From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Suzanne Collins

Start date: December 1, 2010

Finish date: December 31, 2010

Discussion: Books of the Month

Why we're reading this: We voted and this one won for the category of YA.
[close] We voted and this one won for the category of YA.

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What Members Thought

Apr 22, 2011 Arthur rated it it was amazing

The most intense novel I've read in years. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2011 Anne OK rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-reads

Whoa! Not really my cuppa but surprisingly I was hooked by the end. I may just make it through my daughter's challenge and finish the trilogy before month's end. What surprises me most is how someone thinks this stuff up and arranges it on paper so well! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 27, 2011 Destiny rated it it was amazing

What to say about this wonderful novel? Well I had it recommended to me by friends on this very site. So I added to my to read list and promptly forgot about it. So earlier this week I was in Walmart waiting for my prescriptions to be filled and I was browsing in the book section. I saw the three novels by each other. I didn't have enough money for all three, so I settled on the first one. After all you have to start with the beginning, no? So I waited until I finished another ya book and then I ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2011 Aymee rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fiction, action-adventure

This book has interested me since I first saw it sitting in the bookstore one day. After so many of my friends simply raved about how wonderful it was, I had to try it out for myself as well. When I discovered Amazon.com had the trilogy for the Kindle priced at $4.38, I jumped on it, figuring that if I only read the first of the three novels, I’d still come out ahead (the first book alone was priced over that for Kindle).

There is a lot to love about this book. The characters are refreshing and e This book has interested me since I first saw it sitting in the bookstore one day. After so many of my friends simply raved about how wonderful it was, I had to try it out for myself as well. When I discovered Amazon.com had the trilogy for the Kindle priced at $4.38, I jumped on it, figuring that if I only read the first of the three novels, I’d still come out ahead (the first book alone was priced over that for Kindle).

There is a lot to love about this book. The characters are refreshing and encouraging. Despite living in poverty, they take matters into their own hands and find a way to survive and even, possibly be happy. They don’t dwell too much on how awful their life is, although their hatred for the Capitol is vivid and understandable. The characters also evolve quite a bit during the span of the novel, which is a huge plus in my book.

However, there are a few issues as well. The resolution of several plot points was overly predictable and while not a wholly awful thing, sometimes that ending you expected is what you needed, in this situation, I think there could have been better resolution. Despite a bit of a shock at the ending, the ending itself left me a little wanting. My biggest issue, and this might just have been me and not the author’s writing, but I found two or three places where I was lost and wasn’t sure if Katniss was talking to the reader, or talking aloud to whomever she was with at the time. I found myself having to backtrack on a couple occasions and re-read a page or two to clear things up.

All in all, this was still a very good book and was well worth the time I spent reading it. It’s the kind of novel that makes you think and that can only lead to good things, right? I’m looking forward to reading the next in this series as well and have it waiting on my Kindle at home.

Warnings: If you are giving this to your teen to read, I’d definitely recommend it for older teens, fifteen and older maybe, because of the level and amount of violence involved. ...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Heather Perkins rated it really liked it

Started the book around 7 finished it at 11. I do so love having my Kindle.
It was a quick read, not only from the size, but the flow, which was well paced and also matched the energy of the action in the book. It is a general story that has been done before; I love the film Battle Royale and apparently it was a book first so I must hunt that down now. Even though it has been done before too, and the clueless female lead in a love triangle thing can be done in a way that makes me gag, I didn't ev ...more

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Nov 19, 2010 Vickie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: listened-to, booksthatmakemegowow

I know there have to be thousands of reviews already out there, so I won't do much more than say how much I loved listening to this book. The narrator, Carolyn McCormick, is pitch perfect and enhanced my enjoyment of this story.

This could have been a stilted book, plenty of places for drama overload, but it stayed the course and was wonderfully told.

I had to sit in the car for a while this morning when one of my favorite characters died. Tears started welling up, then spilled over and I just c ...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Paula rated it it was amazing

This book drew me in right from the beginning! I love how all of the characters are written.....especially the main character Katniss Everdeen. The story flows very well and takes you on a series of highs and lows. I is a true page turner until the end.

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May 22, 2011 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen, series

So horrifying and addictive. Couldn't put it down from the first page, and now I'm eagerly awaiting my hold on "Catching Fire." ...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Sita rated it it was amazing

I was a little skeptical about reading this book at first because I thought it wouldn't interest me. But boy was I wrong! I absolutely loved this book! From the moment I started reading it I couldn't put it down! When the book ended I couldn't wait to know more about their lives and had to continue to the second one! ...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, the-great-american-read

Couldn't put this down. Can't wait to see the movie. Jennifer Lawrence should be amazing as Katniss after having seen her in Winter's Bone. Story is propulsive. There's also a sense that it resembles a bit too uncomfortably the 99 percent vs. 1 percent we have been talking about as a nation. Katniss is a much better female role model than Bella from The Twilight saga. I was a little disappointed in the ending as it sets up the obvious sequels. ...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Cindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Unputdownable. I put off reading this book for a while because everyone was reading it and I hate being one of those band-wagon readers. But once I finally decided to read it I was kicking myself for waiting for so long. I finished reading in the middle of the night and the next day I immediately went to the store and bought Catching Fire! I would have bought Mockingjay too but it wasn't published yet. ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Cindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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Sep 30, 2016 Jocelyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Couldn't Stop Reading

So she this book was first published and was such a success in the US, I really wanted to read it but it wasn't easy to find in South Africa. Then it became a movie and I was afraid to read it, in case it failed to live up to the hype. But it didn't. Not one bit. ...more

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