This was not what I wanted. I definitely saw hints of it at the end with Keseberg and his axe but dang. One thing I did like was all of the POV, i felt like I knew a lot about everyone, and to have them die/disappear and just lose their POV felt so realistic. It's also realistic that it all took place over months, even though we didn't really get to see the passing of time.
This is my first Alma Katsu book and I think I'll pick up some of her others.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Alma Katsu puts a supernatural slant on the true story of the Donner Party, a tragic and brutal episode in American Pioneer history. The facts of the events leave themselves well to this sorry of tale, gruesome as they are with just enough hair in the historical record to add a new take. I have to admit though, that it also have me a little of the ick considering the very real trauma and suffering of the real people involved. On the other hand is a reprehensible period in the history of the United States and it would have been good if the narrative could have delivered deeper into this.

It's a very slow burn, so slow that the fire almost goes out on the sense of dread that Katsu is trying to build but it creeps through the complex relationships, conflicts and misfortunes of the party enough to make itself felt. The writing is strong and atmospheric but overburdened by a surfeit of characters and points of view. Tamsen, Mary and Stanton are well developed but the others are weaker and drop out of the story only to reappear what the narrative requires them. Elitha in particular is underused and her purpose is unclear recently to provide the opportunity for a love story with a young Native American. And that leads me to another area of dissatisfaction in that that characters' backstories become a checklist in personal trauma; rape, incest, homophobia, suicide, unwanted pregnancy, familial illness, child abuse etc., etc., until one wonders whether this is the real reason why do many characters are present.

Despite these issues it's still worth a read. The narrative sparkles in some places and raises goosebumps in others. I'm not sure a supernatural element is needed what they're is so much material to play with in the actual events but it did keep me reading and hoping even though I knew all too well what the outcome was going to be.

Based on a true story this was a really interesting read. Not my usual type of book but I enjoyed it.

Deeply distressing read didn’t like it sorry. Wasn't for me, but I wouldn't put anyone else off reading, this is my own personal opinion

A very interesting take on the historical trials of the pioneers. Not my usual type of book but I enjoyed this one.

This book was quite different to what I would normally read but it was good to try something different. I probably would recommend it

Combining historical fiction with the supernatural, the author cleverly blends the actual horrors of the pioneer wagon trail with something even more terrifying and deadly. It all adds up to a novel that is so interesting in so many different ways.
The hardships the families face are bleak enough and they are told unflinchingly in a narrative that is full of historical detail that never overwhelms. The characters are authentic, honest and engaging – some you hate, some you love, every one of them is three-dimensional.
The portrayal of their journey would be interesting enough, but the addition of something lurking in the woods, ready to pounce, adds to the claustrophobia that surrounds the travellers. And the author uses restraint so well, biding her time, building the suspense slowly, racking up the tension, making this a true page turner.
Accomplished, unusual, and a truly thrilling read.

3 Stars✨

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers of The Hunger for giving me this book❤️

As a British student who has studied the topic of the American West, including the Indian populace and the settlers who endeavoured to travel across the Plains towards the West Coast, the concept of this book was pure gold to me. The idea that the unfortunate tale of the Donner-Reed party could be retold and laced with supernatural goings-on seemed brilliant.

Told from the viewpoints of;
-Charles Stanton (a member of the wagon party)
-Tamsin Donner (the Captain of the wagon party’s wife)
-Elitha Donner (Tamsin’s step-daughter)
-James F. Reed (the co-leader of the wagon party)
-Mary Graves (a member of the wagon party)

This story details the lives of the members of the wagon party destined for California. The events that take place during the May of 1846 and the winter of 1847 feature the paranormal activity that hunts the party from Springfield, Illinois all the way to the Sierra Nevada.

I love the image that Alma Katsu has tried to create! The idea that the speculated cannibalism that occurred amongst these people in our own history could be turned into a fictitious disease that ravaged the unsuspecting and vulnerable. The author manipulates true events and real people such as Luke Halloran and John Snyder to form a horror story of her own making, that is also reminiscent of the film The Crazies.

But...this book is LONG. I’m not sure if it’s because I was reading it only kindle, but I felt like there was no ending to this book😂I was literally rambling through the Plains with the Donner party on this one, and it was not fun.

The characters were extremely dull, and I didn’t enjoy their little backstories. I didn’t feel the need to connect with them, as I only wanted to be thrilled by the gruesome details that only happened when I hit about 70%-80%.

Yes, I was scared in a few parts. But I wanted MORE. I wanted a really good, cannibalistic horror with zombie-like people and The Walking Dead frights! I got a taste of it, but it wasn’t enough.

It's a decent enough book, historically accurate and kept me gripped throughout. The beginning was definitely the best part though. I felt that the middle slowed down and it almost turned into a love story. Still, Katsu is worth your time.

4.5* rounded up to 5

The Hunger is a fictionalised account of the true story of the Donner Party. Attempting to travel west to California from Springfield Illinois in 1846, the ninety-strong Donner Party lost forty along the way as they came face to face with horrific trials none of them were prepared for.

Everything about this book (aside from trying to remember the names and relationships of the vast cast of characters), was nigh on perfection. It was as educational and immersive as beautiful and almost whimsical, and the story will stay with me for a long time.

I usually have a whole notebook of highlights in my Kindle app, dedicated to anything that stands out to me in a book - good or bad. This is the first book I've ever read that I haven't made a single negative highlight of, and all of the notes are just bookmarks of fantastic prose.

E.g.

Bridger might once have been strong, even intimidating, but now he was wizened, hollow-cheeked, diminished, as if something had sucked out a good part of his insides.

But still, Stanton knew the human mind was susceptible to insidious influence, especially when people were hungry, tired and afraid.

...he inhaled, he breathed in the smell of her body, he moved his tongue across her sweat, as a dog would. This broke her; it was as if some invisible barrier had been irrevocably breached, as if with a single movement he had undone God's work, and turned her from a woman to a sludge of flesh.

She had not planned to kill herself that night, but standing in the shade of the bank, watching the late sun play over the river, trying to ignore the continued abuse of phantom voices, she realized suddenly that there was only one solution, and it lay before her. The river looked to her like a bed made with clean linens. It looked like home.

She kept an eye out for Stanton, hoping for a few minutes alone, but he was constantly surrounded by members of the wagon train intent on hearing about the trail that lay before them or about Sutter's Fort - at this point, a destination as elusive and chimerical as heaven.

Icy water ran off her hair and face in rivulets, the nightgown plastered to her pale blue skin. For one cruel moment, he thought he saw her eyelids flutter - thought there was still a chance, somehow, that she had lived. And then, like the surface of the pond itself, the truth finally cracked open, and he plummeted.

There were no stories around the campfire, no laughter or songs or shared bottles of whiskey like the early days on the trail. They'd run dry of all of that long ago. Now it was just the sound of ravenous eating, the smack of lips and teeth tearing flesh off bone. All around them, the snow came so fast it blurred the world behind a veil, and swallowed the sound of the babies wailing in the cold.

And lastly, my favourite piece of prose of any book in years; After Mary Murphy came Eleanor Graves, Mary's own sister, who had taken to dancing barefoot in the knee-deep snow, her toes going blue and frostbitten. When her mother tried to force her into the tent, she screamed and pulled away, bolting for the woods, her long dark hair streaming wildly behind her like a long wave good-bye.

I can't wait to read more from Alma Katsu.

I was really looking forward to this book but unfortunately, it just fell a little bit flat for me. It tells the story of the Donner party; a large group of pioneers who set out to travel west to California in April 1846 and for many of whom the journey ends in tragedy. When I think of the Donner party, I think of cannibalism and there are echoes of that story here, but it is not the driving force of the narrative. Instead, we see a party of people being stalked by shadowy figures in the forest and the natural breakdown of a group when things start to go awry. For me however, there wasn't enough of either of these strands to make a compelling horror. The descent into madness and anarchy could have been great, but it felt fairly surface level. Similarly, the 'creature-feature' aspect felt peripheral when it could have been really scary had it been explored in more depth. I did enjoy some of the characters - Elitha Donner and Stanton being two of my favourites - and Katsu has taken great care to garner a real sense of the hostility of the landscape, which I really appreciated. I just felt that overall, the book didn't go far enough in any one horrific direction and so felt a little watered down as a result.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was an interesting read, not my normal genre of choice but thrilling none the less. Gripping from beginning to end.

Deeply descriptive and detailed storyline. I love all the imagery in this book and the world building was outstanding. Very highly immersive book. I would definitely recommend this read.

This book was fantastic - suspense, horror and drama all wrapped up in one package. I was not sure whether I would enjoy this novel as the Donner Party is a topic that has been utilised in a lot of different media, however, I really enjoyed this and have recommended it to friends.

This was my first venture into historical fiction and I really enjoyed it. My usual genre is horror and there was enough in this story to keep me hooked. Would recommend this very readable novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Historical Fiction was a new genre to and therefore has probably influenced my thoughts on this book.

Overall, I enjoyed it but was confused as to what was historical and true versus the not so obvious fiction elements which I found a little distracting. I also found the storyline hard work in the first instance but again, this might have been down to the scene setting and the inclusion of the historical elements.

I can appreciate the complexity of writing such a book and the skill required to mix the old and factual versus the modern and fictional elements and I applaud the author for the way in which this was executed. Ultimately however, I’m nit sure this was for me but if this is your genre the don’t be put off; you’ll probably love it.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I’ve been morbidly curious about The Donner party ever since I read Stephen King’s The Shining where The Donners are referenced. I looked it up – it was a true story, a disturbing one, but a true one. So I was really looking forward to this book as soon as I heard about it.

I was really excited when I got my review request approved, and when I started reading, I liked it so much I bought a finished copy after a few chapters and read that. This one took a while to get used to the style of the writing. There were an awful lot of characters to keep track off, some got more detailed back stories than others. It was hard to keep track of who everyone was.

But the more I read the more fascinated I became with it. There’s a real sense of history and how hard it was for the people making the trek to California. The hardships they went through. The relationships between the people is well written. It’s brutal as well – not everyone is going to get along, obviously, so many people have so many different thoughts, feelings, opinion, violence will breed, love, lust, obsession, hatred…
Thea
The author does a brilliant job of capturing a storm of emotions. As well as putting a spooky twist on the story.

It did drag a bit in the middle, but as conditions slowly started getting worse and seeds of mistrust and doubt deepened amongst the people, the story picked up again and was unputdownable towards the end, and quite frightening as the winter hit really bad.

A hard book to read in parts, but so, so worth it. I loved it. And would definitely read it again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers.

When I first read the blurb of this book I was sure I would enjoy it. I like a good scare from time to time. Only I ended up not enjoying the book very much.

The story is based on the real events surrounding the Donner Party. It starts out slow, of course. We are introduced to the characters of the traveling party and their backstories, where they are coming from and why they joined the party. And god there are so many of them. And then I waited for the story to really take off. And waited. And waited. But with passing pages I only get more confused. There are so many things happening at once and it just leaves you thinking "What is going on??".
At some point the book doesn't even focus on the creppy aspect but it turns into more of a romance novel.

The idea behind The Hunger was really cool. Taking a real event and adding something supernatural to it.
If you like that sort of thing, this book is probably for you.

The Hunger is a glimpse into a way of life that few of us will ever have a chance of experiencing now. Our modern world has seen too many technological advances to be able to get this lost/this snowbound/this desperate. My curiosity for this kind of story stems from my need to understand what is going on within different groups and what makes them make the decisions they decide to make. As an outsider looking in we can see where the flaws in logic are obvious but we don't see how we would react in a similar set of circumstances. It's definitely not for the light-hearted but I think most people will enjoy it. (This review was on my Goodreads page but it seems to have been deleted.)

From Good Reads:
A supernatural western - who'd have thought.

Characters that we love, some we hate - all with unfolding back stories that connect.

Add it a bit of flesheating zombie type action

Then add in the 'based on a true story' element.

And cowboys

It works SO well - really well written, not non stop action but a thriller with cliffhangers galore.