Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In honor of The Hunger Games coming to theaters this weekend, I wanted to post my review of this great book for you. (This was originally written on December 28, 2011.)

Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death - televised for all of Panem to see.
Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
WINNING WILL MAKE YOU FAMOUS. LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH. (from Hunger Games)

I have been hearing about the book, The Hunger Games, from my son who stated that his teacher had read a little bit of it at school and he wanted to read it. Well, being the concerned parent that I am, I decided to read it and review it. I will give you my take on whether or not I will allow my 10-year-old to read it yet or not in a bit, for now, let me tell you what I personally thought of the book.




Please note that this review may have some spoilers in it.




Panem

This book is set in a place called Panem, which appears to be a post-war country set up in the ruins of what we know as North America. It appears that after years of decay and war, Panem was created. The country is split into 12 districts which appear to be worse off the further away from the capital you get. The capital itself is filled with gluttony, selfishness, pride, lust, name any of the world's desires and attitudes and sins and it's the capital of Panem in a nutshell. It's such a good picture of the depravity of this world. Each district has a specialty in terms of jobs. The further out from the capital you travel, the worse the jobs, however it appears that the further out you travel, the easier you seem to have it in terms of soldiers who monitor the districts and freedoms granted to individuals. In that respect, even though the people in District 12 (where Katniss and Peeta are from) are more than poor and starving, they have it better than most because they still have a lot of freedom.




Katniss

Katniss Everdeen (who comes up with these names?) is a survivor. After the death of her father when she was young and the subsequent catatonic state her mother was often in, Katniss learned quickly how to survive and provide for her mother and her little sister, Prim, by hunting for their dinner and to trade secretly in town. Katniss comes across as a tomboy and doesn't seem to have any inkling of romance or boys on the mind, however, after reading the book, I find that it is probably because she hasn't had the luxury to think of those things. I have to say that I like Katniss' spunk and her determination to make life work and stay alive no matter what is thrown her way.




Peeta

Peeta Mellark is very quiet and almost timid. There are times I wish that Peeta had been a little more like Katniss, however, after finishing the book, I realize that Peeta seemed to be the quiet strength that kept Katniss going during the worst of days. Though Katniss and Peeta have never officially met, Peeta has harbored a secret crush on Katniss for many years.




Gale

Gale is Katniss' best friend and hunting partner. Though Katniss never acknowledges feelings for Gale during this book, it is clear to the reader that Gale loves her and would do anything for her. I like Gale because he's also another quiet strength character for Katniss but in a different way from Peeta.




Haymitch

Though Haymitch is a drunk and doesn't always seem to have his tributes best interest at heart, I quickly see that Haymitch is actually a good man who was so sickened by his past experience in the games and having to watch tribute after tribute die that the only way he knows to escape is to drink. It doesn't make it right, of course, but Haymitch does sober up to help during the games.




Cinna

I am mentioning this less important character because though his importance in the story line is small, he becomes extremely important to Katniss. He's kind, caring, and nothing at all like any of the other people or stylists in the Capital and really does do everything he can to help Katniss through his styling and kindness.




The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games were started as a direct result of an uprising from what used to be District 13. District 13 was wiped out after an attempt to overthrow the Capital. Subsequently, the Hunger Games were created by the capital as a way of punishment and a reminder to anyone who might be thinking of starting a rebellion against the Capital. The Capital randomly selects one boy and one girl (between 12 and 18) from each district to be participants in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a fight to the death until only one member from a district is left. The "winner" (more like survivor) is then given a house in the nicer part of their district and enough money for the rest of their lives to feed the whole district. However, they also become the sponsor if the next "winner" of the games is from their district. It's another way for the Capital to keep the districts under their thumb. The games are a terrible time for all the players but especially those from the outer districts as they are underfed and under-prepared in comparison to Districts 1 - 4 or 5. The portion of the book that discusses the games themselves is graphic in detail of how these young tributes are killed, however, it is not so graphic that the reader is disgusted. I won't tell you any more details for fear of giving it all away.




Overall

Overall, I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It shows off the depravity of man and of some men and women's desire to survive and thrive despite the lot they are given in life. It shows that there are still people out there who care about others and who fight for what is right. This book was surprisingly clean of language and sexual scenes (though Peeta and Katniss do kiss often and do lay down together - more for warmth or comfort/security than romance). The writing reads well and kept me interested. This book really does remind me of our current world in the selfishness and depravity that we see every single day. Though Katniss and Peeta do not have a religious belief in this book, their characters remind me of those of us who believe and who fight for our faith and work to keep God alive in our world.




What about my son?

What about my son, you ask? I will not be letting him read this book as of this point in time. Why? Though this book is clean and not as graphic as some of the things I am sure he's seen on TV at his dad's house, the story is more mature than his young 10 years of age and requires more maturity on his part. I want him to be able to see the spiritual parallels in the book and he's not there yet. He's just too young. Will I ever let him read it? I probably will, but when he's much older and able to draw spiritual conclusions on his own.




One final note...

The movie is apparently set to come out in late March of 2012 and while I will see the movie and review it here, my son will not. As I have noted in the past, movies tend to take a lot more liberties than books and because of this, I am sure that the movie will be much more graphic than the book and probably contain more language. If it doesn't, I will be pleasantly surprised...we shall see when I review it in April.

If your children have read this book or you are going to allow them to, head on over to Plugged In to check out some great discussion questions.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Hunger Games, simply click on this link -----> hunger_games_sample_chapter




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