You Have Died of Dysentery: A Re-review of The Hunger by Alma Katsu
Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.
There is never a wrong time to read a historical horror novel. There is never a wrong time to read a horror novel period. Nor is there a wrong time to reread and rereview a horror novel. That’s what I’m doing today.
Please give a warm welcome back to The Hunger by Alma Katsu!
I first read and reviewed this title all the way back in 2020. Guess what? My review sucks. So I’m going to review The Hunger again. It will finally get a proper review from me and not whatever it was I wrote way back when. As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also have a content and trigger warning to issue. The Hunger has mentions of sexual and physical assault towards both adults and minors. Please take care while reading, and let’s get to the synopsis!
What if the ill-fated Donner Party fell victim to wendigos along the Oregon Trail? Alma Katsu, your brain works in mysterious ways and I am so grateful for it. That wendigo question is exactly what The Hunger is about.
The Oregon Trail is filled with peril and strife, and apparently a supernatural entity that can influence people to do disturbed things like committing murder and/or cannibalism. The Donner Party has suffered from a plague of misfortunes. Depleted rations, in-fighting, a class divide, and even the tragic, mysterious, and disturbing death of a young boy.
Having decided to follow a shorter, experimental route to California, the party members instead find themselves trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains for the winter. What ultimately occurs is well-known to history, but what if something was stalking the Donner Party? What if there was something out there? Something evil, hungry, and diseased just waiting for the right moment to strike?
It should come as no surprise when I say The Hunger has a large cast of characters. The real life Donner Party had upwards of 90 people, and that is the number Alma Katsu uses for her novel. While all 90 people are not main or supporting characters in the novel, it did feel as if I had to keep track of 90 characters. Please do not ask me to tell you who any of the men are, in my head they are all pretty much one person. Aside from George Donner, who I could differentiate due to the Donner name, it took me half the novel to figure out who was who.
That is The Hunger’s biggest failing. Alma Katsu creates a fantastic isolating atmosphere full of tension and fear over the unknown. It’s honestly beautiful in a twisted way. But I as the reader couldn’t full enjoy the terror the characters were feeling as I was too busy trying to figure out which man was speaking. I should have been concerned about and debating myself on if everything occurring was psychological or if it was indeed real. But by the time I was ready for said conversation, the truth was being revealed. I wish Alma Katsu had put in more defining characteristics into the characters. Or had at least slimmed down the cast; though to be fair I'm not sure if a slimmed down cast would have worked. As it stands, the male characters are far too similar and need something more to properly differentiate them.
I’m not reading this book for the characters, though. I am reading it for the dread I felt on every page. Anything could happen to anyone, and despite the characters being out in the open, they are extremely isolated. The only thing around the wagon train is a vast plain or dense foliage. No one is around for miles, and if there is someone else out there, who knows if they may be friend or foe.
The Hunger is an engrossing novel. Even though I could hardly keep some of the characters straight, the story itself captivated me right from the start. For the vast majority of the novel, Alma Katsu’s writing makes readers question if everything happening is psychological or supernatural. I love when horror novels make me ponder this question. Though I do wish the author kept the answer up for debate. While years ago I would, and did, appreciate the confirmation, I do believe keeping the true answer unknown would have worked in The Hunger’s favor.
The debate over if everything was supernatural or psychological truly would have been a coup. There’s plenty of evidence to support either side in The Hunger. Plus the unknown aspect would have lent to the atmosphere even more. As I’ve already said, the novel is full of dread and isolation. Those who traveled on the Oregon Trail were pushed to their physical and mental breaking points. Thus keeping the truth shrouded in mystery would have worked well for The Hunger. All that said, this is my personal preference. The Hunger works the way Alma Katsu wrote it, and it also would have worked had the truth not been revealed. The quality of the book does not increase or diminish either way.
I find myself at a loss of how to end this review. The Hunger is certainly not a book for everyone. I say if the question, what if the ill-fated Donner Party fell victim to wendigos on the Oregon Trail, sounds intriguing then you should read the book. Otherwise, don’t.
With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you all enjoyed your time here this week. I will see you all again next Wednesday with a very special send-off to Spooky Season. Get excited! If you can’t wait that long, then give Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books, then check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk everything and anything. We have a whole playlist full of weird moments of history. You can currently listen to the show on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.
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