Trilogy: The Hunger Games #1. Scholastic Inc (Sept. 2008) Own
Winning Means Fame and Fortune.Losing Means Certain Death.The Hunger Games Have Begun....In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Katniss Everdeen takes her first steps into becoming a symbol of hope in one of the most well known trilogies around. Katniss lives in district 12 where she has to hunt for her and her families' food to survive. The Capitol makes it so that she is forced to do this. She is unable to imagine the kind of surplus of food and wealth the Capitol has taken from the districts who supply them with those luxuries. But she's just about to find out. After her sister is unfairly cast to be a contender in the Hunger Games where kids fight to the death she takes her place in the Games and unwittingly becomes a symbol of hope. She also starts things she never intended to - with matters of the heart and the politics of the Games.
I love this book. I love this trilogy. It completely and totally drew me into the world where there is this greedy and powerful government who makes sure that you don't over step your bounds or get ahead in life. It made me feel for Katniss's situation and made me cry my eyes out at the injustice of it all. It's an unbelievably wonderful book that has everything a reader could ever want. If you haven't read it you are missing out on some great storytelling that has action, romance, heart racing moments, wonderful writing, the works! I will always read and love The Hunger Games. Always.
For those of you who have read The Hunger Games:
When I watched the Catching Fire trailer and saw Katniss twirl around and actually become the Mockingjay this internal need to read her story again kept coming back to me and wouldn't let me go until I read her story. I realized before I read the trilogy again that I've never written a review on any of the books. The books came out way before I started the blog so it makes sense. But how could I not write about this trilogy and all the feelings I have for it?
Reading this trilogy for the third time I could see the difference between the first time I read it and now. First of all I know what happens but the sad moments still rip me to shreds inside. I had to constantly cover myself or fake a yawn so no one would see me crying. I also noticed that the way I felt about Katniss then and Katniss now are completely different. I thought that Katniss was way too mean to Peeta the first time around. She cuts him up when she tackles him after the interview when he professes his love for her, she becomes irritated with him when his walking is too noisy for her, and she strings him along throughout the Games. But, really she is just a tough girl who doesn't want to die on national television with her mother and sister watching and who does care about Peeta but she hasn't known him until now so it's really unfair to say what she really feels for Peeta or Gale. It was a bit crappy of Katniss and Haymitch not to say anything to Peeta but they didn't do it to hurt him. The Hunger Games is about survival. You both were able to survive because of your skills and the manipulation of the audience.
Speaking of audience - I've never really thought about this as something that could really happen. The movie kind of brings it to reality. There are actual people playing our favorite characters. They are flesh and bone, not fictional characters running around in my head. I started thinking about this while reading this book. This trilogy if you think about it is the most real dystopian future. This could actually happen where you are less likely to get stuck in a maze or be living in a spaceship. I can totally see people being entertained by kids fighting to the death and that's terrifying. There's a very real message to this story. Not only that our world is way too violent and never being satisfied with how much you have (the Capitol citizens) can ruin our way of living but that if we let it the world could very well become something like what it is in The Hunger Games.
Question: Do you believe that something like The Hunger Games world could ever exist?
Overall: A must read! One of the best dystopians I have ever read.
If you like The Hunger Games trilogy you might like Collins' other series for MG: Underland Chronicles which I have two of that have been lying around for years and I must get to reading them.
I have read this book few years ago and I have never read it again. First two books were amazing but Mockingjay was a big disappointment at the time. I was crushed with the ending and then I was young and naive. Now I can't wait to reread this book because I'll be more realistic and I'll probably love the ending.
ReplyDeleteGreat review :)
A lot of people say that Mockingjay was a disappointment. I think what hit me hard was the death of two beloved characters. That's what made it hard the first time around for me. You should read it again! You will probably have a different perspective a second time around (:
DeleteOoh, I didn't know she had more books! And I agree with Tanja, the end of Mockingjay was very disappointing and I felt like things were not completely wrapped up. That's an awesome question, I feel like civilians would go crazy and retaliate before letting the government take over that much of their lives though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, these were before The Hunger Games. I didn't realize until after I read them all that I had two of her books lying around somewhere. But the ending has an epilogue. Hmm... I would have liked to know what happened with their vote and Gale though.
DeleteI agree but I also think that we are very frightful and sometimes easily manipulated creatures. We avoid the truth a lot so it would take a symbol like Katniss or something horrible to happen for a real bog change. But, we are very opinionated in this day and age so I can see us rising up fast too.
When it comes to dystopia, there isn't a better one out there. Divergent is also good, but The Hunger Games really gives us a peek at human nature and the extent to which people will degrade.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your question, I don't know. I hope not, but if you look at civilizations throughout history, I have to lean toward yes. I think that Suzanne Collins did a good job of taking issues such as government control and a thirst for violence as entertainment and showing us precisely what can come of it. If you think about it, isn't the arena in The Hunger Games the same thing as the Colosseum of ancient Rome?
Ah, yes it is a lot like the Colosseum. I never thought about that. Making people fight for our entertainment, fight for their freedom and survival is not new to us. Good point!
DeleteI loved this series too! I should reread them! Reading your review made me think of all that I loved about the writing and the story. I agree with you that Katniss is just trying to survive and wouldn't we all do whatever we had to in order to live? I thought that Collins did a great job creating a future world where people would be entertained by children trying to survive. It brought together history and society's love for reality tv shows. I would not want to watch- but I bet there would be people out there who would be entertained.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Gregor the Overlander series- I read it first (before The Hunger Games was out) and loved it. She creates a fascinating world. I hope you enjoy them!
Thanks for reviewing a favorite and sparking me to want to reread the series. :)
Thanks for letting me know about Gregor the Overland series (the series name is different on Goodreads) (:
DeleteNow I might not be so hesitant to start reading it.
Took me awhile to want to read the Hunger Games, due to it being about children fighting to the death. But thought I would give it one try and I was completely surprised that I could not stop reading. Now I'm reading the 2nd book Catching Fire. Then I will read the last one and finally watch the movies.
ReplyDelete