“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 fight her own inner demons?
A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.”
I’ve actually wanted to read Hunger for awhile, but kept forgetting to pick it up. That seems to be a common trend for me.
I’ll be honest, it’s raw and sometimes a bit hard to read with looks at bulimia and anorexia, but I feel in that aspect it’s realistic. Throw in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and you have such an interesting story! It is a bit of a short read, but totally worth the effort. It’s creative and entertaining.
Her black steed, whom she names Midnight, was my favorite character. Sure, he’s a horse and doesn’t talk, but he adds a small bit of humor the story needs to keep it light. What I most enjoyed was the book wasn’t preachy or a pure lecture, either. Too often in “real issues” books you get that.
It’s a refreshing and creative look at a real issue and definitely worth picking up. If you are overly squeamish about anorexia or bulimia, you may want to express caution. While I didn’t find it too heavy, I have talked to one reader who didn’t finish it because she thought it went into a bit too much detail in some of the scenes.