Review: Hunger (Kessler)

Title: Hunger
Author: Kessler
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Eating Disorders
Pages: 177
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

As I read the book over the summer, I am once again stealing the synopsis from Goodreads: Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?


Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

This is the first book in an intended series about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalype, and it is a fascinating premise.  I really liked the original take on a story dealing with eating disorders.  This is definitely not the usual approach when writing about this difficult topic.  And even though it is a book about a teenage girl struggling with an eating disorder, there is so much more going on in this quick read.

Death, one of the other Horsemen, is actually my favorite character in this book.  He has the snarky attitude you would expect of someone symbolizing Death, and I could completely visualize him in my head.  I hope that he is the star of the next title, though maybe I shouldn't like him quite so much.  He is Death, after all.