Book Review–The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Apparently I like dystopians now question mark question mark. City of Ember, Shade’s Children, Hunger Games… GIVE ME ALL THE SCI-FI SLASH DYSTOPIAN THINGS.
Also HOLY CRAP ANOTHER FIVE-STAR REVIEW?? Part of me feels like people won’t take me seriously anymore if I’m just handing out five stars left and right, but this is very much deserving of a five-star rating.
So everyone knows the basics of the story, right?
In a not-so-distant future, modern society as we know it has crumbled and North America is now a thirteen-region country known as Panem, ruled by the Capitol. Ever since a rebellion 74 years ago, District Thirteen has been obliterated and the other twelve districts have been subjugated into a tradition known as “The Hunger Games.” Two teenagers from each district, one boy, one girl, are chosen to go to the Capitol and fight in a gladiator-style tournament known as The Hunger Games. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen is chosen as the girl to represent her district, and she unexpectedly becomes a contender.
Some people give this book a lot of crap because it’s been hyped so much that it’s got the image of being overrated, but I really enjoyed it!
I will admit, I did see the movie first before reading the book. I was not at all interested in reading these books back when they first came out–back then, if a book wasn’t written by a few select authors in my library: Garth Nix, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Paolini, JK Rowling, or Erin Hunter–then forget it; I wasn’t reading it. It took a lot to even get me to watch the movie, mainly because I felt obligated to at least educate myself on a franchise that had become as mainstream as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
Oh, man, this book does not disappoint. I will say, too, that the movie stays incredibly faithful to the book; linked below you can watch a Youtube video entitled “The Hunger Games: Lost in Adaptation” that discusses the few changes the filmmakers actually made when adapting this (awesome) book to the big screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uodHH…
What I liked about this story was pretty much the same thing as what I liked about my last read: it’s not too tropey, you can’t really predict the ending (even though spoilers for this trilogy are everywhere on the Internet and you literally cannot escape them) and twists and turns and characterization that would put even George RR Martin to shame.
This series gets a bit of hate for the love triangle, but considering the circumstances in that Katniss is not at all charismatic and pretending to be in love with Peeta is pretty much the only way she can ensure their survival, and oh yeah she’s a fricking HORMONAL TEENAGER AND IS ALLOWED TO NOT KNOW WHAT SHE WANTS. Though it does get a little annoying after a point…
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The only other thing that got annoying was the use of “muttations” as a word. Like, “mutation” was too mainstream of a word so we had to add an extra “t”?
But other than that, I really did enjoy the book as a whole. I started reading it while walking home from the thrift store where I bought it, I sacrificed anime-watching time to read it, I stayed up late to read it until my eyes would literally not stay open anymore, and then read it the next morning and stayed in bed until I’d finished it. ALSO THE MOCKINGJAY ON THE COVER IS SHINY AND PRETTY.
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I’d say that if you were a fan of dystopians in general, this is one that’s a must-read. It’s definitely not overrated, and it’s got its merits. Also if you’re looking for a good book that has a teenage girl protagonist who has an actual personality and flaws as opposed to being a total Mary Sue, Katniss is quite interesting as teenage girls go.
I feel like there’s nothing much else I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said before. I really do recommend it and I don’t think it deserves all the hate it gets for being so hyped all the time.
*wanders off to stare at the shiny Mockingjay on the cover*
If you want to give this book a try for yourself, you can buy The Hunger Games on Amazon and visit Suzanne Collins’ website to learn more about her work!
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Have a good week, everyone!
Corinne 乙女
