Title: Hunger
Author: Jakie Morse Kessler
Publisher: Graphia
Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary/YA
Page Count: 174 (paperback)
Rating: 4.2 out of 5
Cover Rating: 4.7 out of 5. I really like this cover--the scales, the font, and the swirly black/blue.
Back Cover:
"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."
Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she's been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home--her constant battle with hunger and the struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life and to face the horrifying effects of her awesome new power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power--and the courage to fight her own inner demons?
My expectations: High. I loved the idea, and I'd read a lot of positive review about the book.
It was better than I expected.
It was better than I expected.
About the book: This is a very interesting take on eating disorders. Imagine--a teenage girl becoming one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence) while at the same time battling her own inner voices that tell her she's fat and ugly and will never be successful.
I really like Kessler's writing style. It's to the point, and Hunger being a short book, there really wasn't anything that got more attention that it should. I sped through the book--which kind of disappointed me because I wanted more of it! And despite the fact that it deals with such a heavy subject, this book was actually rather funny at times.
I really like Kessler's writing style. It's to the point, and Hunger being a short book, there really wasn't anything that got more attention that it should. I sped through the book--which kind of disappointed me because I wanted more of it! And despite the fact that it deals with such a heavy subject, this book was actually rather funny at times.
- Plot:
It's a strong plot, with little twists that keep things moving (it's only 174 pages long, remember!) and I love the ending--it's excellent.
- Characters:
Lisa is mess at the beginning. She's anorexic--which you don't find often in books--and desperate to find people who understand what she's going through. She's dealing with strained relationships between people she used to be really close to, such as her best friend, her father, and her boyfriend, who all believe that she needs help--only she doesn't think so, and concludes that they're jealous about her skin-and-bones body. But I had to like her determination and spunk, and I grew fond her as time went on.
I hadn't really pictured Death as Kurt Cobain, but that's the way he appears to Lisa in the book; he's surprisingly funny for someone who has the job of taking lives, and I had to laugh at the exchanges.
War was just as you'd picture War: angry, powerful, and easy to provoke. Only female, too. Pestilence was interesting--I found what he had to say intriguing, although he doesn't make much of an appearance next to the other Horsemen.
War was just as you'd picture War: angry, powerful, and easy to provoke. Only female, too. Pestilence was interesting--I found what he had to say intriguing, although he doesn't make much of an appearance next to the other Horsemen.
- Setting/Elements:
I love the idea in Hunger. It's not your average Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy, and I enjoyed the freshness of it all.
Other: Some language, references, and some violence.
Do I recommend this book? Yes! If you're looking for something unique, interesting, and funny, and don't mind a novel with a darker side.
