Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Review : The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc
Publication date: 7.1.2010
Pages: 384
Source: Own 

The Story:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

- Barnes and Noble


RatingFOUR GOLD STARS!!!!

My Review:

Before I start my rant about The Hunger Games, I have to admit that I was reluctant to read it -- as you can see I waited until now to do so. And to be honest, I cannot give you a good reason why. Perhaps it was a number of things that prevented me from reading the book. Maybe I was afraid the book would let me down since the film was so good? or maybe I was afraid that the film strayed to far from the novel and I would be pissed?

Well, that does not matter now. I finally give in and read The Hunger Games. And loved it!

The characters were real and came off the pages. Katniss, the girl on fire, and Peeta, the boy with the bread = . The pace off the story was steady. There was just the right balance of thrill, unrequited love humor (yes!) and relative material. I mean, I fell into the story. I felt a part of it. The whole while I was reading The Hunger Games, I felt as if I were beside Katniss. Absolutely mind-altering work of literature that gets under your skin.
"Without thinking, I pull an arrow from my quiver and send it straight at the Gamemakers' table. I hear shouts of alarm as people stumble back. the arrow skewers the apple in the pigs' mouth and pins it to the wall behind it. Everyone stares at me in disbelief.
'Thank you for your consideration,' I say. then I give a slight bow and walk straight toward he exit without being dismissed" [page 102].

What I found most interesting, was how Katniss always assume she would be the one to kill Peeta during the games, although she never outright stated or even admitted it (Pages 33, 72, etc.). Yet, in the end, Katniss was the one to save Peeta.

But let us get back to Peeta Mellark. Oh, Peeta, Peeta, Peeta. He is such a sweetheart but not to the point of weakness. Maybe that is why I love his character?  Not to mention, how much better does it get then when you find out the cute, kind boy with the beard secretly pined Katniss since they were 5 years old! Can I get a "book boyfriend material!"? Amen.

"'And right when your song ended, I knew -- just like your mother -- I was a goner,' Peeta says. 'Then for the next eleven years, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to you'" [pages 300-301].

Now, I am patiently (sike!) waiting for my copies of Catching Fire and Mockingjay to arrive in the mail. Cannot wait to read them -- although I think I am going to wait to read Mockingjay after the movies since that will be the case for the first two books in the trilogy.

*** Check out Suzanne Collins website for more information about her and The Hunger Games: HERE

Happy Reading!

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