The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (THG #1)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Drama, Action
Score: 3.5 stars
Page Count: 374
Book #1 of The Hunger Games series
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Published: September 14, 2008
The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.
When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature
Review:
PROS:
1. After being encouraged to finally read this book by pretty much everyone I know, I finally did so and read it to make everybody happy. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't excited to read it but I wasn't exactly over-the-top about reading it either. Most of the hype that surrounded this book when the first movie came out ruined the book for me and made me stay away from it. What's worse than hype you guys? Nothing, that's what. But, I read it nonetheless so here's my review!
2. The first thing I came to love about this book was the world in which everything takes place. I liked how messed up and cruel the system of things was and it seemed a decent enough world that no one really wants to live in. It was pretty complex in a way but simple to understand. It was interesting to see just how exactly they justify the cruel way in which their world and government works and it honestly was a pretty cool dystopian world.
3. I really liked how much the book focused on the survival element of things. Most of the book takes place and follows Katniss as she struggles to make it out alive and in one piece back home. I liked seeing her actions as she tried to survive and outsmart the other "contestants" in order to stay alive for as long as possible. You even pick up a few survival tips from reading the book and it was pretty interesting.
CONS:
1. Even though I liked the book for the most part, I didn't really like any of the characters. I couldn't connect with them and honestly didn't really care what happened to them. Katniss, for me, was a hard character to like since she was always expecting someone to betray her or turn their back on her. It was a little annoying and I couldn't relate to her. The other characters, Peeta, Gale, Rue, Prim and whoever else, lacked personality and I couldn't relate to them either. They were an okay group of characters but they definitely weren't my favorite.
2. I was also expecting more from this book but didn't get that. I was expecting a lot of action and suspense like I was led on to believe but the book fell short of my expectations and I didn't get any excitement. It was also really slow for the first half of the book which I could've let slide were it not for how long the slowness progressed. The romance in this book was just flat-out annoying to me and I would've been happy if it was taken out completely. It was just way too forced into the story and it didn't flow well with the storyline. Don't get me wrong, I love a little romance in a good dystopian but for this book, it just didn't work.
Overall, it was a cool book and I'm sure it picks up in the next two installments of the series. I might pick up the second book in the future but as of now, I'm in no hurry to continue on with the books.
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