Undeniably, my expectations for Hunger Stone were high.
Upon adding this book into a poll of four books in the TDS channel for everyone to cast their vote, I had a yearning to read it & therefore it immediately had my vote. I’d seen a number of reviews (although I try not to look at too many) & what I had seen was immensely positive. This combined with the subject matter AND that is was essentially a version of Carmilla had me excited to give it a go.
For the first fifty pages I was I.N.V.E.S.T.E.D.
The writing felt elevated; I was immersed in Lenore & felt her narrative was strong. I wanted to keep turning pages. I particularly enjoyed conjuring images of this specific Victorian period of England alongside moody British weather (I feel this was done well) and leaning into the gothic aura you would expect to with this type of novel.
Lenore and Henry’s relationship is explored well, making it is easy to understand both parties. I enjoyed the background information of their meeting & it built a solid picture in forming both their characters & relationship. I found the relationship between Lenore & Carmilla less believable…I don’t know if this is due to the more ‘staged’ feeling dialogue between the two of them?? I fully believed in Lenore’s interest in Carmilla, but not their connection.
Unfortunately my level of high interest waned as the book went into the middle section.
It started to feel a little predictable and somewhat slow & repetitive. My enjoyment was still there but it wasn’t where it had been at the beginning…that is, until the last 20% or so when it really picked up again with Cora’s character involvement and Lenore’s increased ‘hunger’, as she delved into her darker side.
Highlights: I loved the inner rage that Lenore started to explore, alongside the atmospheric surroundings.
Lenore’s profound awareness of the patriarchal society she is attempting to survive & thrive in feels honest and raw. She knows she is merely a piece of chess to be played with, but is willing to play the game to try to win. I felt these aspects of the book most intensely (class, society, Victorian values) above vampirism & deeeeeep gothic energy.
Ultimately, the novel felt – fine. Not amazing, not terrible, just…fine.
Would love to know your thoughts on HUNGER STONE below. Did you feel it was more than just ‘fine’? Did you feel connected to Lenore & her hunger? How did you enjoy the Victorian setting?
Next up for TDS Book Club: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
happy reading,
I really enjoyed it! I particularly enjoyed as the story progressed and Lenore was sort of coming apart at the seams and it was getting harder to resist her instincts. You could see what was going to happen and every time she fought against it, it was building more tension so by the end I was a bit like yes! Finally! A fun, easy read.
Great summery of the book! I agree that the beginning was excellent. For me, as I was both reading the book and listening to the audiobook, I feel I didn’t notice the story line slow too much, I believe this is due to the audio version being quite brilliant.
Overall I found it enjoyable and the general vibe of the book was very atmospheric , I think it would have been nice to steer deeper into the super natural/witchy/vampire vibes.
I finished it last night and that is exactly how I felt. The middle section of the book was a bit of a pain to get through, overall I’m glad I read it, but I was not wowed.
I totally agree, Sammi. I was very invested in the story and was hoping it would shed new light on the Carmilla trope. There was a lot of the book I loved. I’m especially into food, having owned restaurants, so I loved hearing about the details of each meal 😂 , but I did feel like the book could have been shorter, and things were very over-explained. The “Memento”-esque idea of going back and forth in time to explain why this particular moment was significant was a little tiring at times and I felt undermined my intelligence as the reader.I… Read more »