The Hunger Games

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: 2008
Read: January 2011
Number of pages: 374
Fiction
Where I obtained the book: Barnes and Noble
How I discovered it: word of mouth 
My grade: A

I just finished reading The Hunger Games and I could not put it down! After not being able to flip through Entertainment Weekly without hearing updates about the inevitable film version, or walking through a bookstore without seeing the book series on prominent display, or reading peoples' high recommendation of this book on forums, I put this book in the back of my mind for a future reading option. However, it wasn't until I was listening to a pop culture podcast and they were talking about this book and when somebody mentioned that this book was the opposite of Twilight, I knew I had to read this. After all, I loathe Twilight, so that would mean I would love this book, right? Not only did I love it, but it makes Twilight look even more boring and stupid than it already is! If you hate Twilight, you will love this book! If you like Twilight, chances are you'll hate it after reading The Hunger Games! 

The Hunger Games is what you would get if you combined the short story, "The Lottery" with the reality show, Survivor, and the Japanese movie, Battle Royale. It takes place in a dystopian future where the United States no longer exists and is now a place called Panem. It doesn't specify when in the future it takes place, but I'm guessing a couple hundred years. There are new technologies that I doubt I'll be seeing in my lifetime. 

Panem consists of the Capitol, which is really wealthy and where the Hunger Games are held. Also, part of Panem are twelve districts that each have their own specialty (mining, agriculture, etc.) and the higher the number, the poorer the district. Our heroine, Katniss, lives in District 12 - the poorest district. The citizens have to hunt for their own food and trade their goods for others. Even though this book takes place in the future, there were times when it felt like it took place in the past!

The Hunger Games have been going on for 74 years and it's something the Capitol (aka the Government) came up with to show that they are in charge, pretty much, and they won't tolerate other people rebelling against them or making their own rules. Each year a boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen from each district to fight in the Games (and it's done by drawing names ala "The Lottery") and they must fight to the death and the last one standing is the winner. At first, I thought they fought one on one in preliminary rounds, then the winners of those rounds fought other winners, and so on. Thankfully that wasn't the case. Instead, after the 24 contestants have had a week of training and prepping, they're put into a terrain that's controlled by the Capitol (they can control things like the weather and water flow). This is how it reminded me of Survivor: not only is this being shown on TV as the world's most effed-up reality show, but they do things you'd see on Survivor - build fires, make alliances, catch food (and sometimes they even "win" food and supplies), make shelter, etc. 

And then you add in the whole middle school and high school-aged kids killing each other with whatever weapons they can get their hands on, and you have the plot of Battle Royale! 

While reading this book, I found myself gasping several times because there were so many little twists and turns and if I didn't have other priorities, I would have probably finished this in one sitting.