I LOVED this book. I love the slow creeping of female rage, and the careful consideration of generational trauma and what bonds us to each other. I really enjoyed seeing some imperfect victims, which yes, can be frustrating but is more true to life than the alternative. I will absolutely be recommending What Hunger.

This one is for my cannibalism as a metaphor for feminine rage girlies. Wow, I will start off with I loved everything about this book. This story follows Ronny, a tween of Vietnamese immigrant parents. She also has a big brother named Tommy, who excels in everything he does, and is about to head off to college and make his parents proud. When tragedy strikes not just once but twice for Ronny, how far will her hunger for for vengeance and revenge go? This story follows the topics death, grief, violence, teenage rage, cannibalism, and revenge. I mean count me in. Vietnamese culture plays a huge role in this book and I enjoyed learning more about it. Thank you always Simon and Schuster for the earc

What Hunger by Catherine Dang is the kind of novel that gets under your skin in a quiet, aching way. I went into it expecting a crime story—and while it delivers on the suspense—it’s really a deeply personal exploration of pain, identity, and what it means to live in the aftermath of being shattered.

The main character felt so raw and real to me. She’s not easy to pin down—sharp, guarded, hurting—but that complexity made her feel honest. This is a story about hunger in so many forms: for justice, for belonging, for understanding, for something solid to hold onto when everything else has been taken. Dang doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of that hunger or the way it can twist you, but she also writes with empathy. You never feel like you're being pushed to judge—just to see.

What struck me the most was the emotional tension. The pacing isn’t frantic, but there’s a constant undercurrent of unease, like something just out of sight is pulling all the strings. The story unfolds in layers—memories, discoveries, mistakes—and each one adds more depth, more weight.

It’s also a story about women—the things they survive, the ways they're silenced, and the power in reclaiming your own narrative. There were moments that made me pause, not because they were shocking, but because they were true. Painfully, quietly true.

By the end, I felt like I had just stepped out of someone else’s skin, carrying their grief and anger with me. This book doesn’t tie everything up neatly, and I appreciated that. It lingers, and it’s meant to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for a review! This was my first ARC, and I wasn't sure what to expect when reading this book, but I loved it.

What Hunger is a beautifully compelling story about coming-of-age, violent cravings, girlhood, family, generational trauma, and Vietnamese heritage. It was engaging from cover to cover. Ronny was an easy character to fall into step with, and I was immediately invested in her life and her family. Dang does a wonderful job of writing this book from a teenage POV while keeping the text mature and engaging. Ronny's journey paints a vivid picture of how emotions like rage, grief, hunger, and vengeance can be so big that they quite literally eat at you.

This book left me thoroughly satiated, and I can't wait to read more by Catherine Dang.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for my ARC!
Dang’s writing is absolutely ripe with the chaos of growing up, add multiple tragedies on top of that and you can turn anyone into a monster. Are you a monster if it’s for survival though? Ronny’s life is torn up violently in different ways. My heart ached for her. I found I couldn’t relate to the rebellion, mostly because I had an awful case of oldest child syndrome growing up, but I could absolutely relate to her frustration and rage towards her situation. Nothing is fair for her and it’s very much a reflection of life. We don’t know who people are, truly. What parts are they hiding and what drives behaviors? This short novel is brimming with highly charged emotion and I think it serves that raw energy well.

this is going to be a cult-classic! for fans of the eyes are the best part, jennifers body, and overall enjoyers of womens wrongs - you'll absolutely EAT this novel up, literally. it has all the gory crazed behavior that i love to read about intertwined with the complexity of a girl's coming of age in the wake of tragedy and heartbreak. i loved all the references to food. to identity and generational trauma and girlhood and family. i have endless praise for this novel and cannot wait for it to debut!!

This book is a captivating and immersive read from start to finish. The writing is engaging, the pacing well-balanced, and the characters are richly developed with relatable emotions and motivations. The story unfolds in a way that keeps the reader hooked, offering just the right mix of tension, heart, and thought-provoking themes. Whether you're looking for an emotional journey, a thrilling plot, or simply beautiful prose, this book delivers. It's a standout example of great storytelling and leaves a lasting impression long after the final page.

This is a dark story of a young girl just trying to survive a family tragedy and entering high-school. Her immediate family is struggling as well.

The tempo of the story kept me engaged. While I had a hard time connecting with the main character, I still felt that the writing put a lot of emotion into the character.

A good, solid story.

#NetGalley #WhatHunger

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of WHAT HUNGER by Catherine Dang in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and try to stay safe, sane and happy out there.

I am not Vietnamese, but wow are the family gatherings and Ronny’s family dynamic familiar. Everytime they showed up I was stopping myself from looking around to find an aunt looking at me ready to comment on something that I wasn't even aware of but will be thinking about long after they are gone. Even just the immediate family dynamic is so indistinguishable that it freaked me out. The lack of actual communication and verbal apology was so spot on I flinched at the similarity. Ronny being alone and the loneliness seeping into her especially after what she went through and that on top of being a teenage girl, it made sense that she snapped. I loved this book so much, that despite not being perfect or even close to it this family stuck together and were there for each other. Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this arc.

This book was interesting. I really liked it until the cannibalism. That was just too much. We'll written and entertaining story.

I really enjoyed What Hunger. Catherine Dang delivers a bizarre and horrific story that’s perfectly weird in all the right ways. The novel follows Ronny Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American teenager grappling with generational trauma and the violent power of teenage girlhood. After a series of tragedies, Ronny develops an insatiable craving for raw meat, leading her down a dark and unsettling path. I love a good cannibalism story, and this one didn’t disappoint. It’s a haunting coming-of-age tale that’s both disturbing and captivating, making it a standout read for fans of unconventional horror.

Coming of age story that follows Ronny, a 13 year old Vietnamese-American girl, through the summer and into her first year of high school. Tragedy strikes twice, leaving Ronny grappling with death, violence, what it means to be the child of immigrants, and a growing hunger for raw meat.

There’s been a lot of cannibalism as a metaphor media lately, to the point where I think it’s a little over-saturated, but having this be from such a young perspective felt fresh. Dang writes Ronny with such a gentleness that she balances the natural teenage brattiness with gentle empathy. She is a strong girl whose rage and revenge fantasies felt so familiar to my own, though most of us are unable to act on them.

For such a short book there’s a lot of revelations, some of which I wish had more detailing, but I appreciate the author’s choice to only let us into the information that Ronny receives in bits and pieces. This is a book written with a lot of love and nuance for its characters, and I’d be interested to follow adult Ronny in a sequel.

definitely for fans of jennifer’s body and little fires everywhere. how the author managed to combine elements of these two is beyond me, but damn she delivered

also for fans of shy girl by mia ballard and nightbitch by rachel yoder. these books check off the following boxes for me: weird girl lit, feminine rage, body horror, revenge

i finished this book in one sitting. it was visceral, gutting, devastating. every page was so riveting, i was obsessed!!!

thank you so much to net galley, catherine dang and danielle from simon & schuster for my copy 🫀

I loved this richly imagined coming-of-age story that seeps feeling and flavor. When Ronny's family experiences an unspeakable tragedy, the gaps in the family dynamic become even more obvious. As she tries to find her footing in her altered world, a hunger starts to build in her... for raw meat. Was this part of her always under the surface, or have circumstances changed her forever?

This coming of age cannibal-light story follows Ronny, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, during the summer before high school. Her older brother, Tommy is preparing to go off to college, after which she'll be left alone with her parents, never able to live up to Tommy's potential in their eyes. But when disaster strikes twice, Ronny is left reeling from her loss. The family dynamic begins to degrade, punctuated only by the arrival of Ronny's aunt, a loud, brash woman who isn't afraid to spill a few family secrets of life before America.

Central to Ronny's journey is food - it is what connects her to her heritage and her parents homeland. But following the life-altering events of the novel, Ronny begins to develop a craving for raw meat. Her hunger is insatiable, her life is falling apart, but Ronny's rage only fuels her endeavors. As a protagonist, Ronny is endearing with her human flaws and her newfound ability to take no shit. Dang weaves a heartfelt and unsettling story of generational trauma, the immigrant experience, and family. Equal parts emotional and disturbing, this was a compelling and entertaining read.

✨ ARC Review: What Hunger by Catherine Dang ✨

THANK YOU SO MUCH to Catherine Dang and Danielle at Simon & Schuster for this ARC! 💙

From page one, this book grips you. The overwhelming sense of dread—NOTHING could have prepared me for the twists and turns this story takes.

First of all… why did this book make me hungry? 🍽️👀
Second—this is a perfect example of a coming-of-(r)age story. I loved following Veronica’s journey through grief and the way the background characters were developed so deeply along the way.

📖 Ratings (Historically a low rater 😉)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Loved it! Recommending to a friend!
🩶 - Dark (Check trigger warnings!)
🔪🔪 - Gore level! (Check trigger warnings!)

✨ Spoilers ✨
I LOVED learning more about Tommy… and I really wish we could have seen Michael get what he deserves. 😉

#WhatHunger #CatherineDang #BookReview #ARCReview #SimonAndSchuster #ThrillerBooks #DarkReads #Bookstagram #Bookish #ComingOfRage #PsychologicalThriller #BookLover #SpookyReads #ReadingCommunity

Woah, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into from the cover and the beginning itself. It took me on a grief ride. I really loved the aspects of brother and sister relationship and then into the horror bits. I can’t wait to get this book when it comes out!

thank you to #netgalley for this arc!!

first off, i loved this book. the cover is absolutely gorgeous. the story is heartbreaking and gory and beautiful at the same time. i loved an insight into vietnamese culture that i had never known before. truly a wonderful book & am looking forward to reading more of the author’s work!

I went into What Hunger mostly blind. I expected a story of a young girl navigating puberty but was hit was something so much better.

Right away we are thrown into a story that showcases the difficulties of being a girl in the shadow of her older sibling while also navigating living up to the expectations of immigrant parents. While handling her own family dynamics she's also entering high school, discovering romantic relationships, navigating bullying and racism, and so much more.

This books plunges you into family tragedy and takes an even more macabre turn that was unexpected, at least for me. I have to say, I enjoyed reading the female protagonist "lash out" out those who hurt her and ultimately abuse her. I had no sympathy for the person/people she hurt. The world continued to cave in on her and she did what she had to.

There are many layers to this story and a lot of thematics to unpack. I would recommend this to anyone looking to explore female rage and how that is impacted by a world that is not inherently made for you.