Review: Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler

Source: ARC received from Thomas Allen and Sons (Distributor of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in Canada) in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Release Date: April 8, 2011

(Click this link to go to Rage's Goodreads page.)

After reading Hunger, I was anxious and excited to read Rage, and I wasn't disappointed! Hunger focused on Famine one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but this time, in Rage, it was War's story. While the main character was different, I was pleased with the fact that Rage still carried the same beautiful writing style that I loved in Hunger. While Hunger had characters with eating disorders, Rage centers around the new War, who happens to be a cutter. I absolutely love that Jackie managed to write a story that broaches such a serious topic as cutting without it coming off as preachy or self-righteous. She manages to approach the subject in a way where the reader can understand what the main character Melissa, or Missy, is going through.

Missy was a character that I could really empathize with, her methods for dealing with things were definitely different than my own, but I could relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by life in general. Being overwhelmed and stressed out is something that I think most people can relate to because let's face it, we all get stressed out sometimes, and I think that while most of us choose not to use Missy's self-destructive method of coping, we can understand how it could happen. As a teenager, Missy is at the age where pretty much everything gets dramatized and seems like it's the end of the world. I'll be honest, in Rage, Missy faces some pretty intense situations, and I'm not sure how I would cope with it myself. I'd probably cry, but for Missy, cutting is how she releases all of the overwhelming emotions inside of her, she uses the physical pain to cope with the emotional pain and turmoil inside of her. I've always kind of seen this as an irrational way of dealing with emotions because hurting yourself just causes more pain and also guilt, which in turn leads to even more self-inflicted pain. It's a vicious cycle, and the thing that endeared me most about Missy was the fact that she knew this. She was completely aware of the fact that what she was doing was unhealthy and extremely harmful to herself, and she wanted to stop.Whereas, in Hunger, the main character Lisa didn't actually believe she had a problem, so while the characters both had struggles, they handled and understood them in very different ways. 

 Once again, I absolutely loved Death in Rage. I don't want to spoil anything about Death in this one, but if you've read Hunger, you probably already have an inkling about Death and War in this one. I thought that he was just as hilarious as he was in Hunger, and he totally ruled the one-liner department. The horse also totally rocked it in this one! This time it was the red horse, who is the warhorse out of them all, and I loved the little parts where we got to see the horse's narrative. I'm not sure why, but I absolutely love the horses' points of view in these books, they never fail to make me smile, even if the horse is thinking totally violent thoughts that should appall me. :P

Finally, I loved the progression of this story. It was incredibly realistic, and very believable. Melissa struggles with her problem and it doesn't just go away. She works at it, and she slowly learns to keep her anger and emotions under control. She doesn't let her anger take control of her, and because of that she finds her balance. It's a precarious balance, but it's one that she tries to maintain.

I thought that Jackie did a wonderful job with this story. Missy was someone who was so different from myself, yet I was able to connect with her and I was also able to connect with her problems. Rage was a beautiful and wonderful sequel to Hunger, and I cannot wait to read the upcoming books in this series. Over at Tynga's reviews I read an interview she had with Jackie (HERE), where Jackie mentions the next two books in the series, so I thought I would share some of that info with you all. The next book with be Pestilence's, called LOSS, and the fourth book will be Death's, called BREATH. I also just want to say that Jackie donates proceeds from her books to certain causes. With Hunger donations go to the National Eating Disorders Association and with Rage donations go to the organization To Write Love On Her Arms. I just thought that was a wonderful way to donate to some great causes, while also helping with awareness through her stories.

If you like to read emotional stories, written with beautiful language, then you should definitely check this series out! It honestly wouldn't even matter if you read them out of order, so if you want to start with Rage, I say go right ahead! Also, if things like self-inflicted harm bother you, you might not want to read this book, just giving you a fair heads up and warning, although personally, I think it's done in a way where it's not overly graphic or disturbing, but to each their own, right? :)

This book comes out in just over a week, will you be getting a copy?
What are your thoughts on Rage? Or on Hunger if you feel like talking about that one?
Any other comments/thoughts/things you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them. :)

Happy Reading!!!

Ambur ♪♫

Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Source: My own personal copy.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Release Date: Already released.

(Click this link to go to Hunger's Goodreads page.)

My first thoughts when I started reading Hunger were about how beautifully written it was, and if you read my "It's Monday, What Are Your Reading?" posts you would have noticed that I said that right when I started the book. Jackie Morse Kessler has a gorgeous writing style, and it enthralled me from the first word. I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of Rage from Thomas Allen and Son and as soon as I finished Hunger I dove right into Rage, I just cannot get enough of the glorious words that she writes. They're just gorgeous, and beautiful, and countless other positive adjectives. I also found these books incredibly addicting and quick. Hunger is a short book, it's under 200 pages, yet I thought that it packed quite a punch.

Hunger was filled with interesting characters, and a fascinating story line. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse, I'll be honest, it's a mythology that I've never heard of before, but now that I have, I am completely fascinated. I also loved the way that Jackie related Famine, of the four horsemen, to a girl with an eating disorder, and I loved how it was done in a way where I didn't feel like I was being forced to learn about eating disorders...I actually had to sit through a health class once where the girls were forced to do worksheets on eating disorders, while they boys learned about sex, so it was much appreciated that I didn't have go through that again. And in case you're still curious about that health class I took, yes I had a male health teacher, he also made us do worksheets on smoking, I was not impressed...but I'm getting off topic.

As I said, Hunger projected eating disorders, both bulimia and anorexia, in a way that I felt it was subtle yet descriptive enough to let the reader actually understand what Lisa (or Lisabeth), the main character, was going through. It helped show that eating disorders are a mental illness and that it wasn't by choice. Lisa had grown up in a situation where she was given little attention and felt like she needed to look perfect to receive praise. She saw herself as fat, even though she obviously wasn't, she even had a 'thin voice' as she called it who would tell her she was fat and also comment on how many calories everything was. I don't know if anyone else has ever had a friend go through this kind of experience, but I have and I thought that Jackie did an amazing job at portraying Lisa's actions as well as her family and friends reactions. Most people choose to turn a blind eye to eating disorders, the person with the problem especially, they don't see it as something that is wrong, for the most part they think it's healthy. I thought Jackie did an amazing job with this inside perspective.

I absolutely loved the other horsemen of the Apocalypse (Death, War and Pestilence)...okay War maybe not so much, but I did love the way she was described. Death is probably one of my favourite fictional characters now, and I will honestly admit that I think that Jackie wrote a very sexy Death, he's sarcastic and funny, and he sings like Kurt Cobain...when he wants to anyways. Death was the perfect comic relief, and I think he totally rocked this book. I also loved how Death's words affected Lisa, they gave her strength and helped her to grow. I will also admit that Pestilence was a creepy guy, but I really liked the short part that he had in Hunger, and I'm hoping he'll pop up again in Rage. War...that chick was *psycho* (I totally said this in a sing-songy voice, feel free to say it out loud, it's just not the same if you don't :P). That being said, she definitely fit how I would imagine the embodiment of war would be, especially since she's a horseman of the Apocalypse, that just makes me think of destruction and death...and boy did she like those things!

I also have to mention the horse, or Midnight, I never thought I would enjoy a horse's POV as much as I did in Hunger, now you might think that a horse's POV is weird, but I am telling you it...was...awesome!

If you can't tell by this review, I thought Hunger was an amazing story, and I loved it.
I admit that because this story does involve eating disorders, it might not be everyone, but I think that Jackie managed to make it so that it wasn't just about eating disorders. It was a story about a girl who happened to have an eating disorder, but that wasn't what defined Lisa. Lisa grew drastically throughout this book, she has struggles, she realizes that she isn't alone, and that she has control and that she is strong, and I think that is a message that we could all do to learn.

I'd love to hear your comments, have you read Hunger, is it on your To-Read list, or is it not your style? :)

Happy Reading!!!

Ambur ♪♫