Skin Hunger masterfully blends two seemingly unrelated stories together.
Hahp: a boy who feels like a failure and that he might be better off dead, is sent away to a school where he must acquire the courage and skills to fight for his life.
Sadima: raised in seclusion by an over-protective but emotionally distant father has an unearthly gift of communicating with animals. When she sets off to live in the city of Limori, where she feels like she fits in, she faces Somiss, a heartless wizard and and his indentured apprentice. She must choose between leaving the man she loves but can never have, or remaining in order to help abate Somiss' cruelty.
These two story lines converge, seemingly unrelated until little by little you see how they fit together. Both story lines pulled me in and enchanted me. I didn't want to put the book down and I wanted to keep reading more. I stayed up late until my red, burning eyes couldn't stay open any longer. I'm looking forward to the next one. Critics call this book "dark" and in many aspects it is. I'm not usually one for "dark" stories but this one was so well done, that I didn't view it as "dark", but rather a compelling and well told story about hardship and difficult circumstances.
4 comments:
ooo - sounds good! I must have it! Is this too YA for a twelve-year-old? He reads at a high level and loves wizardy things but is still just a squirt.
thanks! karen
I think this could be a good book for a 12 year old, depending on the kid. The young boy in the story is sent to a school where the kids are placed in life threatening situations and will literally die if they do not master the magic. Some of them do die. It's a little frightening, so if he's prone to nightmares, you may want to wait a few years. You might want to check out the book first to make sure it's not too scary for him. There's also some mention of suicide.
There's a little bit of cursing, but nothing worse than what he'd hear in school.
AHA CHRISTY! I knew you would like it! And I've been impressed with Kathleen Duey as a person as well - she's very humble and amiable for being a writer with such brilliant works and such longevity. She's been wrapping up the writing on the 2nd Skin Hungar book this Spring, last I heard. I'm very much looking forward to reading it!
Hey Janelle!
You were my #1 influence for picking up this book and I'm glad I did! How cool that you've been able to meet Kathleen Duey! I bet she's a wealth of info!
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