The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time

by Eli Yaakunah

Journalist Ishtar Benten is promoted to the most secret department of the News Agency that monopolizes information. Soon afterwards, her erotic-coffee colleague disappears mysteriously, and she starts a very dangerous investigation to find him.

How would you act when Love conflicts with Truth? Which is the sexiest of all possible worlds? "The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time" is a dystopian adventure like those of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Anthony Burgess, and Philip K Dick. At the same time, it is a captivating and emotionally charged novel, and it offers readers high doses of passion, suspense, and mystery. It has been given "The Kirkus Star," a distinction that is "Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit," and has been listed among the "Best Books of 2013" by Kirkus Reviews.

The book is recommended for ages 16+. It contains unconventional descriptions of explicit sex, but it is not an adult-only novel.
Check out the author's blog: denouncecensorship.blogspot.com

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2012

Reviews

[Sarah Brillinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is certainly unlike any book I have ever read as Erotica is not in my usual reading pile but this book is more complex than simple Erotica. It's a futuristic, dystopian world where everything is controlled by a select few and Ishtar, the central character, makes it into the inner circle and learns many disturbing truths.

She is a writer for a department called "Written Chronicles" where she writes current events with an erotic twist as love and sex are her speciality. Her descriptions of sex are certainly unconventional and she has a twist for imaging what each person she meets would be like to make love to.

The descriptions of people as she meets them are not what you would expect. As an example these are the thoughts she has as she meets new colleagues;

"This is Artemis Lahar, a maternal chestnut, though somewhat masculine, slightly hunchbacked, and in her fifties, I guess. I see her turned into a scarecrow and the angelic face of a straw doll. She rages and whips me with a bundle spikes, then ties me to a woolen weba and penetrates me with an ear of corn."

"This busty blonde with cheerful eyes and way medium-length hair, who welcomes me bouncing, as if she were recovering her best friend after a long separation, is Enki Neith. She must be entering her thirties, although her skin and spirit seem ten years younger. I imagine her as a goat with a fish tail, breast-feeding me with sour milk full of oxygen bubbles so that I can breathe while she drags me inside the sea. There she drives her head into my naked pubis, transforms her lips into a sucker, and engages my vulva like a tapeworm."

A little surprising at first, but I quickly adapted to the tone and her way of thinking. It makes sense as she is hired for her ability to write about love and sex.

Ishtar finds herself suddenly promoted to "scriptwriter" which brings her to a level where they fancy themselves "Gods". She faces an internal struggle with her conscience to continue living in the lap of luxury with her one true love, or to reveal the truth to those left hear it.

Not a story for those who are easily offended but certainly an exciting story that leaves you wanting more.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Rara avis.-

Género. Ciencia-Ficción.

Lo que nos cuenta. En la Nueva York del futuro, Isthar Benthen, de 28 años, ve el mundo y su entorno desde una perspectiva totalmente ajustada al concepto babilónico de la deidad cuyo nombre comparte. Trabaja en la Agencia, en la sección de Trasfondo Sexual del Departamento de Crónica Escrita, pero es ascendida de forma imprevista y pasa a formar parte del Departamento de Guionistas, que se encarga de la “creación de la realidad” o más concretamente de crear conceptos imaginativos y con gancho. A Isthar, junto a su nuevo compañero Ashur Morrigan, se le da el encargo de crear los parámetros y trama de algo parecido a un reality show de ficción.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the imagination of the author, it is very colorful. This story has many electrifying erotic scenes. I did have a hard time at first getting into the story, but that was because I was not used to this style of writing. After the first couple of chapters I couldn't seem to put the book down.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never before struggled to write a review, but early on through reading this book I found myself wondering how to review this book honestly.

From the first couple of pages, I found myself scratching my head in puzzlement, and I hoped as the pages went by I would lose that feeling. Unfortunately, by the time I reached the end of the book, I was still as confused as I was at the beginning.

The first thing I need to point out is that from the very first few pages, there is some seriously heavy sexual content. I am by no means a prude, but some of the content was just downright bizarre, and parts of it actually made me grimace. The main character Ishtar, has many sexual fantasies about the people that she meets but they can not be construed as ‘normal’ at all.

The concept behind this book is that there are ‘Gods’ who are pretty much scripting the world and the way of humans. As Ishtar discovers just how much of the human world they control, her conscience gets the better of her and she wants to unveil the secrets of The Agency. Along the way, the love of her life disappears, and she sets out to discover where he has gone.

In theory this makes for an interesting story, and it is one I thought would be brilliant. But I found this book full of what I can only describe as too much ‘weirdness’, leading to the that ‘head scratching’, a what-on-Earth-just-happened moment occurred too many times for me.

Getting towards the end of the book, I actually found a handful of chapters quite enjoyable – Ishtar discovers what happened to her love, Utu, and decides she is going to join the ‘Rebel Reporters’ and I thought the story was really picking up, sadly just too far into the book. Unfortunately, the end is a massive let down, and although we know Ishtar is going to reveal it, the reader never actually finds out what The Greatest Sex Scandal Of All Time is, which kind of nulled the whole point of the story.

I gave the book 2 stars out of 5, 1 star is for the massive imagination the author has. I may not have really enjoyed the story but the author cannot be faulted for such a vivid imagination, and the descriptiveness she uses in her writing is something to be proud of. I gave the other star for the few chapters towards the end which finally made me feel sucked in to Ishtar’s story, and also the fact that even though I wasn’t really enjoying it, there was something about it that made me keep on reading until the very end.

[Verditwist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time, Eli Yaakunah
First: This is a review of a book passed to me for review by the author. I believe my review is unbiased and un-influenced.
This futuristic story is packed with references: to old gods, old films, thick with allusions to the cynicism of our own porn addicted age, where politics and the creative arts walk hand in hand, where sex is the opiate that blinds or upholds us. Where spin is everything.
Reading like a trippy version of 1984, or more accurately Metropolis, it uses words to lie to us, peeling away the comfort of ignorance, replacing it with knowledge of wider evil and duplicity. Apart from one info-dump, which I though could have been broken up a bit, I found it easy to read and interesting. But then it was ticking the right boxes for me being SF, referencing myths, gods, films, and also hinting at something else behind the facade.
So, where does it begin? It s a normal working day for Ishtah as she gets into her car, drives to the office, enters the lift, ready for her job as a wordsmith in the Written Chronicles department. Only today isn’t a normal working day. Unexpectedly elevated into a heaven sent job she delights in the luxuries that go with her new role as a scriptwriter; only something isn’t right. For one the man she is lusting after has disappeared, and, a dealer in fantasy herself she can sniff out a lie when she’s in one.
We are off to a good start. Ishtah (Ishtar) goddess of sex, love, fertility and war is one of my favourite gods. There is most definitely sex, lots of it told in off-hand, unemotional language that robs it of excitement. (In Ishtah’s story sex may be spectacularly imaginative but for her it is also everyday normal, after all, it’s her job to write about it.) There is love as she searches for her man, fertility of the mind, and as for war – give the girl a chance.
As she meets new people, experiences the highs and lows of her society, and is forced to view her world in a different light we too take on board her suspicions, picking up clues, seeing with new eyes through the wordsmith’s deception. The style in which this book is written itself hints at the final denouement, the story behind the story, and as we know, all utopias are built on unholy ground.
Favourite quote: ‘Love always comes back to the scene of desire’.
Would I read it again? Yes. Seeing behind Ishtah’s divine eyes, I would.

[Teodora · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Times by Eli Yaakunah is a dystopian novel that transposes the reader into a fictitious world about love, truths, and world-saving. This book can be read as an allegory of journalism and the political system. The main character is Ishtar, who works in a news agency as a sex writer and who has just been promoted to a scriptwriter. At the same time, she learns that the man she loves has disappeared. In an attempt to find out what happened to him, Ishtar encounters a pivotal character, Arianne, who will challenge Ishtar’s believe in love and truth. As the agency’s aim is to create fictitious news to warp reality, Ishtar starts to doubt her role in the agency as well as the role of journalism in general. As she writes her new novel with the pen name Eli Yaakunah (the author’s name), the plot leads to one question: will she sacrifice love for the truth?

I haven't read such a good book in a long time. It is poetic and written as a literary piece where writing is a form of art. Yes, there are a few explicit sex scenes, but they are meant to complement the plot and give the character depth. They carry the reader into Ishtar’s imagination as a sex writer, as well as into the personalities of the people she encounters. The sex scenes are not gratuitous. As for the title, the way I understood it, it is meant to deceive the reader, just like a pompous headline of a tabloid. I enjoyed reading the book as nothing is as it appears to be: the Assyrian goddess of love, sex, and war (Ishtar) has a Greek muse (Erato); she works in an agency and she is well paid; the news is fabricated to impose control. In my view, the book is a metaphor for how an oppressed freedom of speech looks like when people get too comfortable in their chairs to fight back. I recommend this book for both the content that makes you think and the author’s talent with words that make you read a sentence twice just for the beauty of it.

[Francis Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

is a Sci-Fi novel painting a clear picture of a dystopian society with echoes of Brave New World and 1984, though not quite as absolute. This is, ultimately, a thriller rather than an allegorical deconstruction of modern society, though there are elements of that too. Given that the novel is all about censorship and media control, it’s a little ironic that the novel itself has run into publishing difficulties (see Denounce Censorship) and was consequently re-published ‘slightly abridged by removing the explicit descriptions of sex scenes’ in 2014 (both versions are available from Amazon).

The writing is beautiful, erotic, poetic, intense, imaginative, intelligent – and gripping enough that I could barely put it down. The author/narrator is Ishtar, named for the goddess of love, war and sex. The gods of this future dystopia are the creators of reality. They are the elite who have absolute control of the media, and the reality that is represented there. Ishtar is a part of that, and at the beginning of the novel she is a writer of news stories that blend sex and monsters – news that people enjoy reading, and therefore more real than reality. When a promotion elevates her to the realm of the upper elite, and takes her away from a man that she has started to love, she begins to understand how the grand conspiracy that she is a part of is in truth a system of profound injustice, and her eyes are slowly opened to the real world.

I do have some complaints: The title certainly catches the eye and has some relevance to the book, but it’s also a little misleading; I might prefer ‘Ishtar and the Written Reality’, perhaps. Also, I am confused about when in the timeline the kiss in the park took place, and the device that the plot resolution hinges on is a little absurd… But these are all minor issues. Ultimately, this is one of the most delightful books I’ve ever read.

[Beatriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

La verdad es que no sé cómo definir este libro. Es raro, rarísimo, pero me ha gustado mucho.

Al principio de la novela andaba un poco perdida (sobre todo con el primer capítulo/epílogo, que todavía no sé qué es eso), pero después la trama me enganchó totalmente. Una distopía sobre el quinto poder, me encanta. Cuando en su momento leí la sinopsis creía que no me iba a convencer la novela, pero al darle un poco de tiempo hasta que la empecé a leer y olvidé el resumen, me sumergí de nuevas en la historia y me atrapó.

Lo que más me ha desconcertado es el tema del sexo, sobre todo al principio (cuando la protagonista se imagina teniendo sexo con cada personaje que encuentra a su paso). Llegué a pensar que la protagonista tenía un problema. Pero luego me acostumbré y le encontré el sentido.

Como he dicho, es una novela que puede resultar "rara", sobre todo por la forma de escribir de la autora ya que se sale de lo comercial y típico que encontramos en la mayoría de las librerías. Personalmente, lo considero un punto a su favor porque a mí me ha gustado (aunque había partes en las que me saturaba con tanta descripción de sensaciones, pero eran pocas).

Acabo de terminarla, por lo que no he tenido tiempo de digerir el final, pero en conjunto me he llevado una grata sorpresa con esta novela.

[María · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es raro encontrarse un género que sea distopía erótica, pero la verdad es que no sabía cómo llamarlo exactamente. En primero lugar, si fuese sólo una novela erótica, yo no la hubiese leído, y por supuesto, no le hubiese dado cuatro estrellas en goodreads sencillamente porque erótica es un género que no me gusta por sus tramas. Claro que tampoco es una novela puramente distópica, porque se mezcla con el ya anteriormente mencionado. Esa es la razón por lo que lo he llamado género distópico erótico.

La novela se resume en que Ishtar es de pronto ascendida y pierde de vista a su "algo más que amigo" Utu; no contesta a sus mensajes, no publica nuevos artículos y no logra encontrarlo en ningún sitio. Es así como de la mano de Arianne y Harlequín, de mentiras y secretos, Ishtar encontrará el camino a la verdad y a intentar que todo el mundo la conozca.

Lo primero que quiero mencionar de esta autora, y ojo, digo autora y no libro, es esa forma tan surrealista de escribir que tiene, te crea mundos, dentro de mundos, dentro de mundos. Es como Origen, un sueño dentro de otro sueño. Usa nombres y apellidos de dioses de varias mitologías; babilónica, sumeria, hindú, persa, celta... Todos ellas representando de una u otra forma la personalidad de cada personaje; como nuestra protagonista; Ishtar, diosa babilónica del amor y la guerra y por ende, trabajaba para la Agencia escribiendo artículos de "transfondo sexual". Su inspiración era Erato, musa de la poesía en la mitología griega y su pequeña figurilla que la inspiraba a la hora de escribir.

Pero, si tiene parte erótica, ¿cómo la has leído? La respuesta es sencilla, porque tiene más de distopía que de erótica. La novela está ambientada en unos Estados Unidos en los que la sociedad vuelve a estar dividida en estamentos en los que los dioses ocupan lo más alto de la pirámide estamental; son los que lo manejan todo, son los que hacen que las noticias que se cuenten sean siempre falsas, manejan la política, manejan el amor, manejan la vida y la muerte. Son los dioses, y como dioses deben hacer que todo esté a sus pies. Me atrevo a decir que transcurre en un futuro no muy lejano, puesto que usan tecnología como el escáner ocular para reconocer a las personas y un largo etcétera.

La parte erótica sólo la encontraremos en las fantasías de la protagonista, una mujer que cada vez que conoce a una persona se la imagina de cualquier forma y siempre terminando de la misma manera: tirándosela. Vale, quizá he sido un poco brusca con esas palabras, quizá podríamos incluso interpretarlo como una "danza sexual llena de poesía". Las fantasías de Ishtar son de lo más surrealista, imaginándose a sus compañeros de trabajo como elefantes que la penetran con la trompa, hasta con panteras que le clavan las garras en las nalgas mientras... Bueno, esos detalles molones los dejo para las personas que quieran leerlo.

El final de la novela no es del todo predecible y creo que según la personalidad del lector, puede acabar de una u otra forma en su imaginación.

En resumen; dos géneros que ni me hubiese imaginado que casasen y de los cuales uno de ellos no es mi devoción, han hecho que una novela totalmente diferente a lo que estamos acostumbrados a leer me haya gustado por esa dosis de realismo cubierta con un tupido velo por una historia completamente surrealista.

[Nayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Por algún motivo siento que todo lo he visto en algún otro lado, sólo que no recuerdo cómo se llamaba ese lugar... mm... ¡oh cierto! se llamaba "vida". Todo resulta extrañamente familiar... demasiado real diría yo, aunque claro está que es un libro futurista.

Toca temas y noticias de la historia del mundo con una soltura que te quedas con la boca abierta, y es que la forma en la que la autora logra dar su punto de vista acerca de los acontecimientos es sorprendente. Es como si todos supiéramos, muy en el fondo, acerca de las maldades del universo, pero hiciésemos caso omiso a nuestro instinto. Pero ya saben, cualquier parecido con la realidad en pura coincidencia. Además, ha usado nombres mitológicos, hechos históricos, noticias y cuanta herramienta de simbolismo haya para lograr simbiosis entre el entorno y el lector.
Al parecer, la mística Eli "de los hermosos ojos" es periodista.

Otro punto a favor, es el buen sexo. No son escenas sexuales asquerosas como se imaginarán muchos de un libro "erótico", y esto se debe a que el erotismo es una acompañamiento metafórico que utiliza la autora para despistar un poco. Pero no lo es todo, el argumento es mucho más profundo que eso. En sí, todo el libro es una GRAN metáfora del mundo real en el que vivimos, es una queja hacia la realidad, es un grito por justicia.

Me ha sorprendido muchísimo. Aunque me resulta algo "regular" el primer 70%, el último 30% del libro es impecable. Es genial. Y tengo que admitir que esta vez... sólo por ésta vez, he leído el final. Porque era algo que no me podía perder y porque se parece DEMASIADO, en forma y narrativa, a uno de los libros que más me han marcado (lo leí en una etapa difícil de mi vida): "Como agua para chocolate".

Cuando he terminado de leer no he podido hacer más que llorar, sólo un poquito, "como una recién nacida"...

Ir a mi blog a leer el resto de la reseña

[Ira Therebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely amazing. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, but once I did I could not put it down, I was simply absorbed by it and it was in my head even when I was not reading it.

Actually it was nothing that I expected. When I first read the description and signed up to win it, I was just thinking to explore the genre of erotica that I never read. The book seemed like a sex novel only a bit less dumb than the ones I heard about before. But it was so much more than that.

I am actually somebody who reads more non-fiction than fiction, and even when it comes to fiction I usually prefer the realistic narrations of the world we live in or from the past and yet this book that is more surreal than anything was great for me as well.

Yes, there is lots of sex in it. And sometimes it is more bizarre than anything, but this is because sex in this book isn't simply sex. It is a metaphor. Just like all the other surreal and lyrical elements of the book. The book is more of a social and political commentary of the world we live in. We see the battle of love/sex vs. hate/violence, the manipulation of society by the media, the control by politics, the question of weather what we hear is reality and if the lies we are told benefit us. Sure, one can just read this book as a sci fi erotica thriller, but by doing so one misses out on a lot.

I also would like to mention author's brilliant narrating style. The words used bring the depth, the atmosphere,the juiciness, the feelings, the excitement. It is absolutely beautiful.

I feel like re reading this book again because I feel like I will find so much more in it after having discovered more of the meaning and get to enjoy seeing more references that I might have missed at my first read.

A huge applause to the first time author, she truly created a masterpiece. To me it is not just a novel, it is a true literature.

*I got this book for free through goodreads giveaways*

[Raffol · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is powerful, engaging, and every single sentence is full of ingenuity. There are so many details that turn out to have deeper meanings, like in a well-built detective story. Even the imaginative descriptions of Ishtar's sexual fantasies when she meets new people may have deeper meanings, besides illustrating her own personality. They might be a kind of intuitive perception about the personality of the new acquaintances. Some of these fantasies are not necessarily pleasant, and alert the intuition of the readers to a dark side of the new character. This book speaks to the mind, to the heart, and to the soul, in a very subtle way.

[Renee Huttle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. I received it free in a giveaway, and was so excited to read it. I'm not sure what genre this should be. It's not erotica or romance, and doesn't seem to be following any sort of plot. It seems like someone's trippy drug-hazed fantasy diary. Or, one of those books in college that you are forced to dissect and figure out. Not worth my time. Is it self-published because no self respecting publisher would waste the paper on this? Very disappointed.

[LaGina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an original story and it felt so good to be able to sit and enjoy a new author. I will be adding this author to my list of to watch.

[Nayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Por algún motivo siento que todo lo he visto en algún otro lado, sólo que no recuerdo cómo se llamaba ese lugar... mm... ¡oh cierto! se llamaba "vida". Todo resulta extrañamente familiar... demasiado real diría yo, aunque claro está que es un libro futurista.

Toca temas y noticias de la historia del mundo con una soltura que te quedas con la boca abierta, y es que la forma en la que la autora logra dar su punto de vista acerca de los acontecimientos es sorprendente. Es como si todos supiéramos, muy en el fondo, acerca de las maldades del universo, pero hiciésemos caso omiso a nuestro instinto. Pero ya saben, cualquier parecido con la realidad en pura coincidencia. Además, ha usado nombres mitológicos, hechos históricos, noticias y cuanta herramienta de simbolismo haya para lograr simbiosis entre el entorno y el lector.
Al parecer, la mística Eli "de los hermosos ojos" es periodista.

Otro punto a favor, es el buen sexo. No son escenas sexuales asquerosas como se imaginarán muchos de un libro "erótico", y esto se debe a que el erotismo es una acompañamiento metafórico que utiliza la autora para despistar un poco. Pero no lo es todo, el argumento es mucho más profundo que eso. En sí, todo el libro es una GRAN metáfora del mundo real en el que vivimos, es una queja hacia la realidad, es un grito por justicia.

Me ha sorprendido muchísimo. Aunque me resulta algo "regular" el primer 70%, el último 30% del libro es impecable. Es genial. Y tengo que admitir que esta vez... sólo por ésta vez, he leído el final. Porque era algo que no me podía perder y porque se parece DEMASIADO, en forma y narrativa, a uno de los libros que más me han marcado (lo leí en una etapa difícil de mi vida): "Como agua para chocolate".

Cuando he terminado de leer no he podido hacer más que llorar, sólo un poquito, "como una recién nacida"...

Ir a mi blog a leer el resto de la reseña

[Rabid Readers Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yaakunah’s writing style is surreal. The material can only be described as esoteric. There is a market and I have a feeling that market is relatively small and likely by design. I don’t know Yaakunah but if, as the claim goes, The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time is the author, the assumption is that mainstream is probably a bad word. That is not a criticism simply an indicator of style. It reads to this reader like abstract art. At the start of the novel Ishtar is morphing in a steam of consciousness sort of reality that is beyond this readers comprehension.

It must be said that the narrative, while beyond my comprehension, is colourful and alive. It is the sort of novel that could one day be studied in writing courses in university as an example of use of language in narrative. The language is rich, abundant and overflows while read. Ishtar will speak clearly to the readers who bond with her. They will rave to friends of its brilliance. I will say unequivocally that had I not committed to review the novel, I would have stopped reading but I don’t regret reading. This reader has a feeling it will be a long while before another novel like this crosses her path. The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time is just that unique. The author says in the description that the novel is any genre you want it to be and it truly seems to be the case. So much is open to interpretation.

If you are a fan of art as prose, The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time is the novel for you.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a real mix for me. Underneath the lyrical eroticism, was a bit of a dystopian thriller waiting to get out. Although described as erotic I did not find it to be. There are plenty of odd descriptions of sex but hidden in metaphor and just plain weirdness.

The thriller elements needed a higher concentration in my view and what there was was not that thrilling.

On the plus side beautiful descriptions and I enjoyed much of the characterization

[Giorgia Giorgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todo en este libro me ha confundido un poco, ni siquiera sé si es elegante o vulgar, pero es diferente, es feminista, es transgesor. ¡Me ha terminado convenciendo y gustando bastante! 🧡