Book Review: THE HUNGER by Alma Katsu

 

Title: THE HUNGER

Author:  Alma Katsu

Read: February 2021

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere.

Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone--or something--is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck--the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.

While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions--searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand--evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves "What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased...and very hungry?"

 

My musings:

 

If you are a bit disillusioned that some historical fiction has become a disguise for romance and doesn’t have much grit, then THE HUNGER will soon dispel that notion. Based on true historical events, the book weaves facts surrounding the fate of the doomed Donner-Reed Party into a chilling tale of survival in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges in 1846. And as if this particular part of history was not gruesome enough – after all, of the 87 people who had set out on the wagon train to California only 48 survived – the author adds some truly chilling and gruesome supernatural elements to her tale.

 

The fate of the wagon train led by George Donner on the Oregon Trail has been widely published and is well known, so you know that this tale is going to contain some gritty detail and heartbreaking moments as the group loses family members to hunger and disease. However, you may not be prepared for the horror elements the author has woven into the story, which become more sinister as the group finds themselves trapped in the wintry mountain ranges. I could easily visualise people’s minds slowly disintegrating and playing tricks on them as they were slowly starving to death, so even if you scoff at paranormal events, these can easily be explained as interpretations by people who are trapped, scared and close to their own death. For me, these elements highlighted the isolation and the often frightening power of nature, but also the sinister atmosphere of a landscape that is powerful and alien and not always friendly.

 

THE HUNGER has a rich cast of characters with true historical origins, and I thought that the author did a great job in bringing them to life, even if some facts are very open to interpretation and may have been tweaked to fit her tale. I particularly enjoyed the way tensions slowly build and tempers flare as opinions differ and personalities clash. Add a crisis to the mix and you can imagine that this group was never going to be a harmonious bunch for very long. As the story progressed it became more sinister and dark, and I admit that I found some aspects of it very disturbing (if you know anything about the real life fate of the group then you can probably guess what I am referring to). I did think thought that the atmosphere of the vast landscape could have been exploited more to create tension. As it was, I felt that the later part of the story, as the party is trapped in the wintry mountains, was more rushed than the build-up, and the claustrophobia and hopelessness of the situation, which would make for a lot of tension in itself, got a bit lost in the rush to the finale and the paranormal element taking over. 

 

 

Summary:

 

All in all, THE HUNGER was a dark, sinister and captivating story based on true historical fact woven together with a paranormal element. As it was, I did not find it as creepy as other novels of its ilk, such as DARK MATTER by Michelle Paver, but some elements were definitely more disturbing on an altogether different level. If you know anything about the real fate of the Donner Party, then you will know that this tale is not for the faint of heart, supernatural element or not.