A supernatural villain bleeds the working class dry in webcomic artist Taylor Robin's early-20th-century-inspired YA horror novel, Hunger's Bite.
The luxury ocean liner SS Lark has a new owner, and captain's ward Neeta Pandey is not ready to trust him--Mr. Honeycutt demands the staff work longer, more strenuous shifts with no additional compensation or leave. Neeta, however, has little power on the ship, so she asks best friend and captain's son Emery to advocte on behalf of the overworked crew. But Emery has begun to grow distant and jealous as Neeta develops a friendship with a strange new boy on board--a boy with sharp eyes, a curious hunger, and two inhuman fangs. Can Neeta and her new friend stop Mr. Honeycutt from running the ship ragged and save Emery from making a bargain with Mr. Honeycutt's ravenous hunger?
Robin makes his YA debut with Hunger's Bite, an atmospheric graphic novel that seems to pull inspiration from class-based oceanic disasters like the Titanic sinking and Oceangate's Titan implosion. Robin's illustrations are striking: he uses palette to excellently convey tone, depicting Honeycutt's more coercive moments in sickly, disturbing greens, and his memorable character designs are particularly gruesome during horrific transformations. Mr. Honeycutt makes an excellent villain as he tries to manipulate the personal hungers of each character, but he is unprepared to face empathetic heroes and working-class solidarity.
For fans of books like Anya's Ghost and podcasts like The Magnus Archives, Hunger's Bite will more than satisfy--it will leave them craving more. --Nicole Brinkley, bookseller and writer