Buddy Read Along with Gina: Hunger by Michael Grant

Check out part one on Behind The Pages

Contains spoilers for Gone.
 
Hunger (Gone: Book Two)
Written by Michael Grant
Supernatural, Dystopian
Edition Published in Australia April 1st 2014
586 Pages
Add to Goodreads 

An uneasy calm has settled over Perdido Beach. But soon fear explodes into desperation as starvation sets in and the mob look to place blame. For the ‘normals' the buck must stop somewhere, with the 'freaks'. More and more kids are developing strange powers and, just as frighteningly, so are the animals in the FAYZ. Talking coyotes, swimming bats and deadly worms with razor sharp teeth are just the beginning. 

For Sam Temple the strain of leadership is beginning to show and he's got more that just dwindling rations and in fighting to worry about. Caine is back with the psychotic whip hand, Drake,by his side. And in the background lies the greatest danger of all, and he needs to be fed.

It's been mere months since anyone over the age of fifteen disappeared, and now living inside the dome is a fight for survival. Kids are going hungry, The precautions Sam and his leadership group have taken seemingly been destroyed, the fields once plowed and now used for farming are infested with worms. But with all living creatures within the Dome, these aren't your average garden variety.

The battle for supremacy is still being fought, with the kids of Perdido Beach constantly fearing another attack from Caine and the violent Drake from the private academy. But Caine wants the prestige and power of being in control, Sam's demise is just an added bonus in their plan of attack. But as the numbers in the Fallout Alley Youth Zone continue to deteriorate, it'll leave most of the child and teen population begging to turn fifteen, or worse, death.

Our Thoughts: Part Two

Kelly

Most of them need a swift kick up the ass. Not one of them has decided to try to grow something edible in their backyards? The rest just seem to be joining the vigilante group for something to do. It's a complete breakdown of their new domed society and it'll probably end up a whole lot worse.

Their electricity was coming from the power plant that's within the dome, but where is the water supply coming from? How have they not have mass deaths in the past three months, kids that were initially unattended in homes that they hadn't checked in time? 

What about the mental link a few chosen kids had with the mine, was it what you had expected?

Gina

Oh, that really annoyed me. Especially because the actual concept of growing something was said a few times in the book as well. It doesn't matter that it would take time for the food to grow, it would grow faster the quicker you plant it, not by leaving it! At least Quinn was the smart one. Wow, I'm shocked I just said that, but it's true. Don't forget that most of them joined the group just because they were promised the food that they were cooking.

No idea. It's the FAYZ, man. Sorry, had to hahaha. I think most of them ended up going to the day care centre anyway, even just to help out. 

Hmmm, not sure what to think about that one. It was definitely a good concept, especially in the Lana situation, it made her have an interesting plot line. She was the only one not going insane, but still going insane from the mental link with the Darkness, if you get what I mean. What did you think about the kid that got left behind with the Darkness, Duck, his name was?

Kelly

He was a strange one, but he was the example that proved that Sam doesn't feel any kind of comradeship towards other teens outside of his circle. They feel more like disposable characters, Sam never forms a friendship with them so readers only see a glimpse of who these secondary characters are. Characters like Duck, why give them a point of view at all in that case?  Do you think there are too many points of view?

The new covers are really snazzy though aren't they. Those original covers with the teens featured on the front, it cements that you're reading a young teen book doesn't it. What do you think about the various cover changes the series has had?

Gina

That's true. I didn't really think about that until you mentioned it. In the book, it was just like Sam was really antisocial to anyone other than his group of friends, because he thought that everyone else just wanted something from him. I guess it was to give him a bit of depth, so that it wasn't some random who actually saved the day. With Bethany: Spoiler the girl who got  buried alive at the end, I'm guessing that we will get to see more of her in the next books, or that getting her POV was just to add a bit more horror to the story. In a way it is, but it's told from third person, so it's not exactly as overbearing as it would be in first person. 

Gosh I really love the new covers, they all look so pretty on my shelf together. I'm not really a fan of the old covers, they look.... I don't know, I'm probably just biased because I love these new covers so much. I'm glad that, even though there are so many cover changes in this series, that they published the entire series in every set of covers, not just went halfway with one design, then phase them out into the newer ones. Do you like seeing the characters on the original covers?

Kelly

Not at all. It reminds me of how young the characters actually are. 

So overall, what do you think of the series so far, and what would you like to see in the upcoming books?

Gina

I agree, plus, I don't really like trying to put their faces to the names. I want to do that myself, even though I've mentally rounded up their ages to be a lot more suitable. Have you mentally done the same thing?

Overall, I really like the series so far. I'm intrigued as to how the series will continue, especially because there are still 4 more books to go, so I'm curious as to what is going to happen in the series and what direction it is going to go. What about you?

Kelly

I imagine most to be around the seventeen mark, with the secondary characters to be a little younger than that. It seems more realistic.

Same. I'm assuming each will be basically about a new issue they're facing, Hunger focused on the starvation of being trapped without any sources of food and Lies will be more manipulative and I think we'll probably see a different side to most of the characters as they possibly turn on one another. I just hope that Sam pulls his socks up. Do you think we'll see any of the missing or characters that have been killed off, come back to life?

Gina

It makes the book a whole lot better just by thinking that the characters are older, don't you agree.

I agree, and if Lies turns out to be that way, then I am really curious as to who will be manipulating who, and with what. Maybe the Humans against the "Freaks", or the other way around? Definitely, he needs to wake up from his actions in this book. He needs to be stronger, and accept that everyone looks up to him, and just get over it. If he does a better job, then he probably won't be getting so frustrated over every little thing, because it will probably just stop. I think we will see Duck and Bethany back, but maybe Duck will be the Darkness' new "host", like Lana was. What about you?

Kelly

There definitely needs to be some sort of revolution brewing, otherwise each book is going to follow the same format. Leadership challenge, background character dies, Sam learns a valuable lesson, then doesn't put his new found knowledge to any use. Caine beats his chest, Drake eats puppies, well he doesn't really but is incredibly violent and always on the hunt to maim someone. Any new characters that are introduced seem to blend into the background, and the series desperately needs new characters to come to the forefront and do something. I need twists and turns, not the same scenario hashed out over and over. Being a six book series, book three Lies, will really need to up the stakes to keep me interested. I worry that it might become more of a chore, than pleasure to continue.