Lisabeth Lewis is a seventeen year old girl who suffers with anorexia. One night, after attempting to end her life by swallowing pills, she is visited by Death. Instead of taking her away, he appoints her Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
First things first. I had to Google "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" pretty early in to refresh myself on the story. Here you go. The great thing about this book was that it played out a story line of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as if it were normal occurrence. Detailed and interesting, but not outrageous. Take Death, for example. Death is described as an attractive young male who likes Nirvana and has some of the best lines in the novel, including one about Lisabeth's very serious new position: "Thou art Famine, yo." He kept me chuckling throughout the book.
The other Horsemen and even their horses have their space in the novel as well. My favorite was Midnight, Famine's horse, who loves pralines and acts as Lisabeth's/Famine's trusty and faithful companion.
Kessler did her research into famine and provides us with rich descriptions of the desolate conditions in parts of our world. Interwoven into Lisabeth's nightly travels around the world is a story about a girl who struggles with her Thin voice that counts the calories in everything and continuously reminds her that she is fat and needs to exercise more. Lisabeth listens to the voice as one by one her best friend, boyfriend, dad, and mom come to the realization that she has a problem.
As Hunger progresses, Lisabeth learns how to use her power for good and to trust herself more than her Thin voice. The ending was fully satisfying, and I am eager to read Rage, the next book in the series in which a girl named Missy becomes War.
~Flo~
What an interesting concept! I'll definitely be checking this one out.
ReplyDelete-jehara
I quite enjoyed this book too. I agree that the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse were portrayed well, as was famine. I liked Lisa's growth throughout the book.
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