Review: Hunger

By: Michael Grant
Published: May 2009 by HarperTeen
Format: Hardback, 590 pages
First Reviewed: January 2011
Buy: Barnes & Noble//Books-A-Million//Amazon//Book Depository
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The only thing to fear is each other.

Food ran out weeks ago. Everyone is starving, but no one wants to figure out a solution. And each day, more and more kids are evolving, developing supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers.
Tension rises and chaos is descending upon the town. It's the normal kids against the mutants. Each kid is out for himself, and even the good ones turn murderous.
But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.
The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.

Rating: 3/5

First off, I think this was a solid sequel to Gone, which was a great read, but I don't know if I loved it as much as the first. The plot was still equally as engaging; Michael Grant has one vivid, creative imagination, that's for sure. There were times when I found myself wondering how he came up with some of this stuff. That's a good thing, mind you.

My main issue was with the characters. For some reason, they didn't develop as much as I expect from sequels. And there were. so. many. characters! I literally lost track of who was who at times. There really were too many characters.

Also, something that stuck out at me this time around, that didn't really the first time was illness. (Somewhat a spoiler) I thought...surely there had to be a hospital in this place. Surely there were sick children there. Did no one think to go check the hospitals for sick/dead children? I'm going to laugh at myself if I missed this detail, but I don't think I did. I don't remember anyone checking for cancer-sick kids.

Writing-wise, I still felt it was strong. Though, now, I caught Grant using "twin" way too much, and "vomiting." Twin this. Twin that. He vomited, she vomited, they felt like vomiting. Kind of over-whleming at times, I'll admit. However, I still enjoy the series, but Gone was better and these types of books just aren't for me. Apologies for the short review; this deserves a re-read in the future for a better review.