Audiobook Review – Skin Hunger (A Resurrection of Magic, Book 1) by Katheleen Duey (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 368 pages
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 30, 2008
ISBN: 978-0689840944
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Resurrection of Magic series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I have had this book to read on my shelf forever. It was an intriguing and well done traditional fantasy novel. The pace is deliberate but how things unfold is very intriguing.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was decent. The narrator doesn’t do a great job of distinguishing between voices, but he is pleasant to listen to and the voices are different enough that I was able to figure out who was speaking.

The story alternates between two different characters. The first we hear from is Sadima. Sadima’s story is told over a broad span of time, starting with her birth and working towards when she is a young farm girl. Sadima can speak with animals, a skill she learns to hide from her brother and father because of their hatred for magicians. Sadima gets the opportunity to explore this skill when a young magician named Franklin visits her farm.

The second character we hear from is Hahp. Hahp is the youngest in a rich merchant family of horse traders, he is despised by his father for his lack of success at anything. Hahp is eventually carted off to a Magician’s school where he endures great hardship as part of his training.

The story progresses deliberately. It is a bit confusing at first because you can’t figure out if Sedima’s story and Hahp’s story are connected or what timeline they occur in. At first I assumed that Hahp and Sadima’s stories were both occurring in the present, but as the story went on I learned that wasn’t the case.

The story ends up being very intriguing because you are constantly trying to figure out how these two stories will entwine. Also you are trying to figure out what will become of Sadima’s magic and if Hahp will actually master his magic. As the story goes on you figure out that this is basically a story about how magic is being resurrected in a world where it has been repressed.

I personally thought this was a very creative story and very well done. I enjoyed how deliberately the story unfolded. I also thought the author did an excellent job in conveying what these characters went through, their emotions and hardship. It’s an interesting book about what people have to deal with in order to do something extraordinary with their lives and work towards a larger cause.

This book is only the first half of the story. Absolutely nothing is resolved here and things stop pretty much in the middle of everything. So, just be aware of that and have the second book on hand if you find you are enjoying this.

Overall I enjoyed it and found it to be an intriguing and well written book. I can’t wait to see what happens in the second (and final) book of this series. This is not an action packed read or a fast-paced read, however I found it to be incredibly compelling and engaging and enjoyed the characters and world. Recommended to those who enjoy deliberate yet intriguing traditional fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge
– 150+ Reading Challenge
– Audio Book Challenge
– TBR Pile Reading Challenge