This novel explored the darker side of magic which couldn't even be found in masterpieces like Harry Potter. I enjoyed it very much and suggest it for any fantasy-lover.
Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book 1
(2007, Fiction - Fantasy, Written by Kathleen Duey)
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Is it age appropriate?
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Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Dark but engrossing story of wizard education.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 12 and Up
The good stuff
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book 1 was written by Matt Berman
Parents need to know that, unusually for a fantasy, there is a fair amount of swearing, mostly unnecessary, and some mild sexual references. Also, the mistreatment of the boys in training to be wizards is disturbing.
Families Can Talk About
Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
- Families can talk about the bizarre and cruel way of teaching magic depicted here. Are there any advantages to the way Somiss teaches magic, or is it just satisfying his cruelty? Why does Franklin stay with him, and why doesn't he stop the cruelty?
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Book Summary
In the first of two parallel stories, Sadima survives a traumatic birth that kills her mother, and is caused in part by a phony magician who robs them. Growing up with her older brother and their taciturn, angry father, she discovers that she can communicate with animals, a fact that she dare not reveal to her magician-hating father. When he dies, she heads to the city, where two men are trying to resurrect the secrets of magic that have been lost.
In the second story, many years later, Hahp is enrolled, against his will, in an Academy for Wizards where the penalty for failing to learn is death, and few survive. Though unwilling, Hahp has a talent for magic, a talent he hopes one day to use to destroy the school, and his father.
Is It Any Good?
This is not your typical fantasy -- in fact, it may be unlike anything you have ever read. It's a very dark vision of a world where magic is just beginning to be resurrected after being suppressed and nearly lost for many years. The author eschews nearly all the usual trappings of the genre. There are no battles of good against evil -- actually, there's precious little of either commodity to be found, and no battles at all. In fact, there's very little action of any kind -- just grinding cruelty and joyless acquisition of knowledge and skills. Even the use of magic is minimal. Yet the book is utterly engrossing.
The resurrection process is not fun for anyone. In the Sadima story, it involves living in secret and enduring poverty, fear, and Somiss' borderline insanity to find clues hidden in old nonsense songs. In Hahp's story, it's literally do or die -- figure out the magic yourself, or die trying. No cute Potions lessons with grumpy teachers, just raw survival. The ending is less a cliffhanger than just a stop in the middle of the story. By that time, most readers will be so involved that they will be clamoring for the next installment in this grimly cerebral, National Book Award-nominated new series.
Publisher’s Details
Publisher: Atheneum, Publication date: 7/1/2007
Number of pages: 357, Price: $17.99 (hardcover)
Read Aloud: 12, Read Alone: 12
Number of pages: 357, Price: $17.99 (hardcover)
Read Aloud: 12, Read Alone: 12
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Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it
The Darker Side of Magic
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I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
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I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
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I rate this title on and give it
An amazing fantasy book! One of a kind!
This book explores darker parts of magic and is very interesting. I guarantee that you will love this book.
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I rate this title off and give it
No way.
I can't recommend this at all because there was just too much swearing, particularly s- and p-. I wouldn't read this book if you have issues with swearing.
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