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narbine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, Abandonment, Death, Mental illness, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Infidelity, Alcohol, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Animal death, Medical content, and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, War, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Cursing, Suicide, and Pedophilia
smolhandsdan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, and Colonisation
Minor: Pedophilia, Grief, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Death, Rape, Classism, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
singlier's review
- 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
piepatch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Murder, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Gore, Pedophilia, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Racial slurs, Rape, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Misogyny, Alcohol, Incest, and Sexism
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
directorpurry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Blood, Incest, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Self harm, Murder, Gun violence, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Kidnapping and Forced institutionalization
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
nonfictionfeminist's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Religious bigotry, Cannibalism, Racism, Classism, and Colonisation
readerintheruemorgue's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Body horror
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse