The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Sep 13, 2010 Renata rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, re-read, ya

Books like this I don't even know how to judge. Was it good? Was it bad? Did I like it? I don't even know. I just know that I HAD TO KEEP READING IT UNTIL THE END OF IT.

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I just re-read this and honestly the other girls want what the Hunger Games has

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I re-re-read this and honestly bumping it up to 5 stars. This book has STAYING POWER. ...more

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Mar 16, 2010 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-and-kids

The Hunger Games is a compelling work of dystopian YA fiction, and it loses a star mainly just because I felt it took quite a bit of suspension of disbelief to accept the basic premise of the book, which is that at some point in the future, the United States turns into a more-or-less police state in which the citizens of the capital district live a life of luxury while the other districts provide what amounts to little more than slave labor as well as contestants for the annual Hunger Games, a b The Hunger Games is a compelling work of dystopian YA fiction, and it loses a star mainly just because I felt it took quite a bit of suspension of disbelief to accept the basic premise of the book, which is that at some point in the future, the United States turns into a more-or-less police state in which the citizens of the capital district live a life of luxury while the other districts provide what amounts to little more than slave labor as well as contestants for the annual Hunger Games, a battle-to-the-death among two dozen teenagers that is required television viewing for every citizen in the country. The existence of these games is somehow meant to keep the other districts in their place, to remind them that they owe their very lives to the capital and that the capital can take them away as it desires, and everyone seems to accept that this is just the way things have to be.

Contestants for the games are selected by lottery, and when Katniss's 12-year-old sister is selected to be the female representative of their district, Katniss does the unthinkable and offers herself up as a substitute. Katniss has some definite advantages - she's a hunter by trade and has remarkable skill with a bow and arrow, meaning she can kill from a distance. However, she's up against some formidable opponents, not least of which is the male competitor from her district, Peeta, whose "angle" as a competitor (remember, this is both a battle to the death and reality TV, complete with one-on-one interviews with each competitor) is his professed love for Katniss - and she can't tell whether he means it or whether he's making it up to win sympathy with the viewers, since your rating can affect what kinds of sponsorships you get and hence what kinds of presents can be delivered to you during the course of the game.

For a book with such a bloody premise, the story really does focus more on human interaction and the difficulties of forming alliances when you know that in the end it's kill or be killed and that the friend you're fighting alongside of may just eventually be the one to do you in.

I haven't read Battle Royale so I can't speak to how heavily this book borrows from that one, but I did find this to be a very compelling tale if you can accept the premise that this TV show even exists in the first place. I'm also glad that in spite of being the first book in a series it holds up very well on its own - I actually don't know where it can go from here without losing much of what made The Hunger Games so powerful. ...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Richard rated it it was amazing

I didn't expect the latest YA sensation to be so engaging. I'm amazed that she's written a book so adult in themes and vision but perfectly suited to the demographic its aimed at. This is what all YA books should aspire to be. ...more

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Jun 12, 2010 Jennifer Kronk rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, library-book

This would be a 4.5 if I could. My only complaint about this whole great reading experience was that the end of the book felt more like "...end..." while I really wanted "THE END!!!" However, I just ordered the whole trilogy from Amazon so I think that I will get my desired ENDing. ...more

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