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Hunger Pains: The conversation-starting Quick Reads story from the award-winning author of Borderline Fiction
FROM GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST AND WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE
Ray is a new fitness enthusiast looking for the perfect shape but his obsession takes its toll and he turns to a dangerous online community for support, while his partner Temi, a journalist, watches with both concern and curiosity. Hunger Pains is a gripping exploration of obsession, identity, and the fine line between dedication and self-destruction.
Ray is a new fitness enthusiast looking for the perfect shape but his obsession takes its toll and he turns to a dangerous online community for support, while his partner Temi, a journalist, watches with both concern and curiosity. Hunger Pains is a gripping exploration of obsession, identity, and the fine line between dedication and self-destruction.
117 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 9, 2026
About the author
Derek Owusu
13 books252 followersDerek Owusu is an award-winning writer and poet from North London.
He has written for the BBC, ITV, Granta, Esquire, GQ and Tate Britain.
In 2019, Owusu collated, edited and contributed to SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, an anthology exploring the experiences of Black men in Britain.
His first novel, That Reminds Me, and the first work of fiction to be published by Stormzy’s Merky Books imprint, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel published in the UK and Ireland.
His second novel, Losing the Plot, was published in 2022 and was Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and Jhalak Prize.
In 2023 he was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.
His third novel, Borderline Fiction, will be published by Canongate in 2025
He has written for the BBC, ITV, Granta, Esquire, GQ and Tate Britain.
In 2019, Owusu collated, edited and contributed to SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, an anthology exploring the experiences of Black men in Britain.
His first novel, That Reminds Me, and the first work of fiction to be published by Stormzy’s Merky Books imprint, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel published in the UK and Ireland.
His second novel, Losing the Plot, was published in 2022 and was Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and Jhalak Prize.
In 2023 he was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.
His third novel, Borderline Fiction, will be published by Canongate in 2025
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 9, 2026
Ray wants the perfect body.
But how far is too far?
When his training turns extreme, Ray is pulled into a dark gym culture that promises results at any cost. As his body changes, so does his mind. Watching from the side lines is his girlfriend Temi, a journalist who expresses concern but has her own secret agenda.
But how far is too far?
When his training turns extreme, Ray is pulled into a dark gym culture that promises results at any cost. As his body changes, so does his mind. Watching from the side lines is his girlfriend Temi, a journalist who expresses concern but has her own secret agenda.
May 2, 2026
man that afterword didnt think I'd be crying on my way to work at 6am
May 22, 2026
Rating: 4.0/5
"Hunger Pains" is part of the 2026 Quick Reads programme from The Reading Agency. The scheme is primarily intended to attract new readers or to tempt lapsed readers back into the fold, but you don't need to fall into either of those categories. Personally, I am a very much a supporter and always try to read all of the books they publish each year.
That point aside, I also have great admiration for any writer who can successfully tackle the short story format. There is a real skill in constructing a well-rounded story, with fleshed-out characters in the space of a hundred or so pages. Author, Derek Owusu, achieves that with this solid example of the short format. This tells the story of Ray, a young black man, who is a regular gym goer. Although he isn't aware of it, Ray has B.D.D. (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) and "Hunger Pains" charts the tragic effect of this condition on Ray.
The narrative is written in the form of Ray's stream of consciousness and the style of speech replicates that of the social group Ray belongs to. This takes a little adjusting to at first and may put off some readers. However, it adds to the authenticity of Ray's experience and makes for a more involving and compelling experience. This isn't always an easy read, but it is well executed, thought provoking and should take no more than about 90 minutes of your time.
"Hunger Pains" is part of the 2026 Quick Reads programme from The Reading Agency. The scheme is primarily intended to attract new readers or to tempt lapsed readers back into the fold, but you don't need to fall into either of those categories. Personally, I am a very much a supporter and always try to read all of the books they publish each year.
That point aside, I also have great admiration for any writer who can successfully tackle the short story format. There is a real skill in constructing a well-rounded story, with fleshed-out characters in the space of a hundred or so pages. Author, Derek Owusu, achieves that with this solid example of the short format. This tells the story of Ray, a young black man, who is a regular gym goer. Although he isn't aware of it, Ray has B.D.D. (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) and "Hunger Pains" charts the tragic effect of this condition on Ray.
The narrative is written in the form of Ray's stream of consciousness and the style of speech replicates that of the social group Ray belongs to. This takes a little adjusting to at first and may put off some readers. However, it adds to the authenticity of Ray's experience and makes for a more involving and compelling experience. This isn't always an easy read, but it is well executed, thought provoking and should take no more than about 90 minutes of your time.
May 7, 2026
Body issues instilled into us by a patriarchal society don't only police how women are supposed to look, but hold men to this idea of what 'real manliness' is supposed to look like. Hunger Pains is a short but impactful read about a young man, Ray, who falls in such a real, authentic way, into a spiral of self-loathing and obsession that's painted as self-improvement.
It happens so naturally, egged on by peers, feared by those who care about him - his descent into developing a dangerous eating disorder, his growing compulsive behaviour. The narration was excellent, moving like speech that made Ray so easy to connect with and follow. Of course, he was a self-obsessed man who thinks with his dick at the start, so you might not like him, but you'll grow to care for him which makes his descent even more painful to read.
It happens so naturally, egged on by peers, feared by those who care about him - his descent into developing a dangerous eating disorder, his growing compulsive behaviour. The narration was excellent, moving like speech that made Ray so easy to connect with and follow. Of course, he was a self-obsessed man who thinks with his dick at the start, so you might not like him, but you'll grow to care for him which makes his descent even more painful to read.
May 11, 2026
I found this in my local libary under the new releases and wow. As a londoner I appriciate the coloquial languge of the narrator talking how I would, it adds a sense of realism too it I felt. But wow its unusual to see a male perspective on this illness when we usually only see women going through this and a black man going through it I can appritiate aswell. It opens up a disscussion on the way the perfect body is achived and what is destoryed in the process aswell as a male centred world ray had created. I do however understand it is a short novel and the effect that it gives is punchy. Read this in an hour.
when i read libary books I like to leave my bookmark in and this time i decided to leave it on chapter 6 which is where i felt it started to go off the rails alot more. I added some helpline numbers it was fitting.
when i read libary books I like to leave my bookmark in and this time i decided to leave it on chapter 6 which is where i felt it started to go off the rails alot more. I added some helpline numbers it was fitting.
June 4, 2026
Thoughts:
This was a really difficult but poignant read. Watching Ray’s descent felt both slow and painful and too fast like watching a crash you can’t stop. I could feel quite early how bad his behaviours were going to get and seeing how long it took any friends to notice felt bad, especially those who are also into the gym and food. It was an interesting take to mark the chapters in part two by Rays weight rather than the dates we’re used to seeing in books, it also made his decline so much sharper. It also felt soo real despite being fiction and at points my eyes were watering and I pretty much never cry at books.
Favourite Quote:
“Obviously I didn't wanna die. That's the whole reason I stopped eating ultra-processed food. This was just supposed to be about self-control. Reaching a goal. Being pure muscle, no soft bits, no fat. But the fear was a next ting.”
This was a really difficult but poignant read. Watching Ray’s descent felt both slow and painful and too fast like watching a crash you can’t stop. I could feel quite early how bad his behaviours were going to get and seeing how long it took any friends to notice felt bad, especially those who are also into the gym and food. It was an interesting take to mark the chapters in part two by Rays weight rather than the dates we’re used to seeing in books, it also made his decline so much sharper. It also felt soo real despite being fiction and at points my eyes were watering and I pretty much never cry at books.
Favourite Quote:
“Obviously I didn't wanna die. That's the whole reason I stopped eating ultra-processed food. This was just supposed to be about self-control. Reaching a goal. Being pure muscle, no soft bits, no fat. But the fear was a next ting.”
May 25, 2026
What a gripping read. This book really took it there, seamlessly weaving together different factors that contribute to the decline of someone’s mental and physical health in such a way. The writing style was perfectly suited to communicate this necessary story.
April 19, 2026
Breathtaking, it captured the spiral so succinctly
April 22, 2026
Really fitting book on obsession and extreme dieting. Amazing for the post modernist touch at the end and the atypical writing style. Amazing.
April 25, 2026
I felt at times as if I was reading a badly translated foreign book!
May 16, 2026
I don’t really like it when books are written like diaries so the start was not my favourite but as it kept going I was super invested. Nobody talks enough about men’s mental health.
June 2, 2026
Interesting perspective, important conversation
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews