A review by ehmannky
The Hunger by Alma Katsu

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A creepy re-imagining of the Donner's Party slow and disastrous trek to California--the genre of "we are living through a terrible event in human history and there are also The Horrors trying to kill us too" remains undefeated. The book bounces back between the trek west and the constant problems that the party had and brief glimpses into the backstories of the POV characters. The weight of their secrets and sins slowly weigh them down as they get closer to Truckee Lake, even as they are hunted by horrid creatures consumed by their own hunger. I liked the way the creatures (which resemble a mix between werewolf and wendigo mythologies) come through as representations of the weight of these sins (which are mostly sins due to the constraints of the white "civilization" they're leaving behind), the violence inherent in the expansion west, and then the terror of experiencing nature in all its violence. Katsu does play a little fast and loose with history here, which is something she openly admits at the end in order to make a better story. 

I also really liked the juxtaposition of the Donner-Reed party with the glimpses of Native people that we see. I felt like the emphasis on how the white settlers hoarded their food, refused to cooperate even as everyone was literally starving, and just the general violence they turn to as a first resort was just a contrast to the emphasis on sharing food even with strangers. Even the tribe that does fall prey to the hunger creatures in the woods is that way because, as the text says, they were infected by this culture of individualism that comes from Europe in the form of a prospector. 
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