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What Hunger
What Hunger | Catherine Dang
3 posts | 2 read | 1 to read
A haunting coming-of-age tale following the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, Ronny Nguyen, as she grapples with the weight of generational trauma while navigating the violent power of teenage girlhood, for fans of Jennifer's Body and Little Fires Everywhere. It's the summer before high school, and Ronny Nguyen finds herself too young for work, too old for cartoons. Her days are spent in a small backyard, dozing off to trashy magazines on a plastic lawn chair. In stark contrast stands her brother Tommy, the pride and joy of their immigrant parents: a popular honor student destined to be the first in the family to attend college. The thought of Tommy leaving for college fills Ronny with dread, as she contemplates the quiet house she will be left alone in with her parents, Me and Ba. Their parents rarely speak of their past in Vietnam, except through the lens of food. The family's meals are a tapestry of cultural memory: thick spring rolls with slim and salty nem chua, and steaming bowls of pho ti with thin, delicate slices of blood-red beef. In the aftermath of the war, Me and Ba taught Ronny and Tommy that meat was a dangerous luxury, a symbol of survival that should never be taken for granted. But when tragedy strikes, Ronny's world is upended. Her sense of self and her understanding of her family are shattered. A few nights later, at her first high school party, a boy crosses the line, and Ronny is overtaken by a force larger than herself. This newfound power comes with an insatiable hunger for raw meat, a craving that is both a saving grace and a potential destroyer. What Hunger is a visceral, emotional journey through the bursts and pitfalls of female rage. Ronny's Vietnamese lineage and her mother's emotional memory play a crucial role in this tender ode to generational trauma and mother-daughter bonding.
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PageShifter
What Hunger | Catherine Dang
Pickpick

Characters were realistic and nicely fleshed out. I really could relate to Ronny who had to deal with deep sorrow.

This book was more about drama than horror and that way not what I expected from this book. The drama was good but I didn't like mixing that with horror elements. As a horror story this wasn't that great because drama took so much space.

I think this was worth reading but not great if you're craving a good horror story.

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AudiobookingWithLeah
What Hunger | Catherine Dang
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3.25⭐Light Pick
From what I can see in the reviews, most people seem to be loving this. I mostly understand what the author was trying to achieve, and the story was solid overall. Unfortunately, the writing style created distance from the narrative, which had mixed effects: beneficial given the disturbing content, but problematic for engagement.
🎙️The narration by VyVy Nguyen was decent. She fit the part perfectly.

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Megabooks
What Hunger | Catherine Dang
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BOTM was a bust for me, so I felt free to fill my #aardvark box! What did everyone else get?

What Hunger and Moderation were already on my radar, but The Hounding sounded really interesting, too!

FYI, if you missed it on Insta, looks like the new Chuck Tingle, Lucky Day, will be a pick for September! 🎉🎉🎉

BarbaraBB All covers look amazing! 1mo
DGRachel I haven‘t heard of any of them and I am not sold on any of the descriptions. I‘m leaning towards skipping but I may go with either Too Old for This or Well, Actually. Maybe The Hounding or Moderation. (None of them! All of them! Flip a coin. 🤣🤣) 1mo
Megabooks @DGRachel Some months are like that! I usually have to get one book from SOMEWHERE, but that's just me! So if I've skipped BOTM already, I definitely have to get an Aardvark - but I've only skipped one month of Aardvark in almost three years, so I'm usually happy with at least one of their choices! 1mo
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Megabooks @BarbaraBB I especially love the What Hunger cover, but they're all good. American covers haven't looked quite as crappy this year, which is good. 1mo
BarbaraBB Yes they are definitely more varied than the years before. Better! 1mo
Jess Your box looks great! The Hounding has been on my list for awhile so I was so excited to see it as a choice. Added. Also treating myself to an add on since I skipped BOTM this month and went with 1mo
ChaoticMissAdventures I have been excitedly waiting The Hounding, so I am grabbing that and putting a few others on my library hold list! 1mo
Megabooks @ChaoticMissAdventures yes! That's why I did with Seduction Theory from BOTM, and Party of Liars from last month. Libraries are great options. 1mo
Megabooks @Jess Some of the medical things in Once and Future Me are trigger-y for me, so I skipped that. But even with those issues, it still sounded good. I knew I'd be too afraid to crack it open, though. Enjoy! 1mo
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