Early Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

*Received from We Love YA Tours for review*

Title: Hunger
Author: Jackie Morse Kessler
Published: October 18th, 2010
Pages: 180
Rating: 3 flowers
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?

My Thoughts:

Hunger is a captivating story that captures the effects of anorexia and the emotional struggles that a teenage girl faces with having an eating disorder.

I really didn't know what to expect when I signed up for this book but I was really intrigued that it involved the Four Horsemen. I was a little disappointed though that it took the backseat in the story.

At first, I wanted to put the book down and give up on it. The begining of the story just didn't seem real to me. It was at times confusing and I had to re-read some pages because it was all over the place. It soon got bareable and I really began to enjoy it. Kessler nailed the concept of eating disorders and made her main charaster Lisa seem real. I found myself relating to Lisa on many levels. My favorite character though would have to be Death. He had a good sense of humor that was ironic at times. It had me laugh silently.

HUNGER is beautifully written and the characters surprisingly became three-dimensional after I got over the first part. I like how it's kind of ironic that Kessler chose to incorporate the Four Horsemen in the book and picked Lisa to be none other than Famine. Ha-ha.
I really do wish it had more action and scenes of Lisa as Famine though.

Overall, HUNGER is a pretty good short read that portrays the severity of eating disorders among teenagers very well. Emotional, symbolic, witty and powerful, HUNGER is one of those books you don't want to skip out on.