much glamorized and that glamorization is evident throughout the book to the point that the story lacks realism. Even if the events portrayed actually occurred I doubt they were all the wonderful experiences that they're depicted to be.
One of the aspects of the writing which I disliked was the constant descriptions of the female vagina being narrated as anything other than a vagina. They were numerous from beginning to end. I mean, really, when in the real world do women refer to their vagina as their "treasure chest", "forbidden fruit" or "kitty-kat"? And the descriptive masterpieces kept on coming. Yeah, intended joke. How about this description of a guy's penis, "It was thick and long and perfectly tanned, as if it had been strategically placed on an Italian beach at high noon." Or how about his "licorice candy", "meaty pistol" or "hard torpdeo"? It was all too much for me and instead of the sexual scenes being arousing, as I'm sure they were intended to be, I was taken out the book by the descriptions.
The sexual scenes in the book are often very graphic which is in contrast to the pictures that grace each chapter of the book. Bar one picture, each chapter begins with a full paged photograph of Heather Hunter. Oddly, they're all very much PG rated which seemed strange considering it's very graphic in the literary content and Ms Hunter has made her fame as a porn star. My only interpretation of this would be that the publishers decided that a nude, or in action, Heather Hunter might turn off a female audience and so decided to keep things tasteful. It's in this assumption, as well as the glamorization of the writing, that I'm left somewhat confused as to who the projected audience is for this book. Being a female porn star you would think men would have primary interest in Heather Hunter but the writing is definitely written from, and aimed at, a female perspective. It appears then that both male and female audiences were being targeted but with more of an emphasis on making the story appealing to the women and the lure of Heather Hunter being used as the bait to reel in the men. Guess I solved my own confusion.
Overall, this isn't a bad novel. It was a novel that just wasn't really for me. Michelle Valentine is a good writer whose style romanticizes the rise of Simone to that of a porn star. I would have preferred the novel to have been more gritty and realistic but ultimately I guess I was just one of those fish caught in Heather Hunter's fish net lured there by an eye catching book cover.
The story follows the rise to fame in the adult industry of Simone Young (the fictional Heather Hunter if you will) and the path she took to get there. Simone starts out as a naive young woman with strong sexual desires and through the lure of money begins to act upon those sexual desires. At first the sex for money is in the form of prostitution, albeit more high class prostitution, and she progresses from there into exploring her own sexuality, becoming a stripper and on into adult movies. Even though she starts her journey by prostituting it was very much glamorized and that glamorization is evident throughout the book to the point that the story lacks realism. Even if the events portrayed actually occurred I doubt they were all the wonderful experiences that they're depicted to be.
One of the aspects of the writing which I disliked was the constant descriptions of the female vagina being narrated as anything other than a vagina. They were numerous from beginning to end. I mean, really, when in the real world do women refer to their vagina as their "treasure chest", "forbidden fruit" or "kitty-kat"? And the descriptive masterpieces kept on coming. Yeah, intended joke. How about this description of a guy's penis, "It was thick and long and perfectly tanned, as if it had been strategically placed on an Italian beach at high noon." Or how about his "licorice candy", "meaty pistol" or "hard torpdeo"? It was all too much for me and instead of the sexual scenes being arousing, as I'm sure they were intended to be, I was taken out the book by the descriptions.
The sexual scenes in the book are often very graphic which is in contrast to the pictures that grace each chapter of the book. Bar one picture, each chapter begins with a full paged photograph of Heather Hunter. Oddly, they're all very much PG rated which seemed strange considering it's very graphic in the literary content and Ms Hunter has made her fame as a porn star. My only interpretation of this would be that the publishers decided that a nude, or in action, Heather Hunter might turn off a female audience and so decided to keep things tasteful. It's in this assumption, as well as the glamorization of the writing, that I'm left somewhat confused as to who the projected audience is for this book. Being a female porn star you would think men would have primary interest in Heather Hunter but the writing is definitely written from, and aimed at, a female perspective. It appears then that both male and female audiences were being targeted but with more of an emphasis on making the story appealing to the women and the lure of Heather Hunter being used as the bait to reel in the men. Guess I solved my own confusion.
Overall, this isn't a bad novel. It was a novel that just wasn't really for me. Michelle Valentine is a good writer whose style romanticizes the rise of Simone to that of a porn star. I would have preferred the novel to have been more gritty and realistic but ultimately I guess I was just one of those fish caught in Heather Hunter's fish net lured there by an eye catching book cover.
April 24, 2011
Insatiable is a well-crafted story. I enjoyed it. I liked how Simone liked the sex. I always thought that porn stars were just doing a job and not really enjoying the sex, but it was good to see her getting her pleasure and her paper. All of that was carefully balanced with the dehumanization that can result from sex work and the misguided and erroneous assumptions that women who enjoy sex are up for it at any time with anyone. I was surprised that the character was not assaulted more times than she was. I appreciated how she decided it was time to leave the industry, but I was unhappy with the ending. It suggests women with sexual agency (including but not limited to porn stars) are destined to be unloved at best and violently assaulted at worst because they sold their souls for money. They cannot be redeemed until they repent. Of course, it would be irresponsible for the story to not have consequences because random risky sex does have consequences, but ideally I would have liked to see the character actually achieve her dreams and find her love. I want my fiction in particular to show me that there’s life after heartache.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2010
It was...okay :(. She tried but If I worked at McDonalds...9 times out of 10 all I would talk about are burgers and fries. With that said, the entire book was nothing but a porno movie put into words. I think it was supposed to be about her life but it didnt confirm that. If so, she had a very "lucky" life as things just seemed to "fall into place" for her. If you need a little raunchy drama in your life, cheat on your mate(haha), if you are bored and want to hear about sex...read this book.
July 29, 2011
Finished, and one thing for sure, this woman thought highly of herself but did not act that like she respected herself in the book. She's NOT that pretty, so i don't get why she's writing about people thinkng she's so attractive!?? Also because she is so widely known I was embarrassed to read the book on the subway, cause at the beginning of every chapter there's a half naked pic of her! LOL! Anyway, so much sex in this book after a while u get bored.
Read
June 16, 2010I started this book last night and since i got up early with the hubby i'm going to read myself back to sleep. I always thought it would be nice to know what would make some of these women go into pornography and so far Heather Hunter aka Simone has been really honest. I'll try to keep you updated
March 27, 2016
A page turning quick read, I had to know what was going to happen next
Currently reading
July 31, 2008Just started reading about the girl from da Bronx, New York...I shall return.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews