Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Generational trauma is a hefty, hefty piece of subject matter. It weighs with a grief that is not always the easiest to understand, and there’s a certain context that’s required to comprehend just how much it can feed into your blood when it’s part of your family history.

This book is very much a study of generational trauma and the things that we carry with us down to our children and children’s children. There’s a part of this book that’s dedicated to breaking the cycle, and the curse of said trauma, but in a sense, these elements were not as critical as the women they affected.

The main characters throughout were easy to follow, which is a blessing in a book with multiple points of view. Some of the women were more empathetic and likeable than others, but all of them were certainly irrevocably human.

The book was well-written too, with some nasty shocks throughout. There were a couple of scenes that weren’t as powerful as they could have been, but the story thread was definitely still strong throughout.

I did think some of the horror elements could have been a little better- the monster and the ghost themes were a little unclear in places, but the message was very much clear. This book is a powerful one, and is well worth a read.

Thank you to @netgallery and @kensingtonpublishing for this e-arc (out on 30th sept '25)

Mother-daughter bonds are one of the most challenging and emotive bonds you can have; the premise of this story is told from multiple POV and from from timelines - from Hong Kong during the second world war, and Vancouver. This story tracks Gigi (Alice's great grandmother), Alice and her children Luna and Luca. Gigi's narrative and Alice's narrative met at the present day 2024.

"Maybe cursed isn't the right word...maybe we were angry. Maybe we were haunted"
Alice wakes up each morning where all of the overwhelming tasks of the day appear to have been completed already, she begins to wonder who and what has been doing this in her stead... Alice learns about her own Mother Judy who is making the pilgrimage back to Hong Kong to visit the infamous Nam Koo terrace where her own grandmother was kept as a Comfort Woman.

"Rage is what she ate for breakfast"
Part eerie horror, and part historical fiction Lee has done a brilliant job of weaving gender violence, bodily trauma, and memory into this impactful book.

My favourite quotes
"Her blood ran in my blood. Her rage was Bette's rage"
"You will know when goodness is required and when selfishness and rage are the only things that will help"

This is one incredible book. I was glued to the pages from the beginning to the end. This is a very heavy novel but it is written so incredibly well that it's hard to put down. The characters and the plot are so well written. I can't recommend this book enough!

<b>4.5⭐️ I was so surprised by how much I ended up liking this!</b>

Alice is a single mom who’s barely holding on. She’s constantly gravitating towards alcohol bottles while also trying to be a good mom to her two kids.

In <i>The Hunger We Pass Down</i>, like the title suggests, we don’t just follow Alice, but also other women like her daughter, mother, grandmother and even her great grandmother.
We see how trauma is being passed down from daughter to daughter.

<i><b>She just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was the source of all her daughter’s rage.</b></i>

Usually I’m not the biggest fan of multiple pov’s but here it really worked. Every single pov felt so raw and captivating. The author definitely wasn’t afraid to make the fmc’s somewhat unlikable at times, which made them feel so real. Trauma isn’t pretty and she really knew what she was doing with this.

<i><b>“Women carry everything with them.” Judy nodded. “Only men ever truly forget. That’s why they’re so stupid.”</b></i>

It’s literally fiction mixed with historical fiction and horror elements and I just absolutely loved it.
It also deals with some very heavy subjects so definitely check out trigger warnings!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the arc.

4.5/5 stars rounded up

raw, haunting & depressing. do not expect a happy ending with sunshine & rainbows, this is so so heavy but written so beautifully it was hard to put down. the fact that Nam Koo Terrace is a real place makes this even sadder.

shifting between multiple narratives during different times & places from Hong Kong during World War II to present day in Vancouver, we're following three women & the different struggles they each went through. even though the synopsis mentions a doppelgänger, it's not the main focus. to me the real horror lies within the things these women experienced, the trauma that followed after & the how that trauma got passed down through generations.

this was filled emotions. rage, sorrow, hopelessness, & depression just drip off the pages. I hated reading GiGi's POV, i found myself feeling so depressed reading through her chapters.

I loved almost everything about this...my only complaint is I was let down just a smidge at the end. there was soooo much tension & was set up to have such a great ending but it was too rushed & left me a little underwhelmed. I wish we had gotten more of the last 3-5 chapters with the doppelgänger & Alice. overall I think this is 100% worth a read for any horror fans.

This book is pretty heavy and does not make you feel good after reading. It is about multi generational trauma and follows one family of women while also including POVs from supporting characters. Readers who enjoy horror and suspense will love this!

An eerie look at the sprawling effect of intergenerational trauma, specifically from mothers to daughters. As we spend time with each woman, we are left with an ever-increasing weight in the pit of our stomachs...like the feeling you can't outrun the monster in a dream. There is stifled rage and sadness with devastating effects, showing up in their lives in different ominous shapes and forms.

The only issue I took with the book is the rushed ending. I felt like pages were wasted on characters unrelated to the trauma of the curse; it just took me out of the story a bit.

I love when authors use horror as a device to examine trauma and this was an excellent example of that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC ebook in exchange for my honest opinion. The book changes POV between Gigi, a teen in 1930s Hong Kong, Alice, a single mom in the 2020s in Vancouver, and their female relatives. I enjoyed the way the characters related with each other and found some moments very real, particularly Luna’s interactions with her mother. This is a horror story that has many dark themes-human trafficking, rape, domestic abuse, incest/rape, parental abuse, alcoholism…it begins to feel like too much after a while, which detracted from my enjoyment from the story. Additionally, the ending felt rushed and multiple characters made sudden surprising choices that seemed out of character, which made it hard to feel invested in the end of the story. I enjoyed her writing overall and would probably read another book by this author, but I wish the book had more time for the ending.

intergenerational trauma feasting on the past and what’s still forming…

a bleak, unfiltered, creepy look into the individual and shared wounds each woman in a haunted family carries. we’re made to sit with each woman’s pain, their identities distinct yet deeply intertwined. the pain they face may echo your own and that of many others. beautifully written, sobering… that ending.

I really enjoyed reading this dark tale, the plot was really captivating and the writing style really drew me in from the beginning. I’ll definitely have to recommend this to my friends.

An incredibly haunting tale about how generational trauma, passed down from mother to daughter across generations, shapes these women and literally haunts them. This novel is so full of rage, sadness, and yet so engaging.

Lee crafts this story lovingly, she crafts her characters with such care and treats the historical context of the novel with so much respect and attention. The tension throughout the novel was also very well-done. As we learn more about the women, we also learn more about the curse, and you can feel it creeping along throughout the pages.

My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed compared to the rest of the book. It gets bogged down with the inclusion of characters unrelated to the curse and who have very little development. I think this book could’ve benefitted from being a little longer to accommodate what the ending was going for.

Overall, I think this debut novel is a must-read horror experience. It’s filled with so much emotion and history that makes it hard to ignore. I’m very excited to see what Lee does next!

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars

‘The Hunger We Pass Down’ is the story of a generational trauma that has not only psychologically affected generations of woman but has also physically manifested into a terrifying monster. Told through multiple perspectives over the course of decades, we see how the pain and violence inflicted on one woman becomes a burden that all her future female descendants inherit, taking shape in different forms but always as something horrifying.

The story was, for the most part, a slow burn in which you could feel the tension building as more insight into the curse and the lives of each of the women who lived with it was revealed. I particularly enjoyed how the curse manifested as different things for each woman, taking their own individual experiences to create their own personal demon that would deal the most amount of anguish. However, in the final third things started to feel quite rushed- characters who have no prior knowledge of the curse come to accept it as fact with very little convincing- and the pre-epilogue ending felt unearned. The epilogue itself did give the story a more believable ending within the context of the curse, but at the same time did feel a little tacked on.

I did enjoy this read but was ultimately left dissatisfied upon finishing. The story had so much potential, and the set-up was done well, but the execution of the ending felt clumsy compared to the rest of the book. I would say this is still worth a read for horror fans who want something a bit different, a bit more grounded in reality, but be prepared for an interesting concept to not be fully paid off.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing | Erewhon Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. This review can be reviewed on my Goodreads page at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7581814433

Thank you to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to be an arc reader for The Hunger We Pass Down.

I unfortunately have made the decision to DNF this book. It is through no fault of the author or story. The writing is very well done, and the plot and storylines and very interesting. There is a lot of physiological topics involved with motherhood and the generational trauma of being a mother, and unfortunately thing along those lines are still a bit too much for me to read.

I hope the author has a great debut!

This book did not make me feel good. It made me feel wrecked, angry, raw, heavy and that’s exactly why it was so good. It was sorrowful and a beautifully written exploration of what it means to inherit pain especially as a woman, especially as a mother. It looks unflinchingly at the ways trauma echoes across generations, not just in stories or silence, but in bodies, choices, fears, and survival instincts.

a little blurb from the novel: Alice, the protagonist, is a single mother caught in the impossible balancing act of modern motherhood: overworked, under-supported, and quietly unraveling. When her doppelgänger begins stepping in to take care of her domestic load, the story slips into a surreal, horror-tinged space that feels both eerie and tragically familiar. It’s not just a ghost story, it’s a metaphor made real: the version of ourselves we wish could do it all, the version that bears the burdens we’re too exhausted to carry anymore.

But this book goes deeper than the supernatural. As Alice reconnects with her hard-edged mother and confronts the violent legacy of her great-grandmother’s trauma during WWII, what unfolds is not just a family reckoning, it’s a generational one. The book forces us to consider what gets passed down in the silences, in the coping mechanisms, in the hard love and hardened hearts. The “hunger” here is many things: survival, safety, freedom, peace and the desperate hope that our daughters might not have to starve the same way we did. Reading this made me grieve. It made me rage. It made me feel seen in ways that hurt. But it also reminded me that naming our pain—dragging it out of the shadows, choosing not to bury it—can be a radical kind of love. Especially between mothers and daughters. This isn’t an easy book. It’s not meant to be. But it’s one I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

For anyone who has ever questioned what they’ve inherited (intergenerational trauma) and what they’re passing on, this book cuts deep, and true.

5 stars ⭐️

What an incredible read this has been!

The Hunger We Pass Down is a haunting story of intergenerational trauma passed from mother to daughter across five generations. It’s a story about sorrow, silence, rage and the lingering curse that haunts and shapes each woman.

Told from multiple perspectives, Jen masterfully unravels the narrative through shifting decades, places, and voices. From war-torn Hong Kong during World War II to present-day Vancouver, she paints a vivid portrait of womanhood across time. We hear from a comfort woman whose pain is nearly unspeakable, and from her descendant—a burned-out business owner—who bears burdens she doesn’t fully understand. Each woman deals with trauma in her own way: some protect, some confront, some succumb. Jen doesn't shy away from complexity, especially when exploring motherhood and the impossible standards often attached to it.

Now to the horror part of the book. While the book's summary references a 'doppelgänger,' the way I see it, that was never the main focus. Instead, it felt like a physical manifestation of inherited trauma—a personification of the rage, pain, and sorrow passed down through bloodlines. Because what mothers pass to daughters isn’t just genes or cookbooks. It's the inherent rage we are born with. It's the trauma we don't put a name to until it's too late. It's the pain and grief we learn to live with because being a woman means carrying and remembering all the pain and grief the women before you endured.. As women, we inherit not just our mothers’ stories, but the ache of those who came before them. The fact that the sorrow and heartache in this book are born in a historically real place just adds another layer of despair and devastation.

The ending, while somewhat abrupt and anticlimactic, felt strangely fitting. It leaves the reader with the question of whether it is possible to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma and if so, how ?

Overall, this was a phenomenal read—rich with psychological depth, historical context, chilling horror, and the question of what it means to be a woman, a mother, and a daughter.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

If I had to give you one defining word for this book, it would be: bleak.

This is a book that is dark and bleak and so full of despair.

It's beautifully written, but it focuses so completely on the horrors done to women that it's just a gut punch. And, while I personally have not faced some of what these women face in this book, it's all too easy to relate to them and to realize that we are all, in our own way, haunted by something.

Do not expect a feel good story. Expect rage, and sadness, and hopelessness.

An excellent read. Just make sure you're in the right mood for it.

* ARC via Publisher

Haunting, hungry, and angry
Did I devour this book or did it devour me?
An impactful story about generational trauma, rage and a constant desire for justice. The more I read horror the more I wonder why I do.
Although this was very well written and captivating I personally can’t say I’d recommend it unless you want to cry, do not expect a happy ending and look up trigger warnings.

Wow, The Hunger We Pass Down was a very heavy read for me. Overall, it was very creative and I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Erewhon for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this one more than I actually did. The premise initially intrigued me: a generational family curse that serves as a commentary on intergenerational trauma. The cover is also hauntingly gorgeous. Unfortunately, the execution fell way below expectations. I think there were quite a few things working against it for me to love it:

1) The story was trying to comment on a lot of different things (e.g. white supremacy, gentrification, DV), and as a result the whole story felt disjointed and pulled in too many directions; there was seemingly no through-line to keep it all cohesive
2) Even though I appreciated Sookfong Lee giving every single character more or less their own storyline, I personally think it was too much information that didn't add much to the main story. I felt really distracted in trying to find the connections between each storyline and the main plot. I almost feel like the additional background to each character made the prevailing plot feel less fleshed-out and the overall story rushed in the end
3) There were a few character/plot motivations that made no sense to me; there just wasn't enough evidence for me to reasonably believe why certain characters made the decisions they made. Alice was the most frustrating character to me and nothing she did seemed logical (esp. in the love dept)!
4) This story was too long for me personally (which were definitely a product of my first and second point)

Would I read more by this author in the future? Potentially! I loved what she was trying to accomplish with this book; I think the execution on
this one was a miss for me this time

*The Hunger We Pass Down* follows single mother Alice Chow, overwhelmed by her responsibilities, who discovers that someone— or something— has been doing her chores for her. As she uncovers family secrets and connects with her children, she begins to confront the deep intergenerational trauma passed down through the women in her family, from her great-grandmother to herself, and the steps she must take to break the cycle.