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glassflowrr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Homophobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Racism, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Abandonment
thedemonastagoth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Colonisation, Grief, and Sexual violence
Minor: Physical abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Incest, Xenophobia, Child death, and Sexism
singlier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Oh I wanted to enjoy this book and I was so excited to give it a read. The Hunger is a horror retelling of the ill-fated Donner Party expedition during the mid 1800s, weaving real life histories and people with a supernatural twist of horror and fear.
But it just... Didn't hit. There were a lot of narrator characters (around 5: Edwin Bryant, Charles Stanton, James Reed, Tamsen Donner, and Elitha Graves) and I never really got close to any of them or felt a strong connection to them. The way the book is ordered, often something important would happen to a character, but it wouldn't be until the next chapter that it's revealed *why*.
Also, there are just...a ton of characters and a few chapters in I just gave up trying to keep who's who straight: who was cousins with who, who was the daughter-in-law of who, who was who's son or the servants of who, so on. Rarely so I ask for this, but I really wished to have a family tree in the beginning to keep things straight.
The book struggles most notably with its treatment of Native American practices, quickly falling into the ideas of "Indigenous mysticism" as soon as things turn awry. Maybe it's playing off the beliefs of the settlers, but for once I'd like a horror where there wasn't "an old Native American folktale detailing this exact horror situation" going on, you know? Also, negative a million points for using the s-term to describe the collection of symptoms (cannibalism, violence, etc) of the settlers. Turning them into "creatures less than human" felt like it took away from the horror of the situation of the Donner Party: the scariest thing of all is realizing that even "good" people are not exempt from evil, and will commit atrocious acts to their fellow people in acts of survival or desperation.
Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Classism, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault
Minor: Terminal illness, Incest, Vomit, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
magical_mads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Racism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gore, Misogyny, Death, Cannibalism, Rape, Incest, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Torture, Sexism, Body horror, Medical trauma, Child death, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Animal death, Violence, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Murder
ak97x's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Stalking, Cannibalism, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence
Minor: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, War, Suicide attempt, Racism, Pedophilia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, and Sexual content
Graphic depiction or two of animal death, important to the story line. Child death / murder and abuse discussed. Attempted r*pe and familial r*pe discussed, as is voluntary incest. This book, as the real event, heavily involves cannibalism. Historical accuracies were well used coupled with fabrication to make it interesting.filipa_maia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Although, at some points this is a very dark and twisted story I found it very dragging and kinda hard to keep up. There are too many characters, too many similar names, too many background stories...
Maybe I need to reread it and the next time I will enjoy it more. We'll see!
Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Medical trauma, Sexism, Self harm, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Animal death, Classism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Xenophobia, Slavery, Sexual violence, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Gun violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Narrated by Kirsten Potter
Unabridged
I think I would have preferred having read the non fiction event of what happened, which is a first for me.
It just felt a bit off and I can't exactly pin point why - but I know that for me, I quickly lost track of all the characters.
The skin walker lore was interesting, and I would like to read more about that in the future.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Child death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual assault
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Pedophilia, Suicide, Infidelity, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Colonisation, Self harm, Sexism, Alcoholism, Classism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Vomit
chloebear21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Murder and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide, Incest, and Physical abuse
lianavalente's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual violence, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal death and Physical abuse