Review: Hunger

Hunger
Jackie Morse Kessler
Publisher: Harcourt Graphia
Release Date: Oct 18, 2010

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?


Normally in short books such as this, I feel it is too short and the story is lacking of details. But Hunger blew me away. At about one hundred and seventy-something pages, it was packed full with a great story.


You've got to give Kessler props for her originality. Having an anorexic girl become a Horseman of the Apocalypse, Famine no less, is beyond creative. I loved irony, and this was packed with it.

Watching Lisa fight the battle with herself was excruciating and heart breaking. It always is when you're dealing with an anorexic protagonist. As the book goes along, Lisa learns what being hungry really means.

Kessler's writing was lyrical and went well with the subject.Her personal experience with this shown through the book. The story is very intense and true, but at the same time not too depressing. It's something that I think everyone should read.

I'm very much looking forward to the next three installments in the series. Very intense issues are tackled, and I can't wait for more of Kessler's writing.


Rating: