Hunger

 Author: Michael Grant
Recommended Age: 10 +
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN-10: 0061449083
ISBN-13: 978-0061449086
Year Published: 2010
No. Pages: 608
Genre: Fantasy
Series: 2nd in the Gone Series
Main Character Gender: Male
Read & Reviewed by: Brahm

Action, cannibalism, and butt kicking powers, Michael Grant's second installation in the Gone series has it all.

It has been three months since everyone under the age of 15 has been trapped in the F.A.Y.Z. (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) an indestructible bubble with a twenty mile perimeter. Without adults the FAYZ is a place ruled by bullies and freaks, food is disappearing and more and more kids are developing super powers. Sam is a boy who can shoot lasers out of his hands, Dekka is a girl who can cancel gravity and Little Pete, can do just about anything at will, his power knows no bounds.

Things are getting worse. Everything is being watched by the Darkness, a sinister being also know as the Giaphage. It is hiding at the bottom of a mine shaft, reaching out to the minds of the teens in order to manipulate and guide them to its own ends. Normals are turning on freaks, open fighting is imminent and the teens are not the only ones hungry, so is the Darkness.

I read this book in a day and a half. It took only ten pages and I was hooked by Grant's fast paced plot, wicked twists and realistic characters. Most sections of the novel are told by Sam. Through this first person narrative I experienced Sam's fears, pains and hopes. Grant gave me someone to follow in this journey. Sam Temple is the “good guy” and is the morality gauge of the novel. If a battle is being waged, and the “good” side isn't winning, Sam is the plot device that saves the day. Sam has the major tasks to get food for everyone, protect and inspire the teens . The Giaphage strengthens this book greatly because it gives you something to stand against, with the characters, as they fight it. The series as a whole melds into one battle for survival against hunger, the Giaphage, and the other teens.

Grant uses action and suspense to propel me through the novel. He uses cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. Some of the questions that raced through my mind were, “What was Cain up to?”and “What was the Gaiaphage planning?” This book changes character perspective constantly so you often have to wait a chapter or two to find out how/if that character solved a problem. As a reader, I had a lot of questions that I wanted answered most prominent among them being, “why did the F.A.Y.Z come into existence?”

This book is a handsome chunk of Hunger Games and a slice of something completely different. That something is a delightful mixture of enough gore to get under your skin, with humour when you need it, and non stop action to keep you wired. I rated this novel a 9 out of 10 and I would recommended this book to any reasonably mature 10 year old child due to violence, language and some crude humour