This was one of my most anticipated books of 2025 and when I requested an advanced copy, I refreshed my emails every time I checked my phone because I was so desperate to read it early, and it did not disappoint!

Raw (2016) meets Jennifer’s Body (2009) meets The Lamb by Lucy Rose, stirred together into a broth so delicious I very much gorged myself on it. Truly, I loved this. I’d say it’s a brilliant summer read for those who enjoy books with female rage, cannibalism and the complexity of family dynamics — a Vietnamese family, specifically, adding its own layer that both fascinated and destroyed me.

I felt a wave of emotions with this one, and where The Lamb was almost a fairytale, What Hunger is more contemporary, more grounded and realistic in a way that made it rawer. I could feel Veronica’s rage, her sadness, her isolation, her hunger. I could see her so clearly.

I’ll be keeping my eye on this author, and definitely buying a physical copy on release date. I cannot thank the publisher enough for granting me the opportunity to read this early! It has officially been added to the favourites shelf.

Thank you so much to Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the e-arc!

3.25 stars!

The premise made me want to reach into the computer and grab this to read as soon as I read it. I mean CANNIBALISM?! GIRL GET HIM! GET THEM! COUNT ME IN!!!

Sadly I didn't end up liking it as much as I had anticipated, but it's a great read! The story has so much raw emotion in it with grief and trauma that it really hits you from all sides, but to me that was the strength on how well written the grief & trauma was. So well done!

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

This short book follows Veronica as she leaves juniors and heads into high school - its a blur of smutty pirates, summer days and BBQs with her Vietnamese family until a tragedy leaves her dreading the changes that are about to happen.

Further tragedy occurs, sending Veronica on a bit of a (justified) spiral, ending in a very brutal way.

This was female rage mixed with cannibalism, body horror and heartache and is just my kind of book. It really made me think at times (but I am a stupid girl so maybe I had to think harder than I needed).

I would reread this and it is definitely (to me) a one sitting kind of book.

(Rounded from 3.75)

What did I just read? I love a horror, this is my first horror based on cannabalism. It Makes it even more surreal that it's about a 14 year old teenage girl.

Veronica is the daughter of a Vietnamese family who have settled in America. She is struggling with the death of her brother Tommy who died in a car crash and who she was extremely close to. As well as navigating the trauma and grief of this she is coming into a certain age, where things are changing in her life also. Without spoiling the story, she becomes very resentful of a lot of things and takes matters into her own hands a lot. The ending is unexpected and takes a twist I never saw coming. I would recommend this book to readers who like The Lamb and other books like this.

It made me want to keep reading to find out what happened next. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with the EArc for this book I am very grateful.

What is it with these young cannibal girl books lately? I mean, I'm not complaining, just noticing a weird trend. I'm talking about "The Lamb" by Lucy Rose and this book, "What Hunger" by Catherine Dang. And while they both feature unsettling cannibal horror from a young perspective, they couldn't be more different. "The Lamb" takes a lyrical, flowery approach to the theme, while "What Hunger" feels more grounded, almost raw (pun intended, I guess). It reads more like general fiction or a coming-of-age story than a true horror novel, but that doesn't mean that this book is free of horrific things. The story follows Ronny, the 14-year-old daughter of a Vietnamese immigrant family, at a time of massive change in her life. Her beloved brother Tommy dies in a car accident, which throws her family into chaos and grief. Without a way to cope and with a family that doesn't understand her due to generational and cultural barriers, Ronny starts to spiral into rage and develops a strange craving for raw meat. She could be bratty, but I felt mostly sorry for her with her being repeatedly struck by tragedy. The sibling relationship was portrayed very well in just a few pages and I liked it right away, which made Tommy's death even more devastating. I would describe the overall atmosphere as heavy, not because Ronny is perpetually sad, but because she is in a constant state of unrest. She only finds peace when eating raw meat and it was great how this was transported through the writing style. It's usually not very descriptive, safe for scenes featuring food and eating. Once Ronny's hunger is stilled, it's easier for her to connect with her family – first her aunt, later her mother. The family dynamics turned out to be very complex, and I read the entire book with great interest. I mentioned The Lamb, but I think this book is actually more similar to "The Eyes are the Best Part" by Monika Kim. Both feature a family confronted with change and a daughter developing strange and maybe murderous cravings because of it. "What Hunger" might be more unsettling though, because of Ronny's young age. I would recommend these two books in tandem, and I think them both great reads.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK / Corsair for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

What Hunger is a stunning coming-of-rage revenge story. In it, we follow Ronny, a 14-year-old struggling with typical teenage angst suddenly rocked by tragedy. Still carrying that grief, more harm and violence are enacted against her, and so a special type of hunger starts to surge through her. She's after revenge and will do anything and risk anything to get it.

This book is many things, including a grief horror for one. But above all else, for me, it was a story that highlighted the loneliness of girlhood. As young women, we experience so many of the same things, which Ronny would find out in her experience getting to know her mother more personally, yet as Ronny experiences with her friends, we often navigate it alone. Girlhood is usually the first brush with witnessing men abusing their power, often without punishment or even so much as a second thought. It's frustrating but also common. Revenge is exacting and calculating. Is revenge the only form of justice available to young girls? Catherine Dang lets the reader decide.

The writing is visceral and captivating as someone who has immigrant parents with their own generational trauma they are carrying. A lot of Ronny's experiences are so relatable. I loved Ronny's character, and you want to root for her and, later, her mother. If you loved Monika Kim's The Eyes Are The Best Part and My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, you'll eat this up (pun very much intended).

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this eArc!

Body horror, cannibalism and explorations of grief? What more could you ask for from a novel? I really enjoyed this book. The complicated relationships between each family member really gripped me and felt very real.

The way food was described, even the more unsavoury meals felt incredibly visceral. Food is a love language and a way to explore family dynamics always interests me and Dang had this down to a tee.

If you enjoy dark stories with a focus on hunger. This is definitely one to check out.

What Hunger by Catherine Dang is a haunting, slow-burn thriller that dives deep into the complexities of trauma, identity, and female rage.

Dang does a great job showing how messy and raw people can be, especially the main character- she’s not always likable, but I found myself really rooting for her.

The exploration of hunger, not just for food, but for power, validation, and connection, was portrayed with a raw intensity that stuck with me long after I finished.

If you’re into dark, character focused stories that aren’t afraid to get uncomfortable, I’d definitely recommend this one.

I really enjoyed this book, although the visceral descriptions of raw meat were difficult for me to read as a vegetarian 🤢 half coming of age after a personal tragedy, half body horror revenge story, this book is beautifully written and engaging. I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters, the tense situations felt authentic and I really liked the aunt character and how her introduction into the family unit brought so much additional tension. Loved it!

3.5 stars
This had a really interesting premise, but the writing fell short for me. It felt a little underwhelming and Veronica was annoying and unlikeable throughout most of the story. I enjoyed the horror descriptions and the last 20% of the book really saved the plot for me. It was an enjoyable read but unfortunately not mind blowing.

I don’t even know where to begin! I genuinely believe this novel may become the crowning jewel of ‘cannibalism as a metaphor for love’ books. An incredible protagonist, with the raw spite and rage you truly expect from a teenage girl. Even for a book under 300 pages, the main women were developed in such a poignant way. I wanted her aunt to be my aunt! The development of the family’s grief and relationships was interwoven so well within such a violent narrative, and I was absolutely hooked from start to finish! Ronny is the ultimate ‘I support women’s wrongs’ character. This is 100% in the same category as ‘The Eyes Are The Best Part’, and think fans of that or ‘The Lamb’ by Lucy Rose will devour this (no pun intended).

The buzz words I had heard and synopsis I had read for and about this book had me so intrigued. I mean, the topics of grief, complex family dynamics/relationships AND cannibalism? This book aligned perfectly with my literary interests! And yet here we are...

This coming of age tale follows fourteen year old Veronica "Ronny" Nyugen during her summer before starting high school and the first couple weeks after doing so, though I did find the timelines in this kind of tricky to follow.

To start with the positives (as despite my rating, there really are good things in this and I really do think this book will work for the majority of people!) we have to talk about the descriptions of food. Oh my goodness, reading this had me wishing the Willy Wonka invention of getting food directly from a TV was a) real and b) applicable to books. The way ingredients were described, the vivid explanations of how things tasted... Studio Ghibli makes animated food look delicious and Catherine Dang makes written food sound delicious.

I also really loved how naturally Vietnamese was interwoven in the story, it felt so natural, though I of course am not myself Vietnamese so won't speak too much on this.

Now for the negatives. I have touched on this already but the passage of time was really hard to follow in this. I don't know if this was a deliberate choice by the author as another way to show Ronny's grieving process or the changes she was going through emotionally, but it did make it a little hard to know if an hour, a day, or a week had gone by between chapters. I also had a slight issue with Ronny's age. For a lot of this, she read quite a bit older to me, maybe around the 16 or 17 range, and I would have loved to have seen her aged up a bit. Though in saying that, there were also a number of sections that felt a bit YA to me, particularly in the beginning.

I think at times there was just a little too much going on. Ronny has just started high school after contending with a huge loss- that in and of itself could have been everything we see her grapple with and (given the relatively low page count) I would have been content with that. With so many other topics being added to the story though, I felt like we weren't able to go very deep with anything, which was a shame. Catherine Dang is an incredibly talented writer, particularly when talking about food, so the cannibalism aspects definitely could have taken advantage of this and gone even further in my opinion. Don't be afraid to really Go There.

While this one didn't quite work for me, I can see it being a hit with others. If you enjoyed The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim and Jennifer's Body (2009) then I definitely recommend giving this a go!

Thank you again to NetGalley and Corsair/Little Brown for the advance copy.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

There is something I am missing in this novel, some kind of flavour, because although the premise speaks of intense, gripping, visceral subjects, the feeling after reaching the final pages of What Hunger is one of… emptiness, blandness. Where is the simmering rage, where is the haunting coming-of-age tale? Ronny’s world is upside-down, everything around her is falling apart both quickly and slowly at the same time, people were, are, and will be monsters, but nothing really reaches the climax I was expecting.
But it could all be me and the type of books I am reading lately, and this is meant to be more of an introduction to female rage for those audiences not so used to more feral narratives.

This was a wild ride. The first half went kind of slow for me and it took a bit to get interesting but then the second half just did not stop being interesting. I really liked it overall. Thank you for the advanced reader copy!

a revenge horror story inspired by a Vietnamese urban legend that the authors mum told her during lockdown. Ronny, a teenage girl grappling with grief and growing up, is attacked by a boy at a party and bites his ear off. For the next few days, she regrets spitting it out and wishes she'd savoured it, and is overcome with a desire for more flesh. Although I really enjoyed this, it was described as being for fans of Jennifers Body but didn't quite hit there, but I loved how the author explored female rage, grief, trauma and family dynamics all with a side of cannibalism🩸

This book was stunning. There are so many layers to Ronny's story, Dang manages to write a tender, flawed and relatable 14 year old girl school girl just trying to navigate being a teenager and her own grief after family tragedy and her own personal tragedy shortly after. Ronny is both every teenage girl and the terrifying vengeful girl some of us definitely wanted to be. And nobody knows.

What hunger is a beautiful coming of age story, a love letter to Vietnamese food and an exploration of being the child of immigrants. And then it is also a rage filled, cannabilistic, body horror, revenge novel and those two sides don't cancel each other out at all, in fact Dang blurs the lines between cannibal and foodie scarily well.

I loved Ronny as a character. I did wonder how Dang was going to wrap this one up and not for one second did I see that ending coming. It was perfect. I would definitely read a sequel and frankly would happily read anything else Catherine Dang comes out with.

This felt like a surprisingly bland book given the subject matter: body horror, female rage, the traumatic story of Vietnamese parents now living in America, grief and violence. The writing didn't engage me and felt flat, even through highly emotional scenes, and the figuring of female rage as hunger is beginning to feel like a trope now with the number of recent books I've read that utilize it. I don't think this will linger in my memory.

What Hunger follows Ronny Nguyen who reads trashy magazines and romance books. her older brother Tommy is the perfect son and the favourite for their immigrant parents. He is going to be the first in their family to go to college but tragedy strikes and Ronny’s world changes. Her sense of self is destroyed and she starts to get an insatiable hunger for flesh.

This was enjoyable and I would recommend this for fans of female rage fiction books. The writing of this wasn’t great for me as it felt a little unpolished/undeveloped. I liked the social commentary on this particularly the commentary on being an immigrant family in America. The rest of it was just fine but ultimately a little forgettable. I would recommend this but I think I needed Ronny to be a little older for the story to really work for me