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The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Suzanne Collins

Start date: April 1, 2011

Finish date: April 30, 2011

Why we're reading this: April selection.
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Mar 04, 2011 Brandie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 2011, read-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was very hesitant to read this book for several reasons. 1. Dystopias are very much Not My Thing. 2. This book was so closely associated with Twilight, which I did not like. I finally started reading it a few days ago and was surprised at how much I liked(?) it, or at least, at how it affected me. I wouldn't say I'm a passionate fan, but I will say that I liked the book and am moving on to Catching Fire. I have no idea why this book was associated in any way with Twilight - the only similariti I was very hesitant to read this book for several reasons. 1. Dystopias are very much Not My Thing. 2. This book was so closely associated with Twilight, which I did not like. I finally started reading it a few days ago and was surprised at how much I liked(?) it, or at least, at how it affected me. I wouldn't say I'm a passionate fan, but I will say that I liked the book and am moving on to Catching Fire. I have no idea why this book was associated in any way with Twilight - the only similarities seem to be that it is YA, the main character is female, and it uses the first person POV.

Collins effectively conveys the hideousness of the Games, to which the citizens of the Capitol seem oblivious. Dress up the children and send them out to kill one another, what a jolly sport! Katniss doesn't dwell overly much on it, but it hits you again and again, the wrongness of it all. And is she deliberately making a comment on our voracious appetite for voyeuristic competitive television, or is her tone explained by the fact that those types of shows were where the idea originated?

All-in-all, Collins produced a fast-paced, well-plotted read. Her sentences and language are spare, quick, and simple, but they have a strong impact in Katniss' voice. I often found myself more than a little sick at the brutality of this dystopian society. Collins found good inspiration in the lethal excesses of Ancient Rome and other cultures where competition unto death was enjoyed as a spectator sport. I think what might horrify especially is that we are still those people - we still hunger to see human beings triumphing over one another in outrageous circumstances. Fortunately, we don't hunger for real, live death on our television screens, and the reality shows we adore are, for the most part, truly harmless entertainment.

In several other reviews, I've seen people calling Katniss "stupid" and "oblivious" for not seeing Peeta's feelings for her, etc. I've also seen complaints about how the story wasn't about fighting against the Capitol and its rule. For my part, I would have found it far less believable if she had paused to give more thought to her feelings for Peeta than she did, or had been more rebellious in her actions. I found Katniss's reactions to be consistently believable, fighting for her life as she was. Being in shock about a situation, then being forced to think constantly of survival, leaves very little room for navel-gazing. I felt that Collins gave us a very plausible picture of a fairly ordinary girl in an impossible, horrible situation.

I did not expect much rounding out of the other children, because a) Katniss did not know them, and we're seeing through her eyes, and b) Katniss deliberately kept herself from knowing as little about them as persons as was possible, something that is, I think, the only reaction a human being could have, knowing that she might have to kill them outright. Rue and Peeta came through vividly in their characterizations. Gale, however, did feel very out-of-place. From the build-up in the beginning, I kept expecting him to pop up out of nowhere, although I imagine he will reappear in Catching Fire, with (I hope) more character development.

Another thing that I would not have expected to see in this book was an open rebellion. Indeed, the flowers for Rue, the suicide threat, almost destroyed Katniss. The power of the Capitol is too strong, and Katniss is too young, too inexperienced, and too concerned with surviving to effect any kind of rebellion. But I suspect that there is one at hand. I also suspect that Cinna might be a part of it, whatever it is. And Katniss, now having survived the games, may very well join up with whatever movement exists to throw over the government's power. ...more

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Apr 11, 2011 Franchesca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Jul 07, 2011 Aleena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Jan 02, 2012 Teresa Vessels rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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