Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
374 pages
Publisher: Scholastic
Buy The Book: Amazon
Summary:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlaying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one girl and one boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has also resolved to outwit the creators of the games. To do that she will have to be the last person standing at the end of the deadly ordeal, and that will take every ounce of strength and cunning she has.(Summary provided by Scholastic.)
My Thoughts:
Recently Twitter was all abuzz with the release of Mockingjay looming. Everyone was wondering how Suzanne Collins’s beloved trilogy would end and endlessly warning everyone else not to post spoilers. Tweets would come across my feed sounding a little like this:
@iwannahumpheartedward: Mockingjay is the best book in the universe! Post spoilers and I’ll cap your ass be quite angry.
I’d see tweets like that and think, Hmmm… I wanna hump heart Edward too. This might be my kind of book. I better not post any spoilers.
So I promptly bought all three books and began reading.
At this point I have read all three books, and The Hunger Games is by far my favorite. In this first book of the trilogy, Collins creates a vivid world in District 12 full of alternating shades of gray. She depicts a community that lives in fear, and the sensation of fear is palpable throughout the book. Fear can be seen in the eyes of the inhabitants of District 12 and tasted in the game Katniss and Gale catch in the woods illegally to feed their starving families.
Just when the reader thinks things can’t get any worse, Katniss begins her journey to participate in The Hunger Games. We are thrown into The Hunger Games arena to view the games through the eyes of Katniss. Collins has created a venue where the worst kinds of physical and emotional torture are possible. One of the many things I enjoyed about The Hunger Games was that the romantic subplot stayed a subplot. As Katniss was fighting for her life, she remained a strong protagonist and did not let her emotions get the better of her. Very refreshing.
With The Hunger Games Collins not only gives the reader a strong protagonist of the elusive female variety but a detailed world for readers to explore as well. Collins creates a world that is both believable and frightening. A horrible vision of what North America could become if we are not careful. I’m glad I listened to all of the Twitter buzz and read this one.
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Feel free to leave a comment on this post and let me know what you’re reading currently. Also, I love getting new Twitter followers and lots of Facebook “likes”!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Just discovered your blog – I LOVED the trilogy and pretty much make everyone I know read it just for the sheer pleasure of getting lost in a story. I got it as a gift from a fourteen year old relative who read the first book as part of a English class and loved it.
As an adult (I am 32), and a woman, I appreciate the perspective of the Katniss. I can feel her teenage angst, as well as her very mature and heartbreakingly young handling of an unbelievable situation.
The books succeeded in keeping the plot in motion to the point where everyone I knew was kept up all night. That is an achievement for the author that exceeds all expectations.
Of course the underlying message, both of war and the media’s interpretation of all events, is prevalent and completely relevant in all three books. I was grateful that both messages were handled with care – that war/rebellion can be both necessary and yet ironically tragic as well as horrifying, and that the media portrays what is perceived to be true but sometimes without actual truth. Both messages are something young adults should think long and hard about – being that they will inherit this country/planet and will hopefully take better care of it all than previous generations.
Thank you for highlighting these great books.!
Thanks for stopping by Jessica!:)