Official Review: Superhooker by Amber Libra

[casper]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Superhooker" by Amber Libra.]

This book is an exposé of the sex industry written from the point of view of five different women who work within it. It is not a story as such as there is no obvious beginning nor much development through the book; it is more a series of snapshot scenes detailing the experiences of five women. The locations vary but many of the occurrences they face are common to them all as they seem to follow the same circuit, working in Iceland, Crete, Denmark, Portugal, and Germany; at times they could be the same person.

The women have chosen this way of life for various reasons; the overriding motive is money, although some also have a desire to be bad or entertain some transitory illusion of power over men. Some of them have debts to repay or children to raise while others use the money to fuel a lifestyle of drugs, alcohol and designer clothes; in rare cases they are saving for a way out.

There are instances of friendship and kindness between the women, but more often there is rivalry, jealousy, bitching and fighting. They appear to be cynical and hard, qualities necessary to survive the life they have chosen, but below the surface there are feelings of fragility and vulnerability. We follow them as they go through the anxiety of waiting for the results of medical tests, the pain of mutilating their bodies and the break up of anything like a normal relationship.

The author creates a surreal twilight world where nothing is quite what it seems and most of the action takes place after dark. It is not always clear who is the hunter and who the prey in this game: the women resemble sirens, outwardly desirable but in reality grotesque, mythical creatures who feed off their clients, despising them and taking their money; while the men have an equally low opinion of the women and enjoy exercising (sometimes illusionary) power over them. At times there is a real sense of danger in some of the situations in which they find themselves.

The language is graphic and crude; Ms Libre certainly has no intention of glamorising or romanticising the industry she describes. By contrast, she paints vivid pictures of the locations, particularly Berlin and the Algarve and she skilfully links the disjointed scenes that make up the chapters by mood, people or places.

I did not find this book particularly inspiring or uplifting and I was left feeling rather depressed by the human state and a world where there is so much waste and lack of respect. I also found it contained a lot of proofreading errors so have rated this two out of four stars.

***
Buy "Superhooker" on Amazon

[Lianna]

I have read Superhooker as it's being offered as a free PDF on another site. I found the reviewer's response interesting as the book's artistic merits have been revealed by causing a fairly extreme response.I would urge readers to note that the perspective of the book and development of the plot would shift dramatically depending on the whether the characters were 5 separate women,or indeed the same person!

[MissK24]

I am not sure if I want to read the book or not.
But thanks for the review!

[casper]

I am glad I read the book, although it was not a comfortable read! I didn't want to say too much about the construction of the book as it reveals itself quite subtly and I wouldn't want to spoil it for other readers.

[Zannie]

I dislike it when there are proof reading errors. I won't be reading this book. Thank you for your review

[sbanks147]

This sounds like an interesting book. I'm not sure I want to read it though, but it sounds very different from most books out there. It's good for authors to take on sensitive and unusual topics that might make others uncomfortable, but have truth in the books, as it can be an education to those who do read it.

[Dphaber]

This sounds like an interesting book. I'm not sure I want to read it though, but it sounds very different from most books out there. It's good for authors to take on sensitive and unusual topics that might make others uncomfortable, but have truth in the books, as it can be an education to those who do read it.

For essentially the same reasons, my interest is piqued... Though if it's that bogged down by proofreading-type errors, I may have to avoid it. Those drive me nuts.

[WShakespeare]

I wouldn't say the overall writing is marred by the odd proofreading error as it seems to bring home the honesty and brutality of the writing and subject matter, knowing that it's based of the writer's experiences as a prostitute and is self-published.

[SarahPapesh]

Is this book fiction? Based on your review, I probably will not be reading it. However, from the perspective of a someone with a social service background, I would be interested in learning about their lifestyle and why they chose that lifestyle, hence asking if it is fiction or not.

[AliB]

The book is classed as fiction yet is based on the writer's experiences in the sex industry.I've read a bio on another site and she's worked as a stripper and a prostitute which is quite interesting seeing as she seems quite educated.

[casper]

I'd classify this book as fiction as I don't think it reads as an autobiography even though it draws on the author's own experience - there is the ambiguity of whether it is one woman's voice or five different women as well as the fact that it doesn't follow a chronological order. I think it is more of a story based around her life rather than her life story.