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

Dec 15, 2010 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult-teen-books, read-in-2010, dystopian-world, my-blog-reviews, banned-books, science-fiction-futuristic-romance, suzanne-collins, 1st-person-pov, ronyell-s-epinions-reviews

Imagine living in a post- apocalyptic world where keeping your life is your main priority in life. Well, I got that experience when I read this book called “The Hunger Games” and believe me this book took me on one dark and intense ride. “The Hunger Games” is an intense book by Suzanne Collins which details how a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen is thrown into the dreaded Hunger Games when she tries to save her sister, Prim from entering it. “The Hunger Games” may be too violent and Imagine living in a post- apocalyptic world where keeping your life is your main priority in life. Well, I got that experience when I read this book called “The Hunger Games” and believe me this book took me on one dark and intense ride. “The Hunger Games” is an intense book by Suzanne Collins which details how a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen is thrown into the dreaded Hunger Games when she tries to save her sister, Prim from entering it. “The Hunger Games” may be too violent and intense for some readers to handle, but it is truly one of the most engaging books ever written!

In the ruins of North America, there is a nation called Panem where it is ruled by the Capitol, which is full of cruel and ruthless people ruling the city. Every year, the Capitol would send in a boy and a girl from each district to compete in the dreaded Hunger Games, where competitors fight to the death to survive. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen realizes that her sister Prim is about to compete in the Hunger Games, she decides to take her sister’s place to save her life and now she is competing in the Hunger Games where she has to use all of her wits and strength to survive!

Whew! I am definitely out of breath after I read this book! When I first heard about this book, I was trying to figure out what all the hype was all about on this book, but now I know! Suzanne Collins has certainly done an awesome job at writing this book that is full of intensity and suspense! What I loved the most about this book was how Suzanne Collins had perfectly built up the pace of the action in this book so that the readers do not have to feel like they do not know the characters that well since it might cause the plot of the story to move quickly. I will admit that when I first read this book, it started out really slow, but as soon as the Hunger Games begins, the action quickly picks up and I found myself being mesmerized by Suzanne Collins’ intensive writing and exciting plot that I could not put the book down! I also loved the characters in this book, especially Katniss Everdeen herself! Katniss is the pure strong heroine in this book as she struggles to survive in the Hunger Games and I loved the way that Katniss uses her knowledge of the forest and her wit to help her get through the Hunger Games. I also admired Katniss’ courage in this book as she was able to handle any obstacle that came at her and I loved the relationship between her and Peeta. Katniss' and Peeta's relationship with each other is not your average romantic couple since they are too busy trying to survive in the Hunger Games, but there are some cute moments between the two of them. Another thing I loved about this book was how the idea of “The Hunger Games” was thought up as I never would have thought that I would read a book that takes place in a post – apocalyptic world or in this case, after the destruction of North America and that idea easily intrigues me since you wonder to yourself about how can you create another civilization after the destruction of another civilization. I also think that this book reminded me of the gladiator tournaments that were held during Ancient Rome and even some of the characters’ names in this book seem to reflect the Roman names.

There are many gory and violent scenes in this book, which includes many people dying in horrific ways. So, anyone who does not like gore or violence might feel a bit squeamish when reading this book. Also, the whole theme about how the Capitol toys with innocent people’s lives and views it as a sport is deeply disturbing.

Overall, “The Hunger Games” is a truly worthy book to read over and over again and I will definitely be checking out the next two books in this fantastic series!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

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Jan 05, 2011 ♡Karlyn P♡ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2011, ebook, steam-mild, genre-fantasy, audiobook, non-romance

Wow, even better the second time through! So much happens in this story that it's easy to miss many of the details in the first read. This time I saw the story unfold from a very different perspective as I knew what was ahead of them. It made me really appreciate the talented Suzanne Collins. She created an amazing futuristic dystopian world, then showed it to us from the point-of-view of a seemingly insignificant young lady named Katniss. (Who turns out to be anything but insignificant).

If you ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Mar 15, 2012 Not Now...Mommy's Reading rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 2012-reads, the-hunger-games-trilogy

I'm going to see the movie tonight!

I'm so Team Peeta it's ridiculous right now! I am truly in love with "the boy with the bread". *le sigh

The Hunger Games reminds me of a cross between "Lord of the Flies", "The Running Man" and "The Long Walk" by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King). In fact, when I first learned the premise of this novel, "The Long Walk" came immediately to mind. 24 adolescents are placed in an Arena to fight til the death. Why? For "Big Brother's" amusement I'm guessing. It's si ...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Jessica rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I had a hard time deciding between two and three stars for this book. I decided to go with three, mostly because I did really like Peeta, and the idea behind the story was interesting.

I asked for book recommendations from my friends, and several of them highly recommended this one. In fact, they loved it so much that I feel a little bad that I didn't. My number one issue with the book was the main character. Katniss is frustrating - she's very blank, and in spite of the fact that the book is wri ...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Kelly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I wish I had read these earlier. I had heard everyone talking about how great they were, and I didn't make it a priority. This is the first in an amazing trilogy that is absolutely riveting and well written. This being the first book, it introduces the characters and introduces a post-modern view of life after North America is no longer. Iron fist control, natural resources being fed to the government by the "worker bees" in the districts, each responsible for a different commodity. It is a litt ...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Katniss Everdeen lives in a post-apocalyptic North America called Panem which is ruled by a capitol with 12 districts. Every year 2 tributes from each district are sent to the hunger games in a fight to the death. Katniss volunteers to take her sister Prim's place in the Hunger Games and is sent with Peeta Mellark, the bakers son. The book does a good job of setting up the land and once the games got started I couldn't put the book down. I'm looking forward to reading the next two books in the s ...more

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Jan 30, 2011 Rebekah rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-fantasy, genre-young-adult, genre-book-club, genre-adventure, genre-science-fiction, rating-4, genre-young-adult-teen, genre-romance, genre-science-fiction-dystopia, genre-science-fiction-fantasy

Read it in one setting, couldn't put it down as far as story-telling goes. I didn't give it a 5 though just because it reminded me of too many other plots, like Lord of the Flies, or more specifically, a short story I read a long time ago called "The Most Dangerous Game." Really dark and pretty disturbing for a YA novel, but infinitely better than Twilight. :) Friends are encouraging me to continue the series, so we will see. ...more

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