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A review by aggressive_nostalgia
Hunger by Michael Grant
I found this book much less engaging than the first, although it was in some ways better written. There was more plot originality and deeper emotional depth (as is often true of the second book in any good series), but the deeper exploration of Sam's inner thoughts completely alienated me. I do not want to be that deep in the head of a fifteen-year-old boy - his Astrid-fantasies were seriously starting to weird me out. The hints of innuendo that swirled around Sam and Caine in reference to their respective girlfriends were, IMHO, rather disturbing. But, moving on, the novel was well-written from the standpoint of its characters, again - Grant's variety of narrators was effective and interesting. And he broke away from some of the conventional main-character stereotypes in this book: Sam's not a 24/7-self-sacrificing example of outstanding integrity anymore - he shuts down and loses his temper and doesn't always do the right thing, even on purpose; and we start to see past Caine and Diana's supervillain veneer into their dark turmoil of emotions and their real passions. The lines between good and evil that were so sharply defined in the first novel are beginning to blur.
As far as the plot goes, there were some interesting twists and the premise was believable and packed potential; however, I have almost no stomach for the malfunctioning human body - just seeing words like "malnourished" makes me feel queasy - so the fact that everyone was starving really turned me off, and my interest flagged several times. But the psychological aspects of the way everyone dealt with that and just the other issues of running a world without adults and with superpowers and talking coyotes and an evil soul-consuming "Darkness" - plus, on top of that, the normal adolescence half these kids are going through - was very well-done and held my interest well enough for me to stick with it. And the cliffhanger ending really did me in. I heard he's planning to write six of these? As long as living in a fifteen-year-old boy's head doesn't get any creepier, I'll stick with the series.
And just for the record, Quinn is still, hands-down, my favorite character.
As far as the plot goes, there were some interesting twists and the premise was believable and packed potential; however, I have almost no stomach for the malfunctioning human body - just seeing words like "malnourished" makes me feel queasy - so the fact that everyone was starving really turned me off, and my interest flagged several times. But the psychological aspects of the way everyone dealt with that and just the other issues of running a world without adults and with superpowers and talking coyotes and an evil soul-consuming "Darkness" - plus, on top of that, the normal adolescence half these kids are going through - was very well-done and held my interest well enough for me to stick with it. And the cliffhanger ending really did me in. I heard he's planning to write six of these? As long as living in a fifteen-year-old boy's head doesn't get any creepier, I'll stick with the series.
And just for the record, Quinn is still, hands-down, my favorite character.