REVIEW: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Source: Bought

Lisabeth Lewis was interrupted during her suicide attempt by none other than Death himself, who informed her that she was now Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She thinks it's just a dream until she wakes up to find a horse that no one else can see eating her mother's shrubs, and a set of ornate scales that vanish and appear at random. As Lisa struggles with her new office, she also struggles to maintain the appearance of normalcy, for she's not just a Horseman, she's also anorexic.

When I first heard about this book, I was so excited, because I thought the premise was really cool, but I wasn't really sure about how the anorexia would be treated. Nothing drives me more crazy than inaccurate depictions of serious psychiatric conditions, particularly in movies (seriously, guys, the DSM isn't a tough read, it really isn't), but I was pleasantly surprised. I don't have any personal experience with anyone with this disorder, but many of the really scary changes (missed periods, hair loss, fatigue, feeling cold constantly) were described vividly. Through it all, Lisa can only focus on the fact that she could do more (the "Thin voice", as she calls it, eggs her on). Not only that, but the way her disorder completely highjacked her life was also clear, since she had stopped speaking to her former best friend and was fighting almost constantly with her boyfriend. I got the sense that the author really did her research, since both the facts and the emotional impact of anorexia were presented accurately.

SLIGHTLY SPOILY PARAGRAPH FOLLOWING:

Onto the story itself-even though it's a really short book (174 pages), there was a really well-told story in there. I didn't feel like any single scene was just glossed over. I would have liked a little more info about the Horsemen, and who everyone was, but maybe it's something that will develop as the series continues. The plot unfolded nicely, and the final scene was just awesome. The way that Lisa's struggle with anorexia mirrors her struggle with War (let's just say they get off to a rocky start) was really nicely done; plus, that final scene was a cure-all, everything's better type of ending, either, which was great! Lisa had to do the real work of getting better herself. Again, that's the author's respect of how complicated the disorder is.

I liked everything about this book. Lisa was a great character, really tough and smart, and the writing was lovely. It's a pretty tiny book, but I felt pretty satisfied when I finished it. I really can't wait for the next book, Rage, which is due April 4, I think. It's about a girl who self-injures. I know the author had personal experience with eating disorders, which probably helped her get the thinking behind Lisa's actions, but I'm pretty confident she'll do her research to get the mindset behind self-injury right. Plus, part of the proceeds of both of these books go to the National Eating Disorders Association, which is pretty cool.

Grade-4/5