The Hunger Games [Paperback]

 

 

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The hunger games is focussed on an almost surreal world where "The Capitol" is watching over a set of 12 districts. These districts each have different skills, some are fantastic farmers or hunters or bakers and so on. The hunger games is a broadcast show which all 12 districts can watch and essentially become a part of. One boy and One girl from each district is chosen to fight in the hunger games - and it's a fight to the death. The winner? Well, they're the last living contestant. However, what seems quite a relevant twist is that the contestants are children of varying ages and degrees of strength and independance.

It's such a brilliant book in that you really do become totally engaged. You're desperate to determine who will survive and really you don't want anyone to lose. It's awful in one sense because children have to die in the world of the hunger games and at times their deaths seem premeditated - as though there might be some set-ups.

I don't want to ruin the story for anyone but it really is a young-adult gem but I think you could enjoy it even as an adult. It's a less gruesome and more complex version of the movie "deathrace" but of course, there are no cars because the contestants are, in this case, in the middle of reality world created specifically to test their survival skills.

Definitely worth a read, the cover is great too - you can change the character on the front. Enjoy!

Ever since Harry Potter, I have spent my time trying to find books with characters I love as though they were my own friends, and with a plot so real that I felt it could actually be happening. Most books disappoint me in this area and I've had to settle for a lot of mediocrity. But not this time. Hunger Games drew me so far into its world I didn't want to leave!

Hunger Games is set in the future where North America has been turned into a country called Panem, separated into 12 districts and the Capitol. As if constant hunger wasn't bad enough, the districts are constantly reminded of the "Dark Days", when they rebelled against the Capitol, by punishing their children in the Hunger Games. Every year each District must send one boy and one girl to the Capitol to take part in these Games where they must fight each other to their deaths. The winner is the child who comes out alive, having presumably killed all the others. The Hunger Games is reality TV at its very extreme; mere entertainment for the wealthy and pampered residents of the Captitol, but torturous for the Districts, who have to watch their children year by year go off to the Capitol to be killed.

This book starts on the day of the Reeping, where the teenagers who will enter the Games are chosen at random throughout the districts. We follow Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl of District 12. Katniss has been scarred deeply by the death of her father in a mining disaster several years ago and since then has been breaking the laws of Panem by hunting animals in the forest in order to feed her starving family. You can't help but feel for Katniss, who has lost so much and tries so hard to care for her family, and when her little sister Prim is chosen in the Reeping, you can understand why she volunteers to take her place. And so the story follows her, along with fellow District 12 Tribute Peeta, as they head off to the luxurious Capitol, and finally head into the Hunger Games where you will be unable to put the book down, waiting to see if/how Katniss will survive.

This might all sound a bit morbid and violent and that was definitely a big concern for me when the concept of the Games was first introduced. But I read on anyway and was pleased discover that it was written so well that it didn't feel morbid at all. Yes, people died and yes the idea of the games is horrific. But it's not written in a way that makes you feel sick; instead you follow Katniss as her mind gradually opens to the idea that the world she lives in is highly unfair. It's not a constant bloodbath where murder is just something you have to do; anyone that Katniss kills, she does so with a heavy heart and realises quite quickly the awful consequences of taking someone's life. It also relates to so many aspects of our own world, and it's not a far stretch to imagine some time in the distant future a society like this, so instead of it being a morbid tale of death and injustice, it's actually incredibly telling about the world in which we live.

All of this is brightened up with light-hearted moments and some brilliant characters: I loved Cinna, the stylist, who is incredibly creative; I enjoyed drunken Haymitch, the only Tribute from District 12 who ever came back alive, who is enlisted to help Katniss and Peeta and has a hidden depth that may surprise you; Peeta brings a certain amount of humour to the story, but also a wisdom that is beyond Katniss. Add to that Career Tributes, from Districts 1, 2, and 4 who have spent their lives training for the Games and see it as a great honour; a would-be love-triangle; and a main character you will feel for not because she's pathetic or a damsel in distress character - she's neither of these things, but because she is feisty and fighting so hard to find justice in a world that has little, you can't help but hope she succeeds.

So what with the characters I felt I knew personally, a plot that seemed so real I came out of the book in a daze, and enough pace and action to keep me wanting more, I found myself reading this book at every possible moment and hating every second I spent away from it! Absolutely brilliant book that I didn't want to finish, and I look forward to seeing the film adaptation next year!

Whoa!

I'm at a loss for words, and I'm not sure I can put any coherent words into a review. I can't begin to describe how much I loved this book. Its a genre away from anything I've ever read before, and I wasn't sure about it at first, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up; but so many of my GR buddies recommended it to me, kept telling me I had to read this book, and you know what? I'm glad I did.

This is the first in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins set in post-apocalyptic North America in a country called Panem, that is made of 12 Districts, and each year two 'Tributes' from each Districts one boy and one girl from the ages of 12-18 are sent to the Capitol where they must partake in a grueling battle for survival called The Hunger Games. Each Tribute is trained privately and let loose in the 'Arena' where they must ultimately kill each other until only 1 tribute remains standing and pronounced the winner. We meet Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take part in The Hunger Games instead of her 12 year old sister Prim, who was originally chosen. Along with Katniss is boy tribute Peeta Mellark the bakers son. Both Katniss and Peeta head to the Capitol, where they realise that only one of them can survive.

When I first started reading this book I was so sickened by the idea of all these teenagers killing each other off, just for the entertainment of the residents of the Capitol. Ultimately this comes down to survival. I was on the edge of my seat when reading this book. I'm trying to grow my nails, so it was really hard to try not to bite them whilst reading this, safe to say the inside of my cheek has seen better days.

I loved our two main characters, Katniss with her strenght and will power, and knowledge of how to survive in the wild from hunting in the forest everyday back in District 12. Peeta, the bakers son who doesn't really have any kind of skill, except for camoflague (thanks to icing cakes) and his upper body strength, but ultimately this is a duo who are set on surviving the next ardious weeks of their young lives.

God this review sucks. Anyway, I think that's all I can say about this book. Except that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and I can't wait to continue with Catching Fire.

Read it! :)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected pleasure and now I am hooked
I dont write reviews of books even though i should but I had to actually take the time and kindle type a quick note about this book because it was quite simply THAT good. Read more

Published 6 hours ago by Miss M. Martins

3.0 out of 5 stars A lesson in Roman history
I bought this having seen a trailor for the film and expected something fairly trashy for reading on the train, what struck me most about htis fast paced, gripping book was the... Read more

Published 11 hours ago by Cathy

4.0 out of 5 stars Hungry for more!
I'd never heard of this book nor the film that is soon to be released of it, but a friend recommended it to me so I gave it a go.

What a terrific book! Read more

Published 19 hours ago by B. Peyton

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just For Teens
I read this book because my teenage daughter had read it and unless we were talking about the hunger games then we weren't talking! Once I started it I couldn't put it down! Read more

Published 20 hours ago by Swirlygirly30

4.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down
I found the concept of this story set in the future brilliant. The idea of the Hunger Games is horrendous but somehow believable. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Caroline Bean

5.0 out of 5 stars Breath taking
I can honestly say I couldn't put this down. It is a book I will re-read! Loved it. Its a brilliant story and so well writeen. The whole series are my favorite books by far. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Shelfie

1.0 out of 5 stars Plagiarism
Do not read this book.
This woman is a thief and a plagiarist.
She stole this trash from Koushun Takami. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Albert Ross

5.0 out of 5 stars Wooooaaaaahhhhh
I have to compliment this fantastic piece of literature! It has such a clever idea to it! The book has made me think what it must be like to have to survive out in the wild- minus... Read more

Published 1 day ago by Reluctant Reeder

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly amazing - a must-read for all
Please note: I am not "Stewpot" but his daughter so don't let the name put you off!:)

This book was recommended by both my friend and English teacher at school so I... Read more

Published 1 day ago by stewpot

5.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable
Brilliant, read in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed, read on kindle and have downloaded the two sequels. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Carey Gardner

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