Note: This is not Twilight, so don’t you go looking for romance here (although it DOES “happen”).
Note 2: I haven’t checked out Battle Royale yet, so I’ll review this book on its own. I also haven’t yet read the other books in the trilogy. I’ll try hard to keep myself from referencing other books.
This is Panem. This is a world past the years of today, a world that’s seen the best and worst humans like us have to offer… And where humans like us consequently decided to re-explore and re-confirm the worst possible scenario, then cruelly bestow such situations to their fellow brethren. Dystopia.
(Note that this is a young adult book. This would probably not compare to the likes of 1984, but we must consider its target market. However, the book, in its own way, was able to portray and give life to a cruel society, with interesting personalities to match.)
This book is not about characters who wear rose-colored glasses. This is a gritty book, talking about the lowest of us, and how they survive behind the glittery, cosmopolitan life of the noted rich. This is about how they struggle to live, while doomed to die. This is about the Hunger Games.
The concept of the (actual) Hunger Games is simple: it’s a grandoise display of power by the region’s most powerful government. The very thought of the name shows this- the winner of the Hunger Games will be given a bounty to keep their *starving* district from hunger for a year.
This book, however, is not necessarily about the Games. The story zooms in on a young girl, who, by some chance or other, is meant to join the Hunger Games, and, consequently, does things that makes the Capitol change the rules of the game, sometimes in her favor (as opposed to the book’s popular quote “May the odds be ever in your favor”).
In essence, then, we have here:
-A society (complete with lore!) that controls and is controlled
-A strong *young* female lead character (who is a huntress in all sense of the word, and is not very emotional – though not unfeeling)
-Very real, very human characters (I don’t think you’d find a “perfect” person here. The characters have very genuine feelings, and each seem to have a touching past – even the most brutal of them all)
-Lore! Lore! Lore!
-An action-packed story, with stray tidbits of comedy, tragedy and drama
A pretty good read, although my kid sister (11 y.o.) thinks that some parts are too “boring” (i.e. wordy). The movie adaptation was pretty good, too. For some reason, I can’t label this a 5… Maybe a 4.5. 4 it is, then.
{What I struggled to understand, at first, is why a lot of people (read: young adults) love it. I mean, I hate-hate-hate the Capitol with a passion, and I think it’s so horribly cruel for them to allow such barbaric play to happen. I asked a few people I know why they liked it- they struggled at first, and thought long and hard about it… But then told me things about the huntress in Katniss, the action, and the disparity between rich and poor.}
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Other previous updates:
{Apparently, status updates are only for people with a few words to say :P}
Status update for pg. 182:
Disgusting. How can people (readers) utterly enjoy this? (I’m only halfway though, so maybe my viewpoint will still change?) While I admire the huntress in Katniss, this book irritates me. The Hunger Games, the stupid Capitol, the obliviousness. Kudos to the author for making a world (very detailed, deep, complete with its own lore!) that moves me to annoyance. (This affects me – a clear sign that its storytelling, plot, characters, etc. are moving enough to make me want to care.)
Status update for book-end:
Poor Peeta. Poor, poor Peeta.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
