Starved: Book One

by Anne McCoy

Managing a chronic illness like Type 1 Diabetes before the threat of an apocalypse sucked most of the time, but the rationing of food and medicine is quickly making it impossible.

Fortunately, Lily’s favorite distraction, Ethan, has been hanging out with her brother more and more. Between visits, Lily finds security in being prepared for the virus and its continually reaching famine. She works in her garden, helps her chemist father create a machine to make insulin in their home and attempts to help her dad find a cure for the virus. But everything comes crashing down when her dad is deployed, and their rations are cut. When her carefully laid plans start unraveling, she'll not only learn if she can survive, but discover if she has it in her to thrive.

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 30, 2023

Reviews

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read.

A very good book that incorporates T1D into the story. Following Lily on her day-to-day journey trying to control her blood sugars while food is rationed and her interest in her brother Cal's friend Ethan makes for great reading.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did enjoy this YA end of the world adventure! A good idea, well done, there is reasonable high levels of angst through this story & the main character is very pig headed! If that doesn't put you off, then it is a good fun read! Light YA romance, follows a family as the new threat of mutations seems to be taking over the US. I liked that the main character was chronically ill but was a little surprised at the foods eaten in the book as they seemed to be the worse type of food for some one that is ill. But hey it is a story! So a good read!

[elizabeth c :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Whitney Awards

[Cath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book one of this apocalyptic tale, with the main character being Lily Walker, who lives with her twin brother Cal, and their parents. They have been moved to an army community, safe form many of the dangers others face as a virus attacks all plant life and has crossed over to humans, creating what some call ‘monsters’ or mutants that attack at night. Whole cities have been overrun and had to be burned to try and stop the spread, but it is never ending. Food is in short supply and they are lucky her father is a chemist and scientist working on a cure, as they get extra rations and he manages to get medicine which is essential for Lily, who is a Type 1 Diabetic. When someone new moves in nearby, Cal goes off to check them out and of course Lily follows. The newcomer is a grenzer and has a daughter about their age, Renae, who Cal can’t keep his eyes off. Lily is content to read her books and potter on her rooftop garden, as well as care for their chickens, but also has a crush on Cal’s best friend Ethan.

The story revolves around Lily’s struggles to control her blood sugar levels, especially when food gets even scarcer and rations are cut. Her father has been working on making a machine to help make insulin at home for her, but he is taken away to get a cure finalised, even though he has found a workaround, not a cure, but the military types don’t want to hear that! Lily is intelligent and has always followed her father around at home as he tinkered on various projects, when not busy with school. Her life is a daily struggle to balance what she eats with her illness and the severe lack of proper nutrition, as famine approaches. A couple of teenage romances are thrown into the mix, as well as a daughter of one of her mother’s friends, Anna, who is brought round to help her integrate with others and make a friend, clearly having some sort of autistic spectrum issues with relationships to others and personal interactions. The brutality of the grenzer, the security personnel in the community, is made clear at a confrontation with the teens as danger comes closer and they decide to act like normal teens and go to explore! Lily shows how out of control she feels at times because of her diabetes and how she hates to have to rely on others at times, when it overcomes her, which was very realistically portrayed. Danger is coming ever closer and Lily makes a deal with the devil to be put on a certain test program, not knowing the true nature of it! Bit of a cliffhanger to have to wait and see what happens next. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

3 ½ stars

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

There aren't many apocalyptical books with a main protagonist or very close to the main character, that has diabetes, at least not this kind of diabetes, from the top of my head I only remember 2 other books, being these “one second later” and the “before and after”, maybe there are more but can’t really say for sure, diabetes is kind of a very unforgiving sickness, and usually people when they cant take proper care of themselves, things don’t go well..., so it was kind of hopeful that Lily, our main character, is so strong and level-headed, and let me just throw it out there, so intelligent as well, she is very able to keep scientific research to find a lasting substitute for the insulin gave by the government.

I felt it was a short read, or maybe I enjoyed it much more than what I usually do, its young adult but I think it is all ages appropriate, I did feel that Lily tried to do much more things alone than what she should do, I really didn’t understand what went with Dr walker, and why he was forced to separate from his family… and even better of a question is, what did Lily just volunteered to do?

I recommend this book for fans of post-apocalyptical, Young adult adventures, with a love story at heart.

Thank you Storyorigin, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

[Jean (The Book Dragon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

⭐️ -DNF
⭐️⭐️ -Had its moments/DNF
⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Would recommend
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Loved! Highly recommended
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Belongs on the Favorites shelf!


LOVED THE CLIFFHANGER ENDING 😳😳Anyway, onto the real review! Starved was a cozy dystopian read that really made me think, “What would I do in an apocalypse?”
The plot follows Lily, a teen living with Type-1 diabetes. As the threat of an apocalypse gets closer and closer to her hometown, she has to navigate between staying safe, and staying alive. As if not getting infected wasn’t hard enough, Lily also has to deal with the government cutting off her insulin supply. So what’ll it be? Dying from the virus, or dying from her diabetes? Neither. Lily’s going to fight, along with her family and friends.
I enjoyed this first book in the Starved series. It had me staying up late for just one more chapter… which inevitably turned into finishing the entire book before going to sleep. 😂 the author gave me the details I needed, while also leaving enough room for my imagination to run wild, which I liked! While there were some plot holes and details missing that I wish had been addressed, the crazy plot twist at the end definitely convinced me to stick around for the rest of the series! I’m so excited to see where the next book takes Lily!

[Matt Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Staved is a fantastic story filled with realistic, likable characters and memorable moments. It seems to be marketed for younger audiences, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as an adult. The story was engaging, none of it really dragged or got boring. The best part for me was getting into the shoes of someone with T1D- I learned a lot about the logistics and struggles of Lily, the protagonist, and by extension was enlightened about the real struggles of folks with the disease around the world. It's great that the author(s) was able to share her firsthand experience through such an entertaining story.

The relationships between Lily and her twin brother (Cal), her dad, and her crush (Ethan), are all really fleshed out. They feel eminently realistic, but also each intimate and heartwarming in their own way.

Starved is worth checking out. I'll be keeping my eyes out for book 2!

[Lacrima Mundi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping dystopian YA novel with all sorts of different protagonists.

A story about a world on the brink of chaos, about living with diabetes type 1 (T1D), about teenager being teenagers, about the friendship of a quirky T1D girl with an obviously autistic coded one. About insecurities, hopes, dreams and all the little things in between.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and am very much looking forward to the next book. I'll directly continue with reading 'Burned: Companion Novel to Starved'.

Unfortunately there are a couple of editorial slips in my Kindle UL version. Nothing major, but every now and then I came across punctuation errors, misspelling, and mixed up words/names, etc. Nothing that really affected my enjoyment, but still something the author (and her editing team/publisher) should look into.

Definitely recommend reading this!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable story. It's the first one I think that I have read that has a character with diabetes during a time when that is almost impossible. It really made me think what would happen to the rest of us with a condition that requires daily medicine just to survive. Actually, it scared the crap out of me. This story was really engaging and kept me wanting more. Totally worth the read. I can't wait to hear more from this author. Oh, I am in no way a Young Adult (except in my head and heart) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book anyways. Don't miss out on it.

[Jordan Leger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starved by Anne McCoy

Nice read indeed. Although this isn't my go-to type of book to read, I'd continue with this series. I liked the informative part of this, even though it was a story, nonetheless. Living with T1D or any form of it can be deadly. I like that this author interpreted this into the storyline. This alone made the book "more" for me.

I enjoy this one and look forward to more by this author.

[Alicia Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book! I loved the Type 1 diabetes aspect. It added an interesting perspective/challenge to an already challenging situation. The diabetes was explained in a way that was very understandable and felt very real. I loved how the characters felt real too, like actual teenagers. Cute love story and great cliffhanger. I'm excited to see what happens next

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had everything that I was hoping for and enjoyed the overall story-line that was happening. The characters were written in a exciting way and I was hooked from the first page. Anne McCoy wrote this in a strong way and I enjoyed the cover.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Hanna Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This YA apocalypse book was super interesting with unique characters, I appreciate the main one having a chronic illness. A great story!

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first book
Mg, pg read
Loved the td1 aspect
4.5 *
Excited to read book 2

[Kibbenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait to read the next one!

[Cassie Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait for the rest of this series!

[Dreya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to the next book!

[Russell Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review

I loved this book and the one before it. I enjoyed that it is in Lilly's view of events.
I am actually sorry it ened.

[Megan Mclellan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this,fantastic character development and really great world building! Fascinating twist of an apocalypse for someone with diabetes with insulin running out fast