Early Review: Hunger – Jackie Morse Kessler
August 4, 2010 in Young Adult Reviews
- Paperback: 180 pages
- Jackie Morse Kessler’s Website
- Publisher:Graphia (October 18, 2010)
- List Price: $8.99 US
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0547341245
- ISBN-13: 978-0547341248
Preorder Hunger at:
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.
Hunger follows Lisa, a teenage girl who doesn’t want to admit she is anorexic. She calorie counts & sometimes doesn’t even eat. Lisa has been trying to hide her food issues from everyone around her, even her boyfriend. But after a nasty fight with her boyfriend, Lisa tries to kill herself but Death comes to her & appoints her Famine. At first Lisa thinks it was a hallucination due to the drugs she used to try & kill herself, until she sees her horse & a mysterious scale appearing everywhere. One of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse & Lisa has to learn how to fight for her own life & many others.
When I sat down to write this review one word kept going through my head. Wow. Jackie Morse Kessler has done something pretty amazing in Hunger, she captured perfectly the life of a teen with anorexia. Hunger was truly the most intense YA I’ve ever read & I strongly suggest every teenage girl going through body issues should have a copy of this book. Ms. Kessler tells an extremely different story, though it’s been done before she has made Famine & the Horsemen her own.
It truly was an intense ride, both for Lisa & for the reader. At some points I just wanted to smack Lisa & say get with it, but the more I read the more I realized this was the story of many a teen girl I knew in High School. It’s bound to touch every single female, all of us have had body issues at one time or another.
That alone makes Lisa someone we can relate to & for her to be thrown into a bigger version of the World she’s put herself in, makes the book a great page turner. But be warned, it is a bit emotional especially the end notes. My only issue with Hunger was it was too short! I wanted it to last longer, I wanted more of Lisa’s life after the end of the book. But this is a series, so I can’t wait to see what happens next & with what character.
There are some end notes from Ms. Kessler after the novel is done & it really brings home just how special this book was for her to write. I hope Ms. Kessler knows how special this book is going to be for a lot of teenage girls, because it truly will mean something to them. It meant something to this almost 30 year old. Thank you for including that letter Ms. Kessler & for sharing that story with us readers.
The premise alone makes Hunger a must read, but the writing is what really sells it.
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Wow, I really want to read this now. I love how this tackles anorexia, and I really hope the next wave of novels focus on this.
Awesome review.
Oh you HAVE to read it!
I’ve been waiting for this book for ages; it sounds amazing. Not enough books around address issues like this for teens and kids, in my opinions. Certainly not enough that are entertaining to read too!
Exactly, its dark but it isn’t too heavy for a teen to get the bigger picture
I mentioned on Twitter (hahaha, I know – Twitter Addict right here) that I don’t normally read YA at all, but this is a book I will be reading. Body dysmorphia is such a prevalent issue that all of us ladies experience in our teens and if we are LUCKY we are able to work through it by the time we’re in our 20s and 30s. There are so many factors that go in to a girl becoming anorexic and I applaud Ms. Kessler for tackling the issue in a way that plays out as a fantasy tale. I am fascinated by this and cannot wait to read this.
Damnit, we could have joint reviewed it! LOL
I just reviewed this one on my blog today. For such a thin book, it really WAS intense and powerful. I, too, wanted MORE. I’m interested to see how the rest of the series plays out.