Synopsis: In a future that is not too far away, the districts of a country called Panem are kept in check by the Hunger Games, reality TV gone seriously wrong. Every year the name of one girl and one boy from each district are pulled out of a hat and these 24 teenagers must literally compete to the death in a special arena. The competiton is manipulated by mysterious all-seeing "Gamemakers" and every move is captured on camera. Katniss Everdeen volunteers for the games after her sister's name is drawn and the novel follows her quest to try to stay alive.
The best thing about this book was that it was absolutely gripping. There was a quote on the front of my edition from Stephen King saying the the book was 'full of suspense and unputdownable'. And it really was. At some points while reading I reached a point where it would have been nice to put the book down for a bit and think about it before carrying on, but I just couldn't because so much was going on and I was desperate to find out what would happen next. All credit to Collins for that and for making the action unpredictable.
The satire on the reality TV genre was really well done too. I liked how Katniss was aware of being filmed at every moment and constantly manipulating her responses and reactions so as to appear in a positive way to the audience. Katniss herself was a wonderful character - a born survivor but you could still perceive as the reader how hard everything was for her. The other characters taking part in the games were all very vivid and well written.
I do think there was a little bit too much dystopia for me personally. I don't think Collins needed to invent a new country called Panem; the Hunger Games could have come out of America or Britain in a few decades, and that would have been much more powerful. I don't know if I want to read the rest of the series or not - I enjoyed the actual Hunger Games part of this one and don't know whether I want to read about a rebellion with Katniss at the forefront. And finally a minor quibble - I really don't like the UK cover and Katniss looks nothing like how I imagined on the front.
Verdict: Interesting idea, well written.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
I haven't read this yet, but I really want to. I read her earlier series (Gregor the Overlander) which was for middle grade readers and thought it was wonderful. Great review. You've made me want to get to this book sooner.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked this. I admit, I didn't much like the second book but I loved the last one!
ReplyDeleteYou're not the last one on earth to read this...that would be me :D Sounds fascinating. I might just try this out. Everyone seems to like this one the best out of the trilogy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it yet either. One of my co-workers read the entire trilogy in less than two weeks and she's a busy girl. I really want to get to it before the movie comes out.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, maybe I will keep going with the series if the last one is good. Middle books in a trilogy are always a bit 'meh' anyway.
ReplyDeleteLoni, you should definitely read it. I think there's a while until the movie comes out?
I've had this one on my MP3 player waiting to be listened to for months now. Good review. I may bump it up on my TBR list!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of that cover either. I too was late in reading these and read them pretty quickly when I did decide to pick them up.
ReplyDeleteSTILL haven't read the final one though....!
Oh and thanks for stopping by and commenting on my latest review. I appreciate it!
I completely agree with you--and Stephen King, LOL--that The Hunger Games is unputdownlable. I think it's the best book in the trilogy. Catching Fire just kinda rehashed the plot of the first book.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Hunger Games, it is the best in the series, but Mockingjay comes close.
ReplyDeleteThe UK cover is rather odd, she doesn't look at all like I image Katniss either.
I really need to read The Hunger Games- everyone in my book club keeps telling me more about it! Haha, I know the feeling when it seems everyone else in the blogosphere has read it except me, I'm experiencing that at the moment :)
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I was late to the party too. Just finished this one. Even though I am not a lover of YA, this was just so compelling it was hard not to love it. I have heard the second and third book aren't as good but they are owned by another family member so I will probably eventually read them. I really just want to know what happens to Katniss.
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