Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 374 pages
Date Read: 12/19/2010
Series: The Hunger Games #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Purchased
Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Mature Themes)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
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!
REASON FOR BEING BANNED: For having anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
*Winner: 2008 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
*Winner: 2008 Horn Book Fanfare Best Book
*Winner: 2008 New York Times Notable Children's Book
*Winner: 2009 Georgia Peach Book Award
*Winner: 2009 Amelia Bloomer List
*Winner: 2009 ALA Notable Children's Book for Older Readers
*Winner: 2009 ALA Teens' Top Ten
*Winner: 2009 Teen Buckeye Book Award
*Winner: 2009 The Inky Awards for Silver Inky
*Winner: 2009 Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award
*Winner: 2009 ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults
*Winner: 2009 Florida Teens Read
*Winner: 2010 West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) for Older Readers
*Winner: 2010 Red House Children's Book Award for Older Readers & Overall
*Winner: 2010 Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
*Winner: 2010 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
*Nominee: 2010 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee
*Winner: 2010 Rhode Island Teen Book Award
*Winner: 2010 Sakura Medal for Middle School Book
*Winner: 2010 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
*Winner: 2010 - 2011 Eliot Rosenwater Indiana High School Book Award
*Nominee: 2011 Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee
*Winner: 2011 Iowa High School Book Award
*Winner: 2011 Abraham Lincoln Award
*Winner: 2011 South Carolina Book Award for Junior and Young Adult Book Awards
*Winner: Publisher's Weekly's Best Books of the Year
Be sure to get the two books at the same time or be ready to grab the third as soon as you finish the second because the second book has a cliff-hanger ending. When I received this book for review, I thought the description (blurb) made it sound derivative of Battle Royale and I was prepared to be, at best, lukewarm. I was completely enthralled, devoured the novel, and it even made me tear up at one point. (I won't say when because of spoilers but oh my . . . I got tears in my eyes.)
ReplyDeleteI gave the book to my son and he loved it. As did one of his friends. I'll be waiting for the movie to come to dvd and may even wait until all four movies are out before I see any of them but I definitely could see the book would make an excellent film and am happy to hear the first did so well.
I'm also planning on waiting for all three movies to come out before I watch them since I want to see them all at one time like I'm doing with Harry Potter. But first, I'll have to definitely read the next two books in this series to find out what happens next!
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