Search This Blog








2023 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (4)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (2)
- Canada (2)
- England (4)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- South Korea (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
-Vietnam (1)





2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge







Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Hunger Leaves Me Wanting More
1:00 AM

Seventeen-year-old Lisabeth Lewis doesn't have the healthiest relationship with food. A

Lisabeth's no stranger to secrets - she's always starved herself in private, keeping her anorexia carefully hidden from prying eyes - but this one just might be her undoing. Her boyfriend's already concerned about her, her former best friend's written her off, and her new BFF gets angry when Lisabeth doesn't have time to help her binge and purge. Add in a mother who's either working or issuing backhand compliments ("You'd be really pretty, Lisabeth, if only you'd lose a few pounds."), and the idea of fleeing into the night on a swift stallion is growing on her. In fact, galloping off on her steed gives her a sense of freedom unlike anything she's ever felt.
Playing Famine has its perks, but it's not all fun and games. In order to have the energy she needs to fight hunger, Lisabeth must eat. Eating means stripping off her protective layers, exposing her raw self to her mother's constant needling, the probability that her boyfriend will dump her the second he realizes how screwed up she is, and the poisonous hiss of the Thin voice holed up in her head. It's not just personal sorrow that courses through Lisabeth's emaciated body - she's flooded with the hopeless desperation of children with empty stomachs, mothers who go hungry so their babies can eat, fathers turned to theft to provide for their families. Are her powers strong enough to offer relief? Can she save the starving masses? Heck, she can't even save herself ...
Hunger, the first in a new YA series by Jackie Morse Kessler, puts an original spin on the problem of eating disorders. No issue novel can really escape preachiness, and this one's no exception. However, the creative premise distracts the reader enough to make a point without seeming heavyhanded. Lisabeth is a likable heroine, one who's vulnerable, but funny and strong. It's easy to feel for her, grieve with her, and root for her success. Although I wanted more detail from this appropriately thin book, I still found it compelling and, ultimately, more affecting than I first realized. Kessler's personal battle with anorexia gives Lisabeth's story the power of authenticity, while the paranormal bent lends a dose of levity to an otherwise heavy issue. They work together to make Hunger interesting, original and moving. Although I didn't love, love, love it, it's left me hungry for more from this intriguing series.
A portion of the sales of Hunger will be donated to NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association). The book, which releases in October, is now available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of Purge by Sarah Darer Littman and a little of The Girl With the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (one F-bomb + milder invectives), sexual content, and graphic depiction of binging/purging
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Hunger from the generous folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thank you!
2 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)




Reading
Murder Off the Books by Tamara Berry

Listening
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country in the World by Sarah Smarsh



Followin' with Bloglovin'



-
Time Travel Thursday18 minutes ago
-
#ThrowbackThursday. Swords of Ice1 hour ago
-
-
-
-
-
A Review of The Gift5 hours ago
-
The Bone Shard War6 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Review: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney17 hours ago
-
WIP Wednesday for 22 March 202320 hours ago
-
-
Diary of a Jackwagon22 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
My Road Trip with Thor1 day ago
-
-
-
Warrior Girl Unearthed2 days ago
-
Finding Freedom by Erin French2 days ago
-
60. Wrong Place Wrong Time3 days ago
-
Bookshelf Bounty4 days ago
-
I have been reading...4 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Book Blogger Hop #61 week ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Books Read in 20232 months ago
-
-
Nonfiction November 2022: New to My TBR3 months ago
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?5 months ago
-
-
HEARTS OF BRIARWALL by Krista Jensen7 months ago
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!



Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
What an interesting concept. A great mixture of realism and fantasy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I liked reading this one, it was a unique take on EDs
ReplyDelete