Same Book, Second Look - Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Published: October 2010

Publisher: Harcourt Graphica

Pages: 180

Copy provided by: ARC

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

“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?

So let me tell you. Right from the start I LOVED the idea of an anorexic becoming one of the four Horsemen. It is such a unique and very intriguing storyline. I could not wait for this book to come out. I also love the cover of the book. It is dark and foreboding and addresses a real issue. BUT as I started reading, I really struggled with whether Lisa was having psychotic episodes or was in some imaginary world. It was an abstract idea and kudos to the author for writing it this way but I could not seem to get past this and so I found myself taking WAY too long to read this book. I mean, c'mon! It's 180 pages and I should have been finished ages ago. Truth is, because I couldn't identify with they way the storyline was written, I wasn't fully commited to reading the novel. That's just my opinion though....

Let's focus on the positive, shall we? This would be a FANTASTIC book to use as a book report or review. Especially for someone who wants to read something quick or has left their (ahem) assignment to the last minute (all you librarians out there....take note). There is so much to interpret and analyze. I could go nuts drawing comparative bits from this piece but I certainly don't want to do the work for you!

Next bit of coolness is that a portion of the sale of this book go towards eating disorders in the USA. Yay for Jackie Morse Kessler. You can read more about her at the back of the book but she also experienced being a bullemic and lost a friend to the disease. I love hearing about authors writing about something relevant in their lives and using the power of their words to do something for change.

Curlypow was the first to read Hunger and you can check out her review here.