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A review by knightressx
Hungers as Old as This Land by Zachary Rosenberg
4.0
Thank you NetGalley Zachary Rosenberg and Brigid Gate Press for providing me this intriguing eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Novels/Novellas with a Western theme are not normally my cup of tea. But once I read the summary of Hungers as Old as This Land, I was definitely intrigued. How could a horror fan resist a story with fascinating characters and a sacred deal with unearthly creatures?
Esther Foxman and Siobhan O’Clery as fascinating women, with Esther being immensely relatable to me due to sharing and understanding the difficulties and complexities of two different racial/cultural/religious backgrounds.
The antagonist Cyril Redstone and his benefactor are more typical in being driven by greed, but are not over-the-top caricatures despite their villainy. I wish we had been given more time with some of the characters with smaller roles-such as Esther’s father-and more time with the settlers of Grey’s Bluffs before things went awry.
But I can understand the desire to balance the story and characters without possibly dragging things out unnecessarily. The Hungers themselves are also fascinating and ravenous beings, capable of both horrifying violence and intelligent reasoning.
Hungers as Old as This Land is an excellent story with the horrors caused by men and monsters balanced by the sweet moments of romance between Esther and Siobhan, the love between Esther and her father and the friendship between the women and the unintentional cause of the trouble within Grey’s Bluff.
The novel doesn’t shy away from the racism and anti-Semitism that Esther faces and it also doesn’t revel in either for unnecessary shock value. Esther and Siobhan’s relationship isn’t portrayed explicitly to tantalize, but rather displays a tenderness and strength that is engaging.
I thoroughly enjoyed Hungers as Old as This Land and would recommend it to others.
Novels/Novellas with a Western theme are not normally my cup of tea. But once I read the summary of Hungers as Old as This Land, I was definitely intrigued. How could a horror fan resist a story with fascinating characters and a sacred deal with unearthly creatures?
Esther Foxman and Siobhan O’Clery as fascinating women, with Esther being immensely relatable to me due to sharing and understanding the difficulties and complexities of two different racial/cultural/religious backgrounds.
The antagonist Cyril Redstone and his benefactor are more typical in being driven by greed, but are not over-the-top caricatures despite their villainy. I wish we had been given more time with some of the characters with smaller roles-such as Esther’s father-and more time with the settlers of Grey’s Bluffs before things went awry.
But I can understand the desire to balance the story and characters without possibly dragging things out unnecessarily. The Hungers themselves are also fascinating and ravenous beings, capable of both horrifying violence and intelligent reasoning.
Hungers as Old as This Land is an excellent story with the horrors caused by men and monsters balanced by the sweet moments of romance between Esther and Siobhan, the love between Esther and her father and the friendship between the women and the unintentional cause of the trouble within Grey’s Bluff.
The novel doesn’t shy away from the racism and anti-Semitism that Esther faces and it also doesn’t revel in either for unnecessary shock value. Esther and Siobhan’s relationship isn’t portrayed explicitly to tantalize, but rather displays a tenderness and strength that is engaging.
I thoroughly enjoyed Hungers as Old as This Land and would recommend it to others.