The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

Book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 5 Stars

Release date: October 1, 2008 from Scholastic Press

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.

*****

Katniss Everdeen would do anything for her family. Ever since her father’s death in a mine accident, she has been the leader. She does have a mother but her mom’s specialty is healing not killing. And killing is what Katniss does. In order to keep her family alive, Katniss hunts for their food and extra to sell. She and her best friend, Gale, work as a team to keep their families alive and well.

Things change when Katniss’ little sister, Prim, is drawn as a tribute for the Hunger Games. Katniss does the only thing she can think to do, which is volunteer to take Prim’s place. She knows she probably won’t make it out of the Games alive but she also knows that if she dies her family will be taken care of by the people of District 12.

Peeta Mellark is the boy tribute from District 12. Katniss and Peeta don’t have anything in common and they barely know each other so Katniss figures it should be easy to kill him once the Games begin. Little does she know in order to win these Games she will have to have Peeta by her side.

Will Katniss be able to distance herself from the other participants of the Games? Will she be able to keep her temper long enough to gain some sponsors to help her through the Games? And most importantly, will she be able to kill Peeta if it comes down to that? Who will win the 74th annual Hunger Games?

OMFG!!!

That’s all I can think to say about The Hunger Games. Well, I guess it’s not all I have to say but it’s a start. I think that makes it pretty clear how I felt about the book. I loved it and it holds a special place on my shelf so I can go back and read it over and over again. It’s just that good.

Going into The Hunger Games I was skeptical. I had heard such great reviews about it but I didn’t really think I would enjoy it. I mean, it’s about a bunch of kids going into battle and brutally murdering each other. I figured it would just creep me out. I was wrong. It was hard to read at parts because of how sad it was but in the end it was totally worth it.

The Hunger Games is a very unique book that will hopefully take young adult readers by storm. I understand that a lot of people think that a book about teens killing each other wouldn’t be good but it was. Suzanne Collins did an amazing job telling the story of Katniss and really making the characters likable, even when they were trying to kill each other. Maybe even a little too likable because I now have a huge crush on Peeta. He’s the perfect guy and I just want him. Too bad he’s fictional. =]

Overall, The Hunger Games is now one of my favorite books and I can’t wait for more of Katniss’ story. I have a feeling that this trilogy is going to be very popular and if it’s not well then it should be. If you haven’t read the first book yet, go get it. What are you waiting for? The sequel, Catching Fire, will be released in less than two days so hurry up and read the first one.

Similar books:
The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

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12 comments

  1. Ooh, this makes me excited because I’ve also heard many good things about it. And I was kind of skeptical when I read the summary provided. But The Hunger Games sounds great! I’ll have to get a hold of a copy soon.

    Thanks for the great review! 🙂

  2. Glad you loved it! This is one of my all-time favorites too!

    I wouldn’t say it’s similar to The Uglies Series, though. The only thing that they have in common is that they both take place in the future.

    shutupimreading.blogspot.com
    Jessica

  3. One of my favorite reads this year. I can’t believe I waited so long to read it!

    I’m so excited to get to Catching Fire in a few days!!! I’ll be stalking the postman until it gets here!

    This is one time I’m kinda glad to be unemployed! I’ll be consuming it as fast as I can! Though, I hate that I’ll probably want to take my time because the next book will be a while before it’s released…..sad.

  4. This book is just perfect! I read all the 3 books and they were amazing. The third book was the first book where I had to cry while reading it. This trilogy is such an amazing story, and the movies are just fantastic. But of course, the books are better. 🙂 The book was written fluently, so I was ready in 2 days or something, because I couldn’t stop. It was so exciting! Also, the characters are very clear, and her writing skills are just amazing. Suzanne Collins is a very good writer and I love her books, especially The Hunger Games. I’m going to read more books of Collins, and I’m pretty sure that they will be also fantastic. I recommend this book to everybody.