The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) in For The L♥ve of Reading

Jan 29, 2010 Zakiya LadyWings rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, romance, adventure, mystery, atbynr, own, to-be-re-read, 2010-books, young-adult, absolute-favorites

The Hunger Games is the debut novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins.

Publisher: Scholastic Press in the year 2008

Genres: Fantasy, Futuristic, Action, Adventure, Young Adult

Page total: 374

Date Finished Reading: Fri, June 25, 2010

First Line of Book: "When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold."

My Review: The book's main character, Katniss Evergreen, lives in a futuristic America, and every year, a horrible event happens--the Hunger Games. Children from across the country of P ...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Justin rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3.5 stars

With a twist in the vein of gladiator-styled arenas, Hunger Games focuses in on Katniss Everdeen and her counterpart tribute Peeta (lastnamehere). Katniss and Peeta come from District 12, the last district in the Capitol. They are the coal mining district, and are considered the backwater district. Their rules are lax, but so is their amount of money. They can be considered the slums of the twelve districts, with the higher numbered districts getting proportionally richer as they get cl 3.5 stars

With a twist in the vein of gladiator-styled arenas, Hunger Games focuses in on Katniss Everdeen and her counterpart tribute Peeta (lastnamehere). Katniss and Peeta come from District 12, the last district in the Capitol. They are the coal mining district, and are considered the backwater district. Their rules are lax, but so is their amount of money. They can be considered the slums of the twelve districts, with the higher numbered districts getting proportionally richer as they get closer to the Capitol, but also proportionally more strict in their laws.

This is set in a new North America (Panem), and the tone seems to say that the Capitol controls everything. But people seem to be able to give a free will as long as they meet whatever quota they have for their particular district, stay within the rules, and obviously show no disrespect towards the head honchos while simultaneously praising them. The reason they control everything? A former rebellion by the general population. Originally, there were thirteen districts. But we all know thirteen is an unlucky number and this last district was completely annihilated by the Capitol to show their supreme power. (Crazy speculation: there are probably people still living in this district) But anyway, they now have these "Hunger Games" to continuously show the power they hold over the districts, in which two people from each district are selected to compete in a large arena until only one winner is left.

The problem is, there is no explanation behind this rebellion, any other district, or really any history for that matter. It is rather barebones. We do learn a little history behind district eleven, but I rather know more than just what district they are designated as (ex:District 11=Agriculture). I suppose this makes sense though; we are told this story through the eyes of Katniss and she doesn't seem to be much for those kind of things.

Speaking of Katniss, her character seems somewhat all over the place. She goes from understanding, to angry, to conflicted, to back again in only a few pages. If this is how the female mind works, damn that sucks for y'all. Even given the context, and being sucked into these games against your will (In her case, to protect her sister), this confliction is handled in such a way it doesn't seem normal. As the book goes on, she seems to become more and more mellow about many conflictions that I would think would arise in the arena of hunger games; after killing someone she only briefly goes over it, and simply "not wanting to look at the faces" in the post-game highlights didn't seem to do much for me. I understand that she had to put on a face in front of Panem to appear joyous (or at least indifferent, as she did), but I think Collins could of done more to probe this side a little more.

Still, the way Collins went through the actual survival of Katniss (and eventually Peeta), made this book way more enjoyable for me. Maybe its because I'm a guy, but the way she described the various days through the hunger games was perhaps the best part for me. It was one of those parts where I just couldn't put it down, reading well into the night and eventually forcing myself to stop at five in the morning. But after this, the relationship with Peeta, while I can understand it all, simply did not interest me as much. It wasn't bad, just isn't my cup of tea. As for plot twists, I did not expect the last one that was pulled to "win" the hunger games.

I still wonder if it was a good thing to pick up this book; I didn't know too much about this book (Hell, I thought Katniss was a guy until I started to read it) and perhaps if I did know a little bit more, I wouldn't of. But so far I'm simply on the fence. I've already picked up the second book (Can't just leave a series after all), and hopefully it will be a bit more telling.

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Aug 13, 2010 Crystal rated it it was amazing

LOVED IT!! Very picky about books and this one was amaznig!!

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Apr 02, 2010 Kathy Manus rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-ve-taught

I read this book to my son and we were hooked from the very beginning. I have listened to my students talk about this series for over a year and can't believe it's taken me this long to read it! The first two chapters immediately brought to mind Shirley Jackson's haunting short story, "The Lottery". I keep being reminded of an even darker Orwellian future that was predicted in 1984. After planning with my literacy coordinator, we decided that I could include The Hunger Games in my curriculum. I ...more

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Feb 17, 2010 Shannon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi

I loved this book and finished it in two days. (would of been one but I had to sleep) This is a great sci/fy adventure. It grabs you from the very first page. The book is written as if you are right there in the book with the main character. I cannot wait to read the next book.

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Dec 28, 2009 Adel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-fiction, teenage, series, sci-fi, favorites

I don't think I've ever read a book so quickly without even trying. The Hunger Games is a real page turner. Geeze ... it was just so good. I'm pretty much speechless. ...more

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