Review: The Hunger Games
Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: Scholastic Inc., 2009
Synopsys: The story begins at an unknown future time in the area that used to be North America. This country, now called Panem, consists of twelve districts and the governing city, The Capitol. In this time, humanity has taken a turn for the worse, and most of the districts starve while those lucky enough to be born in the Capitol live a life of luxury.
Long before the beginning of the book, this world was at war. A now destroyed 13th district rebelled against the Capitol, and suffered an excruciating loss. To remind the citizens of Panem of this defeat, and to make sure this kind of rebellion doesn’t happen again, the Capitol came up with the Hunger Games.
Each year, the Capitol requires two youths from each district, one boy and one girl between ages 12 and 18, to be sent to the Hunger Games. They are chosen randomly through a lottery. Once they are in the Hunger Games arena, they must all fight to the death on national television. The last child standing will have a life of luxury within their district.
We meet our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, on the day of the lottery. She is a strong, avid hunter, and must feed her family with the illegal game she kills in the forest. She lives in possibly the most impoverished district of all. District 12 is in a harsh, cold region of the country, and most of the citizens make what little money they can in the coal mines.
Katniss is very passionate and truly hates the Capitol, but she is very careful not to draw attention to herself or her family, whom she cares about very much. She is shocked to hear that her sister, Prim, is drawn to take part in the Hunger Games. With very little hesitation, Katniss jumps forward and volunteers to take her sister’s place.
My Thoughts: My mother was actually the one who told me to read this book. She knew I enjoyed authors like Stephanie Meyer and J. K. Rowling, but I found it odd that she would read something I would like as well. (She would rather read Pride and Prejudice or To Kill a Mocking Bird a thousand times than read something like Twilight.) So you can see why I would be a little skeptical when she took me to the book store specifically to get this book. I picked it up, read the first two pages, and was hooked.
Collins drew me into this future world that isn’t so hard to imagine. She finds a way to keep you reading “just one more chapter,” and then another, and another, until hours later you find the book is finished. Katniss is one of the strongest female lead characters I have ever read about, and the plot continues to surprise until the very end.
This book could easily be enjoyed by boys and girls of all ages. Usually, novels are characterized by gender based on the lead character or subject of the book, but The Hunger Games throws a wrench in that stereotype. There is a female lead, but there is also a male lead that comes into play. The book is about hunting, fishing, and survival, but there is also love, romance, and even fashion.
The basic plot, as I have said, is that a bunch of teenagers are going to kill each other and there’s some romance in the story line (though very little), but I’d say that Collins kept her writing fairly appropriate, given the circumstances. The only time she gets a little out of line is in the final death scene. There are quite a few gruesome details to deal with, so parents should be aware before allowing their children to read.
The Hunger Games is incredibly well written and the characters and the world they live in become more real as you read. I have recommended this book to everyone I know, and I urge you to read it as well. Only one piece of advice: make sure you have a few hours to kill before you start.
Amy Young is an author who works for a financial education company. This business strives to educate those in need with websites that encourage proper financial habits.
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