The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

One of the most popular YA novels of all time, The Hunger Games, was an immediate success when it came out in 2008; the book received critical acclaim for the plot and the character development and, by 2010, the book had sold over 800,000 copies.  Two more books followed in the series, making it a trilogy; and a prequel to the series was also released just last year.  I have read all three of the books in the trilogy and have really enjoyed them (though I was slightly disappointed with the last book), but I have yet to read the prequel that just came out.  I have also seen all of the movies and, despite the reputation that some book to movie adaptions get, I thought these movies were really good adaptions of the books.  I hope you love this book as much as I do! Whatever your thoughts I’d love to hear from you!

The Hunger Games, which takes place in a futuristic dystopian world, is about 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who takes her younger sister’s place in the gruesome Hunger Games.  In these annual games, teenagers from the 13 districts in the land (one male teen and one female teen from each district) fight to the death, with only one person out of all of them making it out alive.  Representing her district with a guy named Peeta Mellark, Katniss has to fight to survive if she ever wants to see her family again.  This book has noteworthy parts like how some of the characters perform selfless acts, such as Katniss taking her sister Primrose’s place in the games even though Katniss might die in the process.  I also enjoyed a lot of the characters, as they felt very likable, and the book is also very suspenseful.  I could barely put it down at certain points.  However, if you are any bit familiar with this book, you will know that it is very violent at times, and there are brutal descriptions of wounds and people being killed (and there’s also a very sad part where a beloved character dies).  I would caution parents regarding the book’s violence, and I would recommend it only for teens and up.  I think the biggest theme in this book is probably sacrifice, as so many of the characters make sacrifices so that others can live, most especially Katniss and Peeta; and I think that this theme of sacrifice might just be more important now than ever before, as we’re living more and more in a world where we must not only think of ourselves but we must think of how our actions might just impact all those lives around us.

“It takes ten time as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”      

Finnick (This quote is actually from the third book and, FYI, Finnick is my favorite character, even though he doesn’t appear until book 2.)