The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Summary:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

Rating: 5/5

Review:

This book came highly recommended to me by basically everyone. It would not have been a book I'd pick out for myself; the cover didn't intrigue me, and just by that I wouldn't have even considered reading the back of the book to get more info. If it had been just a random book in a bookstore, I'd have passed it by without an extra thought.

But this is no ordinary book; not even close. With all they hype and great reviews about it, I was interested. And when it came to my school's library, it was so easy to get my hands on it. And when I did, I was not disappointed.

This was an extremely gripping story. Futuristic, scarily so. While extreme critics find other books or movies to compare this one to, I can think of nothing that compares. The story is definitely different from anything I've ever read. Killing people for sport is not a subject that I find gracing the pages of young adult literature. But here it is, plain as day. Perhaps it's a comment on society and the way things are shaping up to be, or perhaps it was just a hypothetical story meant to entertain and keep readers on the edge of their seat. Whichever the case may be, I was enthralled. And it really got me thinking about people, and just goodness overall.

The writing wasn't my favorite; it actually kind of bothered me in parts, the way that Katniss spoke in her narration. But the story fully made up for it.

I'm not sure exactly how the sequel will turn out... but you can bet that I'll be ready for it when it's released.