"Hunger" by Michael Grant

Hunger by Michael Grant is the second book in the "Gone" series with the first book being of the same name. I thought the first book was amazingly brilliant and I loved every second of it, this book therefore had a lot to live up to.

Kids aged 14 and under are still living in and around Perdido beach without the authority of any adults of figures of authority to guide them since they all disappeared in the first book. They have survived thus far, but a hunger is starting to strike - they are running low of food supplies and things start getting desperate when the rations are running out rapidly.

I thought that this book would pretty much be exactly the same as the first book with an added hunger thrown into the mix, but I was extremely wrong with that presumption. Obviously this book still holds the same premise as the first book but the feel of it was so much different, people are starting to get desperate, tempers are flaring and people are just plain breaking down. The character development in this book to go along with this was outstanding - you saw certain characters change from the first book gradually, as you would expect them too under these circumstances, until they were completely stripped bare for their raw emotions to shine through. It was amazing reading about these changes and the way they affected the hierarchy of the characters within the book.

I thought it was as realistic as a situation like that can be, in the way that each character had a different take on the situation and changed in a different way because of it. If this indeed did happen I could imagine it happening in the way that Grant described - I know the chances are extremely slim, but I hope you get where I'm coming from. There were new characters along with the old added into the extensive cast of kids, and as in Gone, I could sympathise and empathise with each and every one of them - this is my favourite part about Grant's writing, the idea that he can have a cast of at least 20 characters and make you connect and understand every one of them.

This series' writing tends to focus more on the characters and the development of them rather than the descriptions of the places, the characters create the world rather than the description creating it. I could still imagine everything with great detail even though there wasn't a ridiculous amount of time spent on the world itself. However, when he was explaining the darkness I found it quite difficult to imagine what it looked like, I don't know quite what I pictured in my head but it probably wasn't anything like what it was supposed to look like - the description was a little odd.

With the hunger as the base line plot, there were also lots of little side stories running alongside it. These stories were so intriguing and were actually really clever - they were the kinds of things you wouldn't really think about if you were thinking about what would happen if all the adults disappeared. But although you wouldn't think about it first of all they are all actually great ideas that the kids came up with, this highlights the idea I feel that kids have a lot more common sense and ideas than we give them credit for. They are imaginative and sometimes this is the key to a lot of things.

Hunger is just as brilliant as Gone and the character development (as you can probably tell) is the peak of this book and made it what it is - and I don't think a lot of authors are any good at character development along a series of books. It most definitely didn't suffer with second book syndrome in the slightest and I am extremely excited to read the third book now. Fantastic.

★★★★★

WWWednesday [1]

 -- Originally created by MizB

What are you currently reading?

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

This is going to be a very long read, I think I might start another book inbetween to give myself a break from the 800 page slaughter that is this book. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing but it's a little too much for one go. Loving it so far though.

What did you recently finish reading?

Hunger by Michael Grant

This is the second book in the Gone series and didn't disappoint one iota. Amazing book, just as good as the second and didn't fall into the disappointing second book category one bit - there was a chance it could have been boring and samey but it most definitely wasn't. It progressed the storyline wonderfully and the character development was great. 

What do you think you'll read next

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This has been on my to be read pile for so long that I think it deserves a grand entrance, I'm looking forward to reading this book as it looks interesting.

"Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

If we burn you burn with us.

Mockingjay is the final instalment in the Hunger Games trilogy and I wasn't really looking forward to reading it and the only reason I did was so I could say I've read them all. All in all I would say I was right in not wanting to read it as I found it to be quite disappointing.

Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But she;s still not safe. A revolution is unfolding, and everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans - everyone except Katniss. And yet she must play the most vital part in the final battle. Katniss must become their Mockingjay - the symbol of rebellion - no matter what the personal cost.

The third instalment definitely kept up the writing quality of the last two, willing me to read on; even if it was just to see if anything exciting happened next. The plot seemed too obvious and too perfectly planned to actually be thrilling and suspenseful as everything that happened was ridiculously predictable. A lot happened and not a lot happened at the same time, the 'war' was too hyped up in the beginning of the book when not a lot actually happened - it was quite disappointing to say the least, as they made it out to be the biggest battle that Panem had seen in a while and that it would be devastating - nothing happened and most of all Katniss, this great Mockingjay, did nothing.

Collins' characters were the biggest disappointment of them all however; Katniss changed from headstrong to deranged and easily led, Gale had a massive change and he was portrayed as being a really nasty person in my opinion by the end of the book. The only decent character developments were Prim and Peeta - Prim has grown up throughout everything that has happened and has essentially become what Katniss should have been in this book. Peeta was the best character out of everyone, he was believable and had the best development that seemed realistic with the plot that surrounded him - he always kept something of himself. I know that you could argue that the reason these characters changed so drastically is due to the horrendous circumstances that they have been thrown in to, but I don't believe this to be the case, I just think they were poorly executed characters and got thrown into the stereotypical ground of how people should react in those situations rather than what they would react to.

Please don't get me started on the ending, it was probably one of the weakest most pathetic endings I think I have read in a while - it just ended. It's as if Suzanne Collins couldn't be bothered to write an exciting dramatic ending and just played it ridiculously safe, and when I say ridiculously safe I mean it. However much the ending was awful, it contained the best, if not only, twist in the book and I must say, I was thoroughly shocked when it happened - although the aftermath continued the pathetic ending. To top all of the negatives off, I need say only one word - epilogue. WHY?!

All in all I didn't like this book, it was okay if you like cheap thrills and predictable circumstances but I definitely would swerve someone reading the series off this book. Worst book of the three.

★★