Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“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 her 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 phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

 

Review:

 
Hunger pleasantly surprised me. It was clever, intriguing and offered an important message to contemporary young people. Hunger is about one girl's struggle against anorexia and Kessler has realistically and seriously shown what young people today are going through.

The characters are relatable and complex. I empathised with both Lisa and Tammy's (Lisa's new best friend) conditions and wished that they would go through an epiphany and realise the error of their ways.

I was already familiar with some of the information and habits that anorexia and bulimia consist of as I studied it in school, but it was shocking to read about this in Hunger, which made it into much more of a reality. 

I loved the fact that though the synopsis hinted at a very strange story inside, it was actually one of the most down-to-earth and emotional novels I've read this year. Kessler superbly balanced (balance being a key word in the book) Lisa's problems; friends, family, her love life and of course, most importantly, her anorexia.

While reading Hunger, I had a very strong feeling that the author must have gone through something similar because she could describe Lisa's feelings so well and so realistically. The emotional and heartfelt note at the end of the book supported this.

There were so many scenes that moved me in Hunger, but the two scenes that are engraved in my mind are when Lisa (as a Horseman) watches Tammy making herself sick in the bathroom. I thought this scene was perfect in its vividness and truth. The reader can feel everything Tammy goes through, but through Lisa's eyes. It was a strange and surreal passage.

The other scene is when Lisa is angry at her mother and uses her powers on her. The description was very vivid and graphic. I really liked the ways in which Lisa could use her power and this was a very unique aspect of the novel. While I have been saying that Hunger is very realistic, at the same time, it also felt like a moral story or a fable.

I believe this is because the story was on the short side length wise (180 pages) and because some of the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked them to be. Characters such as Death and War played their roles but the novel didn't explore them further and to the extent that it could have. While I liked the character of Death, he used the expressions 'Do you now?' and 'Well now' too much, however this is a small criticism.

Also, though Hunger ended satisfactorily, I would have liked  a more detailed ending in regards to Lisa's situation. Also, what ever happened to Tammy? This wasn't resolved.

Also, in my experience of YA books, parents are usually absent/dead/useless, so it was nice to see that Lisa's parents were actually 3D and though not the perfect parents, they developed well throughout the novel.

Overall, Hunger is a very exciting and important novel and I would definitely recommend this novel to everyone. I believe it reflects on important, sensitive and serious subjects yet at the same time, it is a very fun book to read. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Rage.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 4/5

Author: Jackie Morse Kessler

I received this book from Netgalley for review.