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Hunger
When Beth wakes up one morning covered in dirt, she puts it down to an extreme case of sleep-walking. But when reports of a desecrated grave start to circulate, her night-time wanderings take on a sinister air.
Soon the city is being plagued by strange sightings and sudden disappearances.
Beth knows that something is changing within her. Something that's filling her with an urgent, desperate hunger that demands to be satisfied - at any cost ...
Soon the city is being plagued by strange sightings and sudden disappearances.
Beth knows that something is changing within her. Something that's filling her with an urgent, desperate hunger that demands to be satisfied - at any cost ...
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 17, 2013
3 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Melvin Burgess
92 books434 followersMelvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known children's books of the decade.
Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...
Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 25, 2015
This is a review of the audio version of this book.
Full review to come, but it's the best audio book I've ever listened to. And yes, it beats Stephen Fry 's reading of Harry Potter. Seriously.
Full review to come, but it's the best audio book I've ever listened to. And yes, it beats Stephen Fry 's reading of Harry Potter. Seriously.
April 1, 2013
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A COUPLE OF SPOILERS. (But if you read this review, you won't want to read the actual book anyway, so it's no loss.)
If I didn't know better, I'd think this was book was written by a 15-year-old. The writing is very simplistic, like a children's book, with uncomplicated sentence structure and repetitiveness--I mean a LOT. There was a bare minimum of character background information or setting description. Some people might call this type of writing "stark", but to me, stark writing has a kind of poetry to it, and this was decidedly unartful.
This is my first book by Melvin Burgess, but he's supposedly very good at writing YA books. I'd never have guessed. There was a lot of supernatural in this book, but the least believable part were the characters. These kids are supposed to be in university, but they never do homework, go to class, or even talk about class. They don't even mention the fact that they are all missing their classes (or, since the story takes place in the late fall, EXAMS) during their adventure. The only time the school actually appears in the book is when Coll--the sexually promiscuous nerd--uses a school lab to make poison without being noticed by anyone.
In fact, these kids managed to torture monsters, transport and bury bodies, and destroy property without anyone else in town noticing at all. Coll uses multiple tools in her parent's garage to beat on a vampire for over an hour without waking anyone in the house. That's one sound-proof garage.
These characters just aren't nearly as scared as they should be. They take breaks in the middle of world-ending evil to go on holiday, party and get drunk. They should be frightened out of their wits and fearing for their sanity, not cracking jokes, watching movies and getting in on with each other. One of them had the gall to complain that their housemate Ivan had drank all the beer "as usual" just hours after Beth was forced to strangle him to death. And nobody even flinched. There were no psychological consequences to any of the bizarre and violent things that happened to these kids.
The relationship that developed between Coll and Louis was ridiculous. She's had a crush on him since grade two, and he's never been interested. According to the narrative, he suddenly sees something in her behaviour during this crisis that changes his mind, though I'll be damned if I know what it is. If I spend ten-plus years just not be attracted to to someone, seeing them display a bit of bravery isn't going to miraculously swoop me off my feet. All those things Louis found unattractive about Coll are still there, and once this is all over, opportunities to be brave (or whatever it is he now sees in her) are going to be few and far between.
Who is this book written for? I would hesitate to call it YA, due to all the references to sex, and the drinking and swearing. Hunger is like a children's book starring young adults with 18+ themes. So maybe the intended audience is adults who read at a fifth grade level.
The plot idea isn't horrible, and I liked that instead of Louis's God swooping in to save the day, he actually finds out there is no God. That was a nice twist you'd never get from an American YA author.
Conclusion: SKIP THIS BOOK, it's not worth it.
This review and more: http://bit.ly/14ApvvM
If I didn't know better, I'd think this was book was written by a 15-year-old. The writing is very simplistic, like a children's book, with uncomplicated sentence structure and repetitiveness--I mean a LOT. There was a bare minimum of character background information or setting description. Some people might call this type of writing "stark", but to me, stark writing has a kind of poetry to it, and this was decidedly unartful.
This is my first book by Melvin Burgess, but he's supposedly very good at writing YA books. I'd never have guessed. There was a lot of supernatural in this book, but the least believable part were the characters. These kids are supposed to be in university, but they never do homework, go to class, or even talk about class. They don't even mention the fact that they are all missing their classes (or, since the story takes place in the late fall, EXAMS) during their adventure. The only time the school actually appears in the book is when Coll--the sexually promiscuous nerd--uses a school lab to make poison without being noticed by anyone.
In fact, these kids managed to torture monsters, transport and bury bodies, and destroy property without anyone else in town noticing at all. Coll uses multiple tools in her parent's garage to beat on a vampire for over an hour without waking anyone in the house. That's one sound-proof garage.
These characters just aren't nearly as scared as they should be. They take breaks in the middle of world-ending evil to go on holiday, party and get drunk. They should be frightened out of their wits and fearing for their sanity, not cracking jokes, watching movies and getting in on with each other. One of them had the gall to complain that their housemate Ivan had drank all the beer "as usual" just hours after Beth was forced to strangle him to death. And nobody even flinched. There were no psychological consequences to any of the bizarre and violent things that happened to these kids.
The relationship that developed between Coll and Louis was ridiculous. She's had a crush on him since grade two, and he's never been interested. According to the narrative, he suddenly sees something in her behaviour during this crisis that changes his mind, though I'll be damned if I know what it is. If I spend ten-plus years just not be attracted to to someone, seeing them display a bit of bravery isn't going to miraculously swoop me off my feet. All those things Louis found unattractive about Coll are still there, and once this is all over, opportunities to be brave (or whatever it is he now sees in her) are going to be few and far between.
Who is this book written for? I would hesitate to call it YA, due to all the references to sex, and the drinking and swearing. Hunger is like a children's book starring young adults with 18+ themes. So maybe the intended audience is adults who read at a fifth grade level.
The plot idea isn't horrible, and I liked that instead of Louis's God swooping in to save the day, he actually finds out there is no God. That was a nice twist you'd never get from an American YA author.
Conclusion: SKIP THIS BOOK, it's not worth it.
This review and more: http://bit.ly/14ApvvM
April 27, 2023
1/10
Truly awful, the dialogue, the concept the depiction of mental health disorders, the characters. Everything was just dreadful, honestly not a single redeeming factor. The whole thing wasn’t even slightly scary it was just clique and boring.
Feels like the whole thing is written for adults with the minds of children and that may sound harsh but that’s the only audience I can think this is for.
Truly awful, the dialogue, the concept the depiction of mental health disorders, the characters. Everything was just dreadful, honestly not a single redeeming factor. The whole thing wasn’t even slightly scary it was just clique and boring.
Feels like the whole thing is written for adults with the minds of children and that may sound harsh but that’s the only audience I can think this is for.
August 19, 2019
This book was ok, but there were some glaring issues that I couldn’t ignore. For starters, Burgess really needed to decide what this book was about. Is it about vampires, ghouls, demons, or ghosts? And is it about Beth being possessed, or about them stopping the demon? It feels a little bit like he took every bit of creepy lore he could get his hands on and jammed it all into one.
Secondly, that villain SUCKED. He is SO cliche, I can’t even stand it. His motives are cliche, his actions are cliche, his dialogue is CLICHE. He was completely one dimensional- I don’t care about the tiny possibility of redemption they conveniently offered in the end. 1: we knew he wasn’t going to take it. If he had it would have been a serious breach of character, so why bother opening that path? 2: he has spent the entire book killing their friends and generally traumatizing them, so what on earth brings them this compassion? He literally just threw their best friend’s head at them; no human has that much compassion.
Thirdly, there’s Ivan. I must admit that his endearment to us was masterful; we think he’s a prick until he’s a disfigured servant to the bad guy. But every interaction with him involved them trying to get him to remember who they are; he says their names in a way that makes me think he does remember them. As a reader, that makes me think there’s a redemption arc, that he helps them in the end because there’s still a man inside that beast. BUT THERE ISNT. Never mind, right? Just forget that thing I’ve had you waiting for for 3/4 of the whole book.
Then, there’s what happened to Cole. I loved Cole; she was spunky, realistic, endearing, and well rounded. She was just as much a main character as Beth and Louis. She fought for it. And then the bad guy pulled her head out of the fridge. I have two main issues with Cole’s death: the first is that the last time we saw her, she was being brilliant and was totally going to get out of it. Then the next time we see her she’s dead. There was no justice for her. And the second was how abrupt it was; it was like Burgess remembered ‘oh, I was gonna kill Cole, whoops. Better do it.’
All in all, I was disappointed with how things turned out.
Secondly, that villain SUCKED. He is SO cliche, I can’t even stand it. His motives are cliche, his actions are cliche, his dialogue is CLICHE. He was completely one dimensional- I don’t care about the tiny possibility of redemption they conveniently offered in the end. 1: we knew he wasn’t going to take it. If he had it would have been a serious breach of character, so why bother opening that path? 2: he has spent the entire book killing their friends and generally traumatizing them, so what on earth brings them this compassion? He literally just threw their best friend’s head at them; no human has that much compassion.
Thirdly, there’s Ivan. I must admit that his endearment to us was masterful; we think he’s a prick until he’s a disfigured servant to the bad guy. But every interaction with him involved them trying to get him to remember who they are; he says their names in a way that makes me think he does remember them. As a reader, that makes me think there’s a redemption arc, that he helps them in the end because there’s still a man inside that beast. BUT THERE ISNT. Never mind, right? Just forget that thing I’ve had you waiting for for 3/4 of the whole book.
Then, there’s what happened to Cole. I loved Cole; she was spunky, realistic, endearing, and well rounded. She was just as much a main character as Beth and Louis. She fought for it. And then the bad guy pulled her head out of the fridge. I have two main issues with Cole’s death: the first is that the last time we saw her, she was being brilliant and was totally going to get out of it. Then the next time we see her she’s dead. There was no justice for her. And the second was how abrupt it was; it was like Burgess remembered ‘oh, I was gonna kill Cole, whoops. Better do it.’
All in all, I was disappointed with how things turned out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2014
I read 30 or so pages of this and found the writing style to be very clunky and too simplistic. It's really not very good, so I've decided to cut my loses and abandon it. Shame.
July 27, 2015
Standard demonic fayre, set in my home city. Feels like it should have been aimed at a YA audience.
September 23, 2019
Hunger sounded promising when I read the book jacket. However, once I started reading I found the writing style to be too simple and juvenile.
For me Hunger was not my cup of tea.
For me Hunger was not my cup of tea.
April 7, 2018
DNF - I worked up to just over half way (page 150 to be exact) and gave up.
Ensuing rant ahead.
I tried with this one, but I could tell within a chapter and a half that I was not going to enjoy it and a few times I wondered if I'd make it through the next chapter.
It wasn't until halfway through chapter nine that I gave up.
There was undeniably potential in this story, but it was quickly lost by the characters and the pacing.
Did this story want to be a possession story? A monster story? An end of the world story?
Why not all? As that's apparently where it was going and boy was it getting there quickly, jarringly quickly.
I know one of the quotes on the back says; "A grizzly, fast-paced novella..." but there's 'fast paced' and there's 'this storyline could have been woven throughout the book, but we'll get it done in half a chapter', such as the plot about Beth's dad knowing and helping her with her issues when she was younger. Sure it's mentioned a few more times (from what I continued reading) but I think it would have been cool to reveal these things gradually throughout the story.
As a horror writer (though nowhere near as big as this guy is), I understand wanting to get to the grit of the story, but sometimes you need to take your time or if you do want to make it 'fast paced' at least make it cohesively fast paced.
There were about two moments from what I recall where I had to stop and reread half a page because a thing suddenly happened that I could not follow (looking at you scene in the house involving Loius and Coll) and all too often something would happen and there'd be a nice set up flowing when "Suddenly Beth got possessed again!" or "Suddenly a thing happened!" and I was more often than not thinking, 'ugh, I just don't care'.
It got a little tiresome.
Not to mention that it was so hard to care about any of the characters.
Beth was bland and honestly too self involved for me to care about, whining about not wanting to be 'another girl' to Ivan then going to sleep with him again after getting drunk.
Coll was just the best friend slash anything the writer needed her to be in that moment.
Louis was okay, just the protective brother and the Christian.
Ivan was probably my favourite, though that isn't saying much, but I couldn't understand why he pined for Beth so badly.
I guess it's just all those crazy young adult hormones going on there.
So for me personally, it's a DNF, straight to the charity shop pile for the next sucker.
Ensuing rant ahead.
I tried with this one, but I could tell within a chapter and a half that I was not going to enjoy it and a few times I wondered if I'd make it through the next chapter.
It wasn't until halfway through chapter nine that I gave up.
There was undeniably potential in this story, but it was quickly lost by the characters and the pacing.
Did this story want to be a possession story? A monster story? An end of the world story?
Why not all? As that's apparently where it was going and boy was it getting there quickly, jarringly quickly.
I know one of the quotes on the back says; "A grizzly, fast-paced novella..." but there's 'fast paced' and there's 'this storyline could have been woven throughout the book, but we'll get it done in half a chapter', such as the plot about Beth's dad knowing and helping her with her issues when she was younger. Sure it's mentioned a few more times (from what I continued reading) but I think it would have been cool to reveal these things gradually throughout the story.
As a horror writer (though nowhere near as big as this guy is), I understand wanting to get to the grit of the story, but sometimes you need to take your time or if you do want to make it 'fast paced' at least make it cohesively fast paced.
There were about two moments from what I recall where I had to stop and reread half a page because a thing suddenly happened that I could not follow (looking at you scene in the house involving Loius and Coll) and all too often something would happen and there'd be a nice set up flowing when "Suddenly Beth got possessed again!" or "Suddenly a thing happened!" and I was more often than not thinking, 'ugh, I just don't care'.
It got a little tiresome.
Not to mention that it was so hard to care about any of the characters.
Beth was bland and honestly too self involved for me to care about, whining about not wanting to be 'another girl' to Ivan then going to sleep with him again after getting drunk.
Coll was just the best friend slash anything the writer needed her to be in that moment.
Louis was okay, just the protective brother and the Christian.
Ivan was probably my favourite, though that isn't saying much, but I couldn't understand why he pined for Beth so badly.
I guess it's just all those crazy young adult hormones going on there.
So for me personally, it's a DNF, straight to the charity shop pile for the next sucker.
April 11, 2021
This book is really bad. It starts off fine with an interesting idea, but by page 100 its flaws are out there and just get worse throughout the story.
Let's start with the narrative. I know the author is a YA author so you expect narrative style more in that fashion, but the style is overly simplistic and often seems to skip key plot points for no good reason. It makes it easy to read but easy enough to read half asleep and not really miss anything. It's also just not scary.
The plot starts well but by the end it has descended into a confused mess. The characters make consistently odd decisions (mostly bad) and important plot points often come out of nowhere with no explanation or exploration. For example, the existence/non-existence of God is confirmed in a one off throw away line and then never really reflected on. There are also very clear nods to Dracula in the plot. Sadly none are written well and all it did is remind me of what a great story Dracula is and how I'd rather be reading that.
The villain seems to be any number of different supernatural creatures, none of which are explained or coherently written. By the end of the story he is a poor cliché of far better written monsters from other books.
Finally, the lead characters. They are university age students so you expect a level of poor decision making, but this is top level stupidity. The best example being that they have had to go into hiding from the villain. They've got the knowledge and tools to try to defeat the villain so what do you do? You go for a big night out of course. Characters this stupid deserve to be eaten. At times it's like reading a particularly bad episode of Scooby Doo.
So, this book goes into the charity shop pile with a big warning of "do not read".
Let's start with the narrative. I know the author is a YA author so you expect narrative style more in that fashion, but the style is overly simplistic and often seems to skip key plot points for no good reason. It makes it easy to read but easy enough to read half asleep and not really miss anything. It's also just not scary.
The plot starts well but by the end it has descended into a confused mess. The characters make consistently odd decisions (mostly bad) and important plot points often come out of nowhere with no explanation or exploration. For example, the existence/non-existence of God is confirmed in a one off throw away line and then never really reflected on. There are also very clear nods to Dracula in the plot. Sadly none are written well and all it did is remind me of what a great story Dracula is and how I'd rather be reading that.
The villain seems to be any number of different supernatural creatures, none of which are explained or coherently written. By the end of the story he is a poor cliché of far better written monsters from other books.
Finally, the lead characters. They are university age students so you expect a level of poor decision making, but this is top level stupidity. The best example being that they have had to go into hiding from the villain. They've got the knowledge and tools to try to defeat the villain so what do you do? You go for a big night out of course. Characters this stupid deserve to be eaten. At times it's like reading a particularly bad episode of Scooby Doo.
So, this book goes into the charity shop pile with a big warning of "do not read".
September 12, 2025
This was a fun read. I honestly dont expect most horror/creature stories to be award winning writing. I know some are but many are not.
That being said.. Hunger was not a bad read. I have no idea why it got so many bad reviews. SURE it was simple at times but I liked the characters, I liked the creature ( I wont spoil) and I liked most of the story. There was a few little things I would have changed but overall I found this story very entertaining . I also thought the final confrontation was well done.
I was looking for a short, simple read . Something outside of the overly serious books I normally go to and this satisfied that hunger ( see what I did there? ) for me .
If you go in thinking of this as a low budget creature film, its a lot of fun
That being said.. Hunger was not a bad read. I have no idea why it got so many bad reviews. SURE it was simple at times but I liked the characters, I liked the creature ( I wont spoil) and I liked most of the story. There was a few little things I would have changed but overall I found this story very entertaining . I also thought the final confrontation was well done.
I was looking for a short, simple read . Something outside of the overly serious books I normally go to and this satisfied that hunger ( see what I did there? ) for me .
If you go in thinking of this as a low budget creature film, its a lot of fun
July 27, 2025
I was drawn to this book due to my love of Vampire horror novels, plus the added bonus of it being a Hammer-Arrow publication. No one does horror like Hammer.
Unfortunately however, this is the closest I have come in a long time to giving up on a book halfway through.
The terrible storyline is matched only by the terrible characters and ultimately terrible writing. I only gave it one star because it won’t let me rate it zero stars.
Incredibly disappointing, especially as it came recommended.
I’m not sure if this is the first in a series, but if so, I won’t be reading them.
Unfortunately however, this is the closest I have come in a long time to giving up on a book halfway through.
The terrible storyline is matched only by the terrible characters and ultimately terrible writing. I only gave it one star because it won’t let me rate it zero stars.
Incredibly disappointing, especially as it came recommended.
I’m not sure if this is the first in a series, but if so, I won’t be reading them.
February 1, 2020
This book had definite promise to start with. The suspense was building rapidly as all of the characters were dragged into the one by one as they tried to find a way to stop the demon. I thought the premise of Beth as a gateway to the souls of the dead and her deceased Mother standing guard over her soul was interesting but unfortunately the ending let it down massively as it was anticlimactic and felt very rushed.
August 10, 2018
Don't have this book as a bed time read, you will have nightmares.
December 17, 2019
I also found the writing style to be quite amateur, didn't finish..
July 19, 2020
Honestly It was very badly written.It reminded me of writing styles teenagers use on Wattpad.I guess i could have ecxused writing if the story itself was interesting,but that was not the case here.
October 17, 2022
um dia eu tava a toa no shopping e vi esse livro por 10 reais. comprei pra passar o tempo. a sensação é que assisti um filme adolescente muito ruim na tela quente.
March 2, 2024
Different. Horror / vampire / spirit genre
October 11, 2024
Hmmmm... I've listened to worst, but then I've listened to better audio books. This wasn't awful but i felt it should have been a YA, bit cringy at times. A bit like a goosebumps book only worse.
December 19, 2017
Melvin Burgess is a masterful young adult writer. Perfectly able to encapsulate what it means to be a teenager in books like Junk and Doing It, and equally adept at creating dystopian science fiction in books such as Bloodtide and Bloodsong, Burgess has long been a favourite author of mine. However, Hunger just didn’t live up to the standard I’ve come to expect from his writing.
The mystery behind what is happening to Beth sets the story up seamlessly. This first quarter of the book is spine-chilling. The strangeness behind Beth not knowing what was causing her aches and pains and hunger, along with the connection to the empty grave really got under my skin and I found myself avoiding reading it at night time because it was too creepy to handle, all alone in my flat!
However, once the supernatural element of plot was revealed it lost its sense of drama and menace for me. The rest of the book felt a little too much like a Scooby-Doo episode. Will the pesky kids manage to defeat the beastly ghoul? Endless chase after chase with the kids managing to escape by a whisker got a little tiresome. The book didn’t feel like it was moving along in terms of the plot, we were just reading encounter after encounter where they had managed to put themselves in vulnerable situations.
Beth, her brother Louis, her best friend Coll and Louis’s best friend Ivan are all at University but throughout the book no mention is given to the fact they may have lectures, assignments, part-time jobs… They just seem to live in a perpetual Sunday where nothing happens in the outside world and they don’t have any responsibilities. This kind of slack characterisation is so out of line with Burgess’s usual writing. If it wasn’t for the repeated (and unnecessary to the story) mentions to the casual sex that they’re all having I would have thought the book was written for 7-10 year olds rather than the young adult audience it is aimed at.
The climax of the story doesn’t get into full swing until the last 60 or so pages. The entire middle section of the book plods along with no massive changes or plot development and then we have a flurry of action right at the end which wraps everything up nicely. Despite this neat ending, my feeling on putting the book down was a sense of relief that it was finished, but also disappointment that the story which had been set up so well had resulted in such a safe, average plot. I hope that this is a one-off for Burgess and his next book returns to the standard I’ve come to expect from him.
This review first appeared on Nudge-Books.com on 8th May 2013.
The mystery behind what is happening to Beth sets the story up seamlessly. This first quarter of the book is spine-chilling. The strangeness behind Beth not knowing what was causing her aches and pains and hunger, along with the connection to the empty grave really got under my skin and I found myself avoiding reading it at night time because it was too creepy to handle, all alone in my flat!
However, once the supernatural element of plot was revealed it lost its sense of drama and menace for me. The rest of the book felt a little too much like a Scooby-Doo episode. Will the pesky kids manage to defeat the beastly ghoul? Endless chase after chase with the kids managing to escape by a whisker got a little tiresome. The book didn’t feel like it was moving along in terms of the plot, we were just reading encounter after encounter where they had managed to put themselves in vulnerable situations.
Beth, her brother Louis, her best friend Coll and Louis’s best friend Ivan are all at University but throughout the book no mention is given to the fact they may have lectures, assignments, part-time jobs… They just seem to live in a perpetual Sunday where nothing happens in the outside world and they don’t have any responsibilities. This kind of slack characterisation is so out of line with Burgess’s usual writing. If it wasn’t for the repeated (and unnecessary to the story) mentions to the casual sex that they’re all having I would have thought the book was written for 7-10 year olds rather than the young adult audience it is aimed at.
The climax of the story doesn’t get into full swing until the last 60 or so pages. The entire middle section of the book plods along with no massive changes or plot development and then we have a flurry of action right at the end which wraps everything up nicely. Despite this neat ending, my feeling on putting the book down was a sense of relief that it was finished, but also disappointment that the story which had been set up so well had resulted in such a safe, average plot. I hope that this is a one-off for Burgess and his next book returns to the standard I’ve come to expect from him.
This review first appeared on Nudge-Books.com on 8th May 2013.
January 21, 2013
Review by Beth <3
Melvin Burgess is one of my all-time favourite authors, from reading Junk when I was 10 or 11 I have been hooked on his fantastic style and ability to get through to readers of all ages. However, Hunger offers something different. Hunger moves away from Burgess’ cutting edge real-life novels and moves into supernatural, horror and gore territory. I loved it!
Hunger is the first release from Hammer, the cult horror film brand who have now moved into literature. Burgess offers his trademark fast-paced novel with a gritty, horror edge as our protagonist Beth wakes to find herself covered in bruises, dirt and with a mysterious brick under her bed. This marks the beginning of entry to a brand new, supernatural world packed out with terrifying demons, ghouls and vampires. The worst bit? These creatures are all seemingly invincible.
Beth is joined by her elder brother and two friends as she attempts to stave off these dark creatures but nothing is as it seems and there are more and more stomach-turning moments as the novel continues. Every time it seems they’ve got one up on the terrifying spectres, something else seems to go wrong. I particularly enjoyed the backstory built up for the supernatural creatures and how they become less superficial demons and more strong, believable characters – making them even more scary!
Burgess’ novel is extremely clever – it reminds me in parts of a literary version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer although it isn’t too vampire-centric thankfully as I’m not really into vampire stories. What’s more, Burgess also manages to write in a style which fits perfectly with the Hammer image, with some of the dialogue coming across as a little more than cheesy!
I’d be lying if I said Hunger was Burgess’ best work but it’s a quick read with a thrilling plot and all the gore and blood you’d expect from Hammer. His blunt, gritty style fits perfectly into the horror genre and there’s believability to the novel which makes it stick in your mind long after finishing it.
Melvin Burgess is one of my all-time favourite authors, from reading Junk when I was 10 or 11 I have been hooked on his fantastic style and ability to get through to readers of all ages. However, Hunger offers something different. Hunger moves away from Burgess’ cutting edge real-life novels and moves into supernatural, horror and gore territory. I loved it!
Hunger is the first release from Hammer, the cult horror film brand who have now moved into literature. Burgess offers his trademark fast-paced novel with a gritty, horror edge as our protagonist Beth wakes to find herself covered in bruises, dirt and with a mysterious brick under her bed. This marks the beginning of entry to a brand new, supernatural world packed out with terrifying demons, ghouls and vampires. The worst bit? These creatures are all seemingly invincible.
Beth is joined by her elder brother and two friends as she attempts to stave off these dark creatures but nothing is as it seems and there are more and more stomach-turning moments as the novel continues. Every time it seems they’ve got one up on the terrifying spectres, something else seems to go wrong. I particularly enjoyed the backstory built up for the supernatural creatures and how they become less superficial demons and more strong, believable characters – making them even more scary!
Burgess’ novel is extremely clever – it reminds me in parts of a literary version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer although it isn’t too vampire-centric thankfully as I’m not really into vampire stories. What’s more, Burgess also manages to write in a style which fits perfectly with the Hammer image, with some of the dialogue coming across as a little more than cheesy!
I’d be lying if I said Hunger was Burgess’ best work but it’s a quick read with a thrilling plot and all the gore and blood you’d expect from Hammer. His blunt, gritty style fits perfectly into the horror genre and there’s believability to the novel which makes it stick in your mind long after finishing it.
August 14, 2016
Okay...this book was enjoyable enough. But you cannot look at it with a critical eye or the plot holes will suck you down deep.
What this book does have is a great four piece set of characters. They're like a little scooby gang. Ivan is the scaredy cat, Coll is the smarty pants, Beth is the hero, and her brother Louis is the sidekick. They fit into their stereotypical roles quite well. The dynamics between the four of them are quite predictable.
The folk lore around the demon and ghouls and vampires is very enjoyable and creepy. The library that the group goes to is like a dream for me. I wish it were real so I could run around shelves filled with occult books. The first time the group encounters the demon in an abandoned house is quite chilling and I really enjoyed that.
But unfortunately with this book it leaves you with a lot of questions and seems to skip over a lot of important things. It's one of those books where the author's like....don't worry about it...and you're like...but i'm worrying about it!!! Like how are these Uni students missing so much school and no one seems to notice or care? How are the parents so oblivious to everything going on? Where are these kids getting all this money from to take trains and buy food and stay in hotels? And how the hell are they going to explain all these deaths????
It felt very unwrapped up and I spent a lot of the book going:
But you know what...if you want a quick and spooky and mindless read....pick this book up and enjoy it for what it is.
February 28, 2013
Hunger is unlike anything I’ve ever read by Melvin Burgess and I’m really not sure what I thought of it.
Right from the get go, Hunger creeped me out. It threw out eerie situations and strange questions: where’s all the dirt come from? Why can’t Beth remember what happened? Why can she smell death? Why is she so hungry all the time? It unnerved me so much that I had to stop reading. The vagueness of the events that kick-started the novel really amped up the tension beautifully.
Although I was glad I stopped jumping out of my skin at every noise surrounding me, I was a little disappointed when the creep-factor trailed off once the story got going. I became a little more like your average supernatural novel for me.
If it wasn’t for the signature Melvin Burgess touches, I don’t know whether I would have liked Hunger. As ever, issues of sex, drinking, death and bad language were tackled head on and not a single punch was pulled. I love the Burgess tells it as it is. The novel also delivered a powerful religious message about Heaven, Hell and the absence of God that many authors void studiously avoid.
I was impressed with the choice of supernatural creature though. Ghouls and demons are encountered so rarely in YA, in fact I think the TV show Supernatural is the only other place I've really come across them! I really enjoyed learning about creatures and mythology that I hadn’t really come across before and my ignorance made it so much more exciting.
Though I was unsure about Hunger, the things I enjoyed definitely outweighed the negatives. I mean, come on, it was written by Melvin Burgess.
Right from the get go, Hunger creeped me out. It threw out eerie situations and strange questions: where’s all the dirt come from? Why can’t Beth remember what happened? Why can she smell death? Why is she so hungry all the time? It unnerved me so much that I had to stop reading. The vagueness of the events that kick-started the novel really amped up the tension beautifully.
Although I was glad I stopped jumping out of my skin at every noise surrounding me, I was a little disappointed when the creep-factor trailed off once the story got going. I became a little more like your average supernatural novel for me.
If it wasn’t for the signature Melvin Burgess touches, I don’t know whether I would have liked Hunger. As ever, issues of sex, drinking, death and bad language were tackled head on and not a single punch was pulled. I love the Burgess tells it as it is. The novel also delivered a powerful religious message about Heaven, Hell and the absence of God that many authors void studiously avoid.
I was impressed with the choice of supernatural creature though. Ghouls and demons are encountered so rarely in YA, in fact I think the TV show Supernatural is the only other place I've really come across them! I really enjoyed learning about creatures and mythology that I hadn’t really come across before and my ignorance made it so much more exciting.
Though I was unsure about Hunger, the things I enjoyed definitely outweighed the negatives. I mean, come on, it was written by Melvin Burgess.
March 7, 2013
Originally published on www. serendipityreviews.co.uk
The first few chapters of this book are the scariest I have read since my teen obsession with Richard Laymon. They made me feel really uncomfortable, nervous and scared the beejeesus out of me. Seriously scary stuff!
Beth has no idea what is happening to her and I think that captured the fear of the book. Imagine knowing you were doing something really bad and not being aware of what it is or being able to control it. The essence of good horror films right there on the page for you.
I was quite surprised to discover that Melvin Burgess had written horror; normally known for his hard hitting contemporary YA books, this is a complete transformation. Within the book, he has very strong YA characters who talk like with authentic teenage voices, yet they are remarkably brave considering the situation.
Half way through the book the plot takes a different direction and this becomes more of a paranormal thriller than a horror story, with strong emphasis on religion. Melvin Burgess has not shied away from the difficult topics of God and the Devil and creates a tense and dramatic battle between the two sides.
I was a little upset to see something happen to a character I had invested quite a lot of time in throughout the book. It also felt a little like it was dealt with behind the scenes and I wanted to be shown exactly what had happened. Personally I would have liked to see things turn out differently, but then I am a sucker for a happy ending!
A super scary horror from the King of YA.
The first few chapters of this book are the scariest I have read since my teen obsession with Richard Laymon. They made me feel really uncomfortable, nervous and scared the beejeesus out of me. Seriously scary stuff!
Beth has no idea what is happening to her and I think that captured the fear of the book. Imagine knowing you were doing something really bad and not being aware of what it is or being able to control it. The essence of good horror films right there on the page for you.
I was quite surprised to discover that Melvin Burgess had written horror; normally known for his hard hitting contemporary YA books, this is a complete transformation. Within the book, he has very strong YA characters who talk like with authentic teenage voices, yet they are remarkably brave considering the situation.
Half way through the book the plot takes a different direction and this becomes more of a paranormal thriller than a horror story, with strong emphasis on religion. Melvin Burgess has not shied away from the difficult topics of God and the Devil and creates a tense and dramatic battle between the two sides.
I was a little upset to see something happen to a character I had invested quite a lot of time in throughout the book. It also felt a little like it was dealt with behind the scenes and I wanted to be shown exactly what had happened. Personally I would have liked to see things turn out differently, but then I am a sucker for a happy ending!
A super scary horror from the King of YA.
January 16, 2015
I took out this book purely on the cover and name. I'll only say this about it: life is too short and time too precious - and i've wasted it reading this to the end...
the characters are totally unreal and not even remotely fleshed out (students, *we're told they're bright but i can't see why looking at their actions* who don't even think once about taking their very real problems to the authorities or who don't even think twice when a stranger suggests they split up, etc... - clueless parents and parenting, clueless cops and authorities, clueless schools and so on)
Usually i really enjoy an author who sells a harsh world without fairy tale/good endings, but this one is written to be a crapsack world and things just happen to empathise it's such a crapsack world. We got it already. Should've spent more time on the characters and actual story instead.
the characters are totally unreal and not even remotely fleshed out (students, *we're told they're bright but i can't see why looking at their actions* who don't even think once about taking their very real problems to the authorities or who don't even think twice when a stranger suggests they split up, etc... - clueless parents and parenting, clueless cops and authorities, clueless schools and so on)
Usually i really enjoy an author who sells a harsh world without fairy tale/good endings, but this one is written to be a crapsack world and things just happen to empathise it's such a crapsack world. We got it already. Should've spent more time on the characters and actual story instead.
December 10, 2013
This book is the definition of a horror story. It sent chills down my spine as I was reading it. In the story Beth, her brother louis, and their friends fight a demonic creature that has been buried for centuries. Beth is the reason behind the monster coming back. As the story progresses Beth and her friends try to find a way to kill the demon, but every way leads to a dead end. The twists in the story are shocking and overwhelming. The events of the story occur in United Kingdom. This book would be a great horror movie or even a TV series. I had a lovely time reading this book and I would recommend those who love horror stories to read it.
March 24, 2014
Melvin Burgess is one of my all time favourite authors, he unique style makes his boos easy to read and interesting for young teenagers as well as adults. This book was full on scary from the start but did dwindle towards the end and became a tad predictable. I loved the concept but felt more could have been done to increase my interest and the 'Scariness' I felt at the start. All in all a good read, with twists and turns I couldn't put it down at some parts of the book... normally when reading Melvin's books I find it extremely hard to put them down! Cannot wait for the next book from him; I think he is fantastic!
March 16, 2016
I expected a lot more given the reviews that Junk had received (although I have never read any Melvin Burgess books), I understand it is a YA book but it really feels very simplistic in style, more like a fan fiction story that a novella by a well regarded author.
I found the dialogue between the characters clunky and drawn out and it was hard to care about the main characters, as we never really got to know them before all the killing starts.
The ending was just crap.
I'm just glad I didn't bother buying this book and wasting my money.
I found the dialogue between the characters clunky and drawn out and it was hard to care about the main characters, as we never really got to know them before all the killing starts.
The ending was just crap.
I'm just glad I didn't bother buying this book and wasting my money.
April 7, 2013
This book was ok. It was fairly entertaining, but I wasn't enamoured of the writing style. I found the dialogue to be very wooden, which actually improved during the story. Or so I thought. I realised that the places where the dialogue fell down was in the romancy parts. Overall, it was entertaining, but it didn't blow me away.
November 8, 2014
So bad it's almost good. Very predictable. Read the opening scene and some such following and you'll just know what's going to happen next. Something to kill time with. Not a quality one, but perfect for anyone wants to waste time just for the sake of doing it.
January 6, 2015
This isn't really a review, just a comment. This was no 'Junk'. I can see why Hammer would go for it but after a pretty good start, it left me cold. Hoping the antidote is to dive straight in with another Melvin Burgess book. Think we have one about a dog that I haven't read yet. Fingers crossed.
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