Review: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
I have slightly complicated feelings about this book. I never would have picked it up without an outside force, but I did genuinely think I was going to have a good time reading this book. I started reading the book because I wanted to listen to the first book episode of the podcast Fated Mates, I can now do that, but I do not know that I have any desire to read further.
Some of my dislike for this book does just boil down to I hate the way consent, and power dynamics between the men and women were portrayed. I did expect this at the beginning of the book, this is a romance novel with an 'alpha' hero, but even at the end when they were meant to be shown as partners with parity who like each other, I just didn't feel any of that.
The thing that really didn’t work for me is that Cole dismantles the alpha archetype by giving his counterpart typically masculine power. Emma’s first assertion of power is being violent against Lachlain, heads up in the first hundred pages he is sexually violent in a way that I don’t think is properly addressed in the text. I don’t think that having heroines mimic toxic alpha hero traits back on the hero is good or empowering in any way. Upholding harmful power structures by harnessing them for yourself is a super white feminism philosophy that I don’t think is properly addressed much by romance readers.
Emma’s character journey in this story is from self doubt to empowerment. But this did not read as true to me in the final scene. It seemed like if Emma had decided anything other than what she did her family or her man would have not respected that choice at all. They only barely respected the choice she did make, and no one actively confronts the ways they have mistreated her with her. The hero is regretful in his own thoughts, but we don’t seem Emma grapple with it at the end of the book in the way I wanted.
Another frustrating thing for me while reading was that the book kept skipping over the stuff I was interested in reading. We gloss over the pair coming to respect each other; the book spends a lot of time on their contentious relationship, then sort of hops through the change in the relationship really quickly. We essentially just got a 180 switch from Lachlain, and Emma's emotional change got nowhere near the page time I think it deserved. Certainly not enough to make me believe it.
There were a few things I did like about the book. Somewhere around page 200, there were signs of the sort of conversation and emotional connection that I wanted from the book as a whole. I was occasionally interested in the story, although I really think that Cole's exposition abilities leave much to be desired. But that is really all I can say about it.
I do understand this book was written in 2006, but some of the language is just so silly. It is occasionally very 'wow, what a unique and quirky lady I am,' which I didn't love. It wasn't terrible, just a touch eye-roll indicting. I also hated that the Valkyries are these all-powerful female warriors who are portrayed as silly creatures who love bubbles. Why infantilize the one group in this world that are only female?
Quick aside, the heroine is half-vampire. And when she drinks the hero's blood, the verbiage used very, very, very much reminds me of the way people talk about breastfeeding. So I found that to be an interesting gender reversal thing (though I actually don't think that was on purpose) that also made me laugh a little bit. So I think it was supposed to be sexy, and I found it funny and odd.
One of the aspects of romance I love is that the couple works together to solve the central conflict. You see them overcome an obstacle as a pair, and this story didn't really do that. Emma's journey required her to have to set off on her own, but I just sort of was so disconnected from the story by that point that I just found it annoying that the pair were going to be apart when I was still stuck on figuring out why these people liked each other.
I also just don't think I really like the way Cole writes. I found myself wanting to skim sections because I was bored and had to be very intentional about maintaining focus. I might read another book by Cole, if only because I own two more, but I also might move on to an author I am more likely to enjoy.
I gave this book two stars.
