Book:  Hunger
Author:  Jackie Morse Kessler
Published:  October 18, 2010 from Graphia
My edition/number of pages:  ARC/180

Age group:  Young adult
Source:  Publisher
Series?:  Yes.  First 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 battle her own inner demons?

Hunger is a very unique debut for the YA market.  Jackie Morse Kessler tackles the subject of anorexia head on and her approach was one unlike anything I have ever read.  This series has some serious potential and I am excited to see where she takes it with the next book.

Lisabeth Lewis is anorexic.  She won’t admit it but she is.  Food has become the defining factor in her life and it’s becoming too much.  When she attempts suicide Death comes to her but it’s not quite what she expected.  Instead of bringing her eternal slumber he brings her a set of scales and announces that she is Famine.  Lisa thinks its a dream until the scales appear to her the next day and a black steed eats all her mothers flowers.  Now Lisa’s job is to bring hunger and destruction to all but she can’t even handle her own hunger.  Will she tackle her challenge or will life end up being too much for her?

I’m going to be frank.  I didn’t like Lisa until the very end of the book.  She was weak and she couldn’t see how much her family and friends cared for her.  And she couldn’t see how bad an influence Tammy was on her.  It was hard to read everything she thought because she is not a character that you can agree with.  The feeling that I had for her for most of the book was pity.  I just felt sorry for her and I couldn’t really get past that.  I also couldn’t really get into the other characters either.  I wanted more of them.  I felt that I didn’t know them at all and so it was hard to decide whether I liked them or hated them.  I did like James though.  He truly cared for Lisa and he was so sweet.

The subject of anorexia was addressed very well in Hunger.  I was surprised at how brutally honest Jackie Morse Kessler was in tackling this subject but I am so glad that she hit it head on.  Everything about Lisa’s anorexia was real.  It didn’t have to be forced and Jackie Morse Kessler showed her knowledge about the problem through that.  At times I honestly wanted to cry for Lisa.  Her story was so heartbreaking and it’s terrible to know that there are so many people out there dealing with the same struggle every day of their lives.  I feel more informed about the problem after reading Hunger.

Overall, Hunger is a great YA debut from Jackie Morse Kessler and I am excited to read the next book in the series.  I know it’s going to be hard to get into another book after this one.

First line:  Lisabeth Lewis didn’t mean to become Famine.

Writing:  5

Characters:  4

Plot:  4

Ending:  4

Originality:  5

Overall:  22=B+

Cover:  5=A++