Book Review: The Hunger by Alma Katsu
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (March 6, 2018)
Length: 400 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
The tragedy of the Donner Party is retold with a supernatural twist in The Hunger, a dark mix of historical fiction and horror. For context, in the May of 1846 a wagon train led by George Donner and James Reed set out from Independence, Missouri like so many other pioneer families hoping to settle a new life in California. Instead of following the typical route, however, the Donner Party opted to travel the new Hastings Cutoff, encountering poor terrain and other difficulties that slowed them down considerably, until they became trapped in heavy snowfall somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Many of the party died, and some of the survivors allegedly resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.
Alma Katsu’s re-imagining of this journey—while staying true to many of the real-life people, places, and events—also plays to the mystery surrounding the terrible fate of the Donner Party, injecting a speculative element in the form of supernatural horror. While one could argue that the facts are already horrific enough, the author takes the suffering, terror, and dread even further still in this Oregon Trail story from hell that makes dysentery seem like a cakewalk. The Hunger follows several characters from the group of almost 90 members in the Donner Party, including Tamsen Donner, George’s wife; James Reed, the co-leader of the group; Mary Graves, a young woman from a large family traveling with the wagon train; and Charles Stanton, a bachelor traveling with the party with no relatives. In addition, periodic interludes are provided in the form of letters written by a journalist named Edwin Bryant, who has undertaken his own journey into the wilderness to conduct research on the mystical traditions of the Native American tribes living in the area.
Many of the other families are mentioned as well, bringing the number of people involved in this book to a staggering figure. The result? Virtually limitless potential for complex character dynamics and fascinating relationships. And indeed, Katsu made sure to take full advantage of this, giving her characters interesting backgrounds full of scandal, controversies, and mischiefs. For many, starting a new life also meant leaving the old one behind along with painful, unwanted memories. Flashbacks are provided for most of the major characters, explaining their reasons for heading west. These backstories also explained many of their motivations, and gradually revealed hidden pasts. After all, secrets don’t last for long in conditions such as these, where travelers lived cheek to jowl within cramped confines, sharing spaces with multiple families.
As you can imagine, disagreements and bitter rivalries also occurred pretty often, and these clashes only intensified as the Donner Party ran into more problems. In books like The Hunger, the horror aspect usually comes at you at multiple angles. First there is the stifling terror of the unknown, and of course people fear the supernatural because it is impossible to understand. But more frightening still is the underlying darkness of human nature that reveals itself when pushed to extremes. There are two kinds of monsters in this book: the literal kind, but also the kind that good people turn into when they feel trapped or if they or their families are being threatened. Stress, paranoia, and desperation all play a part in this tale, making the horrific aspects feel even deeper, more distressing and malignant.
From the moment the mutilated body of a missing boy is found at the beginning of the book, I was wrapped up in the story’s suspense. Graphic descriptions and scenes of violence are used to create horror, but as always, I found that the most nerve-wracking aspects came not so much from what’s written on the page, but rather from what we don’t get to see and from what’s implied. The author utilized these effects to great advantage, slowly dropping hints and details here and there, all the while sowing dissent among the party with spiteful rumors, arguments, and jealousies. An atmosphere of suspense was kept up for the most part, though because of all the POV switches and number of flashbacks involved, these tensions were frequently interrupted. However, this was just a minor nitpick, and besides, considering the amount of character development we got out of it, I deemed it to be a worthy trade-off.
The Hunger would be perfect for fans of dark historical fiction, especially if you are drawn to the period of American history which saw a great number of families leave their homes in the east for the west coast. Alma Katsu does not shy away from the details of hardship and sacrifice while on the trail though, so be prepared for a harsh and unflinching look at life as a pioneer. Readers with a taste for horror will probably enjoy this even more, and those familiar with the bizarre and macabre details of the true Donner Party will no doubt appreciate the author’s attempts to spice up the episode with a supernatural twist. All in all, a standout read.
The BiblioSanctum 
This sounds so good, and I like the idea of the folkloric/ mystical elements, but at the same time the suspense and intensity sound gripping too! I’m always a fan of horror that’s a little understated rather than in your face and over the top, and it sounds like the tension is ratcheted up here slowly and effectively. I need to get this one I think!
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Understated horror is the best kind of horror…the kind that crawls under your skin and gets in your bones 🙂
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I loved this book a lot!
Read up on the true story before i started reading the book itself, and i was surprised to see that the author didn’t create a fictional character as a narrator. That’s what i thought it will be, but it was actually better the way she did it.
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Yes, I loved how all the major character POVs were real. Loved what she did with Stanton!
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I’m already very interested in this book-the mystery has always fascinated me and I’m looking forward to at least a sample of this one.
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I hope the sample works out for you!
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I thought this was great – such a powerful story and the writing was excellent.
Lynn 😀
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Very much agreed!
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More characters = more food!
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Haha, brilliant!
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Wow excellent review! Now sadly I’m not into horror at all but the writer seems to have done a superb job!
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She absolutely did! And yeah, this would probably be too much for non-horror fans 😀
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Hearing how much you love this one makes me that much more excited to read it. Great review!
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I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
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I loved that she used the actual people involved with the Donner party as her characters. She did lots of research and it shows. (And my phone just tried to autocorrect “Donner” to “Dinner”, how’s that for irony?)
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Haha, that’s perfect! And yes, kudos to the author for incorporating all the real people in her story. I had to go and read up on the Donner Party after finishing this book, because I was curious to see which details about the characters were fact and which were fiction!
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Every review I read about this book speaks quite highly of it, convincing me that the author must possess amazing skills to the able to deal with such horrible themes and at the same time keep her readers enthralled. One more for the “wanted” list, but certainly not before the sun shines high in the sky and the temperatures are milder: something tells me I will need all the comfort I can muster while reading this… 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
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Yes, definitely read this in cheerful bright conditions, or it’ll be easy to let the horror of it get to you! 😀
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I’ve heard great things about Katsu’s paranormal stuff, so it’s good to know that she can pull off horror too! Historical fiction meets horror is the kind of horror I can get behind, especially if the writing’s solid.
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Cool, I didn’t know she wrote paranormal stuff, I have to go and look up her backlist!
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LOL. Bookstoge said it best
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LOL!
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This sounds so good! And really, just hearing Donner party, I already have the creeps
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I think you’d really like this one!
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Please leave a review on my book,,,link on one of my latest posts
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The reviews have been so good for this one. I’m not big on historical fiction, but the horror side will probably make this a good one for me. 🙂
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I really enjoyed the interpersonal interactions in this one – almost as horrifying as the supernatural bit! The atmosphere the author created was pretty great too. I definitely agree that what we didn’t see was at least as much a part of that as what we did. I honestly found it a little disappointing when we reached the end and the supernatural part was more out in the open, because it was less creepy to me than the unknown.
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