The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

by Suzanne Collins

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

I’ve seen the movie; Death Race and Gamer so it was interesting to read a book where last man standing/fight to the death for entertainment was the central theme. I have to admit that I was worried about reading this; I thought it was be sappy teenage romance junk – since it shows up as a favourite book, with people that like Twilight – but this was dark and a well-paced dystopian adventure. I decided to read this at the guarantee that it was nothing like Twilight and at the recommendation of fans of dark YA fiction (following the whole YA is too dark article in the WSJ).

The Hunger Games is the story of a 16 year old girl that takes the place of her younger sister to compete in the annual televised event ‘The Hunger Games’. This is an even were a young boy and girl are called up randomly to participate in a fight to the death for survival for the entertainment of the rich and powerful. While this has been done in movies a few times; I think the book was written well enough to combine that sense of action found in those movies with the required storytelling of a decent novel. Katniss; while a weird name; she is a strongly written character, with all the normal awkwardness you would expect from a teenager, having to deal with love, death and loneliness in this dystopian world that she lives in.

For a dark, violent and fast paced Young Adult book, I would definitely recommend The Hunger Games. While I would have liked a darker book, I think this book would be enjoyed but readers of all ages. I try not to use cliques like ‘Page Turner’ or ‘captivation’ but I think that would sum up just how good this book is. I really don’t think I want to continue on with the trilogy, I think as a stand-alone book, it’s fantastic; but if I try to predict the rest of the series and all I can see is love-triangles, fighting authority and a lot more romance. If this isn’t the case, I might read the other books, I just think it works better as a single story.