Humbling Hunger

* Read via NetGalley

This book definitely gets a 4 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes for having a contemporary type feel with quite the paranormal twist.  This is a really genius way to look at the mythology of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  

Intense is the best word to describe this book.  Lisabeth Lewis is one truly troubled main character and will have you cringing at the way she sees herself yet wanting to help her at the same time.  This book was hard to read at times because of how she viewed herself and food.  I know I felt like a bad person when her description of cheese made me really hungry.  The book really makes you think and look at the world through a different set of eyes.  

You will think that you know where this book is going and then, WAM you're going to be in for a lot of surprises.  I actually thought I wasn't going to like the book at first because it looked like it was going to be extremely depressing but it exceeded my expectations 100%.  You probably wouldn’t think that the four horsemen of the apocalypse had redeeming qualities but in this world it looks like they just might.  While reading you get to see the different riders and how widely their personalities differ.  The most interesting besides Lisabeth was Death who’s in the guise of Kurt Cobain and likes to sing.

Lisabeth learns a lot about herself and the true power of hunger.  It’s not all doom and gloom though, Famine’s horse is pretty entertaining.  This is not an easy book to read but you’ll be glad that you did.  

Overall this was a truly unique way of writing about a story that most have at least a cursory knowledge of.  I know I can’t wait to read about the other riders of the Apocalypse.  I was expecting a book that was going to be sad all the way through but I really like that it ends on a hopeful note.  I know I'm intrigued enough that I will be buying the next book in this series.