Book Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

 
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Publisher: Dial

Publish Date: October 18, 2010

Paperback, 180 pages
Young Adult

My Review:
Why I read this:  Since my teens I have had a fascination with the book of Revelation and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are very much a part of that book.  So it was a given when I heard there would be a book series based on the Four Horsemen I was intrigued.  Add to that dealing with hard teenage issues and I was definitely in.


How is the novel driven:  Character, this is all about Lisabeth and her coming to terms with her own self and her problems.



My thoughts: A fascinating and short book.  But somehow the shortness works, I don't feel like it should have been longer or it was limited, to me the length worked perfect.  Hunger deals with the difficult subject of teenage girl self-esteem and how so much of that is wrapped around body image and weight.  Lisabeth has an eating disorder, and she's trying to hide it.  Then she is told she is Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  At first she doesn't accept this but as she travels as Famine she learns what power she has can do and while that takes her away from  her problems for awhile, it ultimately shines a light on her real problems.


As I said before this book is fascinating and felt very original.  I don't think I've ever read or heard of a book like this so I feel like Ms. Kessler took an difficult subject and used a very different scenario to bring it to light.  Hunger is well-written, reads quick and made me think.  It's dark, but eating disorders are a dark subject and an epidemic we need to know about.  The darkness suits it and sets a great tone for the book.  In the beginning I wasn't sure if I liked Lisabeth, but as the book went on I felt I could relate to her more and more.


Interesting and original plot, fascinating characters and well-written, Hunger is a great YA book to pick up and read and I look forward to the next in the series.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

And here is the cover of the next book in the series (Isn't it amazing), Rage will be out April 18, 2011.

About the Book:

"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 fight her own inner demons?

     

A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.

About the Author:

JACKIE MORSE KESSLER is the author of several paranormal and dark fantasy books for adults. Hunger is her first book for teens. She lives in upstate New York.

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FTC Information: I received this book through 1-ARC Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.