Introduction
Published in February 2022 as a debut standalone novel by Daisy Buchanan, Insatiable explores sexual empowerment through the lens of social class, making for a thrilling read for those that can handle its darker themes. Buchanan manages to make the themes lighter through the use of humour throughout.
A Summary
Insatiable follows Violet, a young woman whose life feels like it has stalled. She is stuck in a job that drains her, grieving the collapse of her marriage, and carrying the ache of losing her closest friend. When she meets Lottie, a woman who seems to embody everything Violet wishes she could be, she is pulled into a world that feels brighter and richer than her own. Lottie offers her a role at her new company, but the invitation quickly expands into something far more intimate. Violet becomes immersed in the lives of Lottie and her husband Simon, surrounded by wealth, art, and a social circle that feels both glamorous and unsettling. As Violet navigates this new environment, she is confronted with her own desires and insecurities. The story explores how longing can blur into self destruction, and how the search for connection can lead someone into places they never expected. Through Violet’s experiences, the novel examines class, sexuality, loneliness, and the complicated ways women try to rebuild themselves when their lives no longer resemble what they imagined.
Writing Style
Insatiable is a singular POV contemporary novel with fairly long chapters, sometimes lasting up to 40 pages. The writing style has humour overlapped with its lengthy descriptions throughout, especially of the clothes to highlight the difference of class, and the places Violet experiences due to the immersion of a higher social bracket.
My Thoughts
This book was like none other that I have ever read. It managed to portray the differences in which contrasting social classes experience art in the backdrop of sexual indulgence. This unique approach to discussing how the world of art has become a privilege only for the rich was incredibly intriguing for me to read, despite not having much background in that sphere, and it was clearly due to the writing style that Buchanan chose to use. The main character, Violet, is struggling to get by, in a dead-end job with hope that lessens every day. She’s young, naive and desperate, but more than that, she is lonely. Having just ran away from her marriage, you can see this decision haunting her throughout the narrative. At every turn, she is reminded not only of her ex-fiance, but her best friend that she lost because she left - Nadia - and this adds so much depth to her character. It truly feels like Violet has lived an entire life, and you are simply reading a small portion of it.
Now I want to discuss the sexual aspects of this book, which I definitely have mixed feelings about. They were undoubtedly entertaining, and very reflective of the situation Violet was in. For example, occasionally they would end very suddenly, leading to a feeling of whiplash for the reader that mirrors the feeling Violet felt. Those aspects were really well done. However, I think this book struggles to balance feminine sexual empowerment with Violet’s characteristics. For example, how Violet interacts with Max in the earlier parts of the novel is realistic but not a good example to set. She finds Max disgusting and yet still has sex with him on multiple occasions. As the reader we are told that she does enjoy it, but seeing how Violet’s character deals with assault in other instances, we have to ask whether she enjoyed it or whether she claims to enjoy it because she doesn’t know how to accept that she didn’t.
Speaking of how the book handled sexual assault and rape, I think it was unfortunately realistic, but I would have wanted to spend more time with Violet as she worked through that. I definitely think this book had a lull during the middle section and I think a lot of that could have been cut down and replaced with Violet learning to live after her sexual assault and coming to terms with the fact she was raped by Mark. This was one of the book’s largest flaws in my opinion.
The writing was fairly clunky throughout, and there are a lot of aspects I wanted more of - such as the mentions of eating disorders, and the forementioned sexual assault.
Recommendation
I really do recommend this book for someone that wants something different. This isn’t a fast book, but it is a book that engulfs you into the story and makes you think while enjoying the spiciness. Especially for women, this book highlights a lot of things that we can sometimes struggle to put into words and will have you highlighting every page. I will say, this book has so many trigger warnings so here is a non-exclusive list of some that spring to mind as being mentioned:
- Eating Disorders (specifically bulimia)
- Infant Death
- Sexual Assault/Rape
- Emotional Abuse
