The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
Pages: 374
Age Group: Young Adult
Synopsis: 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.
Review: The first time I’ve seen this book, it was being promoted as the hottest book on the shelf at a bookstore over a year ago. They displayed it in the lobby of the store with posters and other advertisement materials to catch the eyes of the costumers. And I noticed, it stayed at the number one spot in the top ten best selling list of Young Adult Fictions for a long time, and I can’t recall how long is that, maybe months, three to five I think before the spot was taken by a new book. I’ve read those comments and short reviews of some of the famous authors such as Stephenie Meyer and Stephen King that says it’s a great book. What intrigues me most is that, I know for a fact that Stephen King is a down to earth critic when it comes to books. For example how he gave Twilight a negative review. And yet its clear, Hunger Games caught his interest and a positive review pulls out of him. Behind those promotions at the bookstores, and the incredible ratings I’ve seen online it still don’t appeal to me to read it. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve read the synopsis and noticed that it’s a book about violence that prevents me from reading it. Plus the cover didn’t so much appeal to me. Honestly, I’m a sucker for good cover arts and that’s the first thing that appeals to me when I’m looking for the new book to read. Not until they’re posting for promotions again for the upcoming third sequel of the trilogy, Mockingjay, that really gets my interest to give it a try. I’ve heard most people are signing up to pre-order the book even adults ages 30-40 I think,are falling in the line and are excited to read the third book. It annoys me to realize that, why haven’t I read it yet. It’s like every body has read the book and they’re talking about it and I was left in the dark not knowing the world behind those pages.
So when Mockingjay was released, I grab a copy of Hunger Games to start the trilogy. And when the first few sentences starts to sink in, I’m glued in those pages and its hard for me to put it down. The writing style is easy to grasp and I was easily absorbed into Katniss’s world. Specially when her sister was called in the reaping to be the female tribute from district 12 and Katniss volunteered to go instead of her sister, that’s when the adrenaline rushes and I can’t stop reading. It’s fast paced and there’s no wasting of time uttering rubbish thoughts from Katniss’s point of view. When they enter the arena, it reminds me of those reality shows I watch at TV, like Big Brother House where they could see their each movements and specially Survivor which resembles it. The only difference is, this show highlights death, you have to kill one another in able to survive and be the victor. Pretty gruesome and violent huh? It’s my first impression too, but upon reading it, I found out that its not that grotesque since the main audience of this book are teenagers. Some deaths are hidden from the narrator. You’ll just know they’re dead when the canyon bums.
Another thing that I love about this book is the personality of the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. I love tough female characters, who are a fighter and can stand on their own without needing to be save by a male character. Her determination, strength and spirit made me love her more, plus her ability to do guy stuffs too. She’s good in hunting and her weapon is bow that adds the points. And aside from Katniss, Peeta’s name is drawn as the male tribute of district 12, the son of a baker, the guy who gave Katniss loaves of bread when she’s starving after her father’s death. A sweet, silent, pathetic guy and good looking guy, that’s how I see him. What else can I say about him? Except that his words can pierce into your heart. Between the two of them Peeta is the obedient one while Katniss is the fierce one.
Well over all, I love this book. Its really amazing, and I jump right of in reading Catching Fire right after this. And lastly I’m definitely team Peeta. Since there’s not much Gale in here.
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Ending: 5/5
Cover: 3/5
Overall: 5/5
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