Reviews

The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr

lleullawgyffes's review

emotional hopeful reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

If I'd known in advance how much of this book was going to be taken up by descriptions of basketball I would probably not have bothered, so I'm glad I didn't really know what I was getting into, because this book was amazing. It perfectly balances Nancy's meditative, introspective voice with the intensity and vibrancy of her life during the period the book covers. I was going to offer a short list of more specific things but there's no real way to sum it up. Read it, it's good.

As a note re the sports thing, normally I have little energy to spend caring about sports (and find basketball in particular to be tedious), but the handling of sports in this book was fantastic — I was never on the level Nancy and Raina are, but this book is enough to remind me of all the things I loved about fencing when I still fenced actively: it convincingly and powerfully captures the intensity of competitive sports.

jackelz's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Nancy Takahiro is a Japanese-American and the star of her basketball team. It’s her senior year and she is faced with the college recruitment process and her feelings for Raina Webber. 

That awkward moment when your rival, and crush, moves in with you because your parents are dating.

The book is set in the mid 80’s in Inglewood, California and the racial tension between the Asian American and African American communities of Los Angeles is very high. There were several racial conflicts throughout the book, but overall it was just about Asian and Black characters living their lives and playing basketball. All of the characters were realistic and relatable.

I’m not a huge basketball fan, but my favorite parts were of the descriptions of the games and the random facts about historical basketball players. Also, the book almost felt like non-fiction; Nancy is telling her story and reminiscing on her last year of high school, and the time she spent with Raina. The ending made me sad, but again, it was realistic. 

This book is so underrated! Y’all — It was published in 1997, and features an Asian American lesbian protagonist and several other lesbians of color, who are all in high school. The plot is NOT about coming out or feeling conflicted about being gay or other traumatic consequences of homophobia. It was beautiful and I’m glad I stumbled across this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

ilovegrassjelly123's review

Nancy is obsessive. It sometimes makes me very uncomfortable, but I get that it's supposed to show how obsessed teenagers can be when it comes to people they like or love. It's portrayed so well. The ending was so sad - I saw a review saying that it was bad but it wasn't, not in my opinion. It's Nancy looking back on how she was when she was younger, and it gave me the shattering insight of what could've happened if Nancy actually acted instead of staying dormant. I think this book really illustrates the regret people feel when they look back and the anger or yearning for the core of who someone is - the hunger that they have to be better but only against themselves. I also really loved the descriptions of Inglewood and it felt so real and homey.

tholin's review against another edition

2.0

I thought the book was good, and pretty much enjoyed it until I got to the end. I don't think a single one of the thousands of books I've read had a crappier ending. Nancy could have said a single sentence to Raina and their story would have had a happy ending. Instead Nancy was too uncertain and afraid to act on her feelings for Raina. So instead they drift apart and Nancy's success goes down the drain. No huge basketball career, an average job she doesn't love and the sadness and regret that she missed out on the greatest love that life actually held for her.

I HATE books with sad and unhappy endings. I know a book can be good with them, sometimes even better because the story demands it. Not in this case, I think. There was no point in writing such a depressing ending.

Had I known about the ending beforehand, I wouldn't have read this book. Why waste my time reading 368 pages only to be rewarded with an intense feeling of emptiness and sadness? Even the saddest book I've read had a happier ending than this.

dancing_librarian's review against another edition

1.0

i just skipped through this book. I don't know if it was the facet that it is mostly written in past tense or the fact that i'm not a fan of basketball. I just could not get into this book.

zoebamazing's review against another edition

2.0

The fatphobia in this book was extreme. As a YA book, I would never let a teen read this book with the prevalence of eating disorders in young women. It was nice to read a book that was so open about sexuality and lesbians in the 90s. But even the love aspect was extremely creepy at times and hard to even continue to read.

kgj4k4's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting read - different perspective than most of my sports books. The main character, an amazing high school basketball player, has to deal with not only the pressures of signing to play ball at a major college, but also with the pressures of a new family situation, and dealing with emotional issues and fitting in. Good read.

spacearcheologist's review against another edition

Didn't finish the book, might eventually but have completely lost interest in it. Really disliked the writing style.

tyecaptain's review against another edition

4.0

I really loved the way the basketball games were written. They were so intense and drew me in completely. I also felt Nancy's feelings for Raina as if they were my own. My only lament is the end! It was like everything was building to this amazing thing and then.. it just fell flat. I suppose it was meant to be a comment on real life, things like that happen, we miss 100% of the shots we don't take and such, but I sort of feel cheated. Even though I loved this book, I really wanted to finish it with a joy in my heart. But instead, I feel like I'm reliving all my old love wounds. It would have been nice to read a book about lesbians that didn't end in heartbreak.
I hope they get together later in life.

ksparks's review against another edition

5.0

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I read it several years ago and it has stuck with me all these years. I read it again and found it just as powerful. There are so many interesting things about this novel--it completely captures the experience of unrequited love, the characters are so well-drawn that you come to know not just the main characters but even minor characters. This novel has a powerful sense of place. It is clear that Nina Revoyr loves Los Angeles, and she is writing about a world she knows and loves. The novel sensitively covers all kinds of issues without seeming like an "issues" novel. The pace is slow and deliberate--and yet somehow creates emotional suspense. This novel broke my heart, but in a good way.