Nose in a Book

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Read for: What’s in a Name Challenge – book with a medical condition in the title (this might be stretching it a little, but someone else has already used this for this category so SUE ME!)

Wow.  I don’t even know where to start with this one…  This book is horrifyingly good, let me see if I can explain.

Sometime in the future, North American has now become Panem, a country divided into the Capitol – the haves, and 12 Districts – the have-nots.  Every year the Capitol puts on the Hunger Games, where 2 children, aged 12-18, from each District are chosen to fight to the death in the arena.  The last man (or woman) standing brings fame and fortune to their district for the coming year.

Katniss, from District 12 (one of the poorer districts) volunteers herself for the Hunger Games when her 12 year old sister’s name is drawn.  Katniss actually has a lot of practical skills that may be useful to her in the games.  Peeta, the boy that is chosen from District 12, a baker’s son, once helped Katniss when she was starving to death, so there is of course a little history between them.

I don’t really want to say much else about the plot because it would require giving away too much about the story.  The book is divided into three parts and the entire first part of the book is about the reaping (chosing the names of the children that will participate), and preparing the children for the games.  The second and third part are about the actual games and what happenes afterward.  The ending is satisfying, but also leaves a lot of loose ends that left me dying to read the next book (which comes out September 1, 2009 – can’t wait!).

I almost forgoet!  To add to the drama of the Games, the entire thing is televised,including each gory death, so everyone at home is watching, like some sick reality TV show.  Of course, Katniss and the other contestants have some acting to do to try and garner sympathy so their sponsors might send them food or medicine or weapons or whatever they might be in need of.

So, when I first started reading this I almost put it down again, because I normally don’t enjoy novels about a dystopian future.  Somehow they are just depressing.  But, then the story drew me in.  Katniss was a very compelling character, but the reaping was what really got me.  It was kind of like watching a train wreck, I just couldn’t pull myself away it was so awful!  And by then, I was totally involved in the story and was able to forget about the dystopian future thing and just enjoy the story.

There is a love story in the book that actually becomes a major part of the plot and Katniss spends almost the entire book being entirely oblivious to the fact.  Some have compared her to Bella Swan in her obliviousness but I actually found Katniss to be a much more believable and likeable character than Bella.

The Hunger Games was extremely entertaining and I really could not put it down.  I will be buying the next book the day it goes on sale, which is called Catching Fire and will be released on Sept. 1.

The Hunger Games gets a 10/10 from me!

Other Reviews:

• A Comfy Chair and a Good Book
• Bart’s Bookshelf
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Book Nut
• books i done read
• Dreadlock Girl
• Farm Lane Book Blogs
• It’s All About Books
• Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?
• Random Wonder
• Stephanie’s Written Word
• The Book Nest
• The Well Read Child

Did I miss yours?  Please link in the comments.

Tags: Katniss Everdeen, Suzanne Collins

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