Katniss lives in District 12, a poor place that is responsible for mining coal. There are 12 Districts total and the Capital who controls everyone. To remind the people of their control, each District is required to send one girl and one boy, tributes, to the Hunger Games where only one can survive. Katniss volunteers to go in the place of her sister and soon she is embroiled in a deadly game where killing is the only means of survival.Many people I know have read this book and I've actually had sitting on a shelf in my office for a long time. It was one of those going to reads. But when I joined the Take a Chance Challenge and my random author came up as Collins, I googled "author Collins" and this was the first hit I got. And I am so glad it did. This book was amazing. I started at lunch on Monday and finished at lunch on Tuesday. I literally couldn't put it down.
The idea, of course, is repugnant; sending teenagers, children really, in to kill each other on required viewing national television. But this book was so compelling. Katniss is a strong character and it was interesting to see what lengths she would go to survive. She was very cunning and quick and that was very important, but still clueless about social situations. I liked Peetra, the boy tribute from her district. I could see his story coming so there wasn't much of a surprise there, but he was a good character. The last scene of the game was the most disturbing of all for me and made me a little sick, it was almost too much. It won't stop me from reading the next one though. This was definitely an A++.
I loved this book. It's one of my top books for the year so far.
ReplyDeleteLoved it so much. That last scene with Cato is really disturbing, but I think Collins handled it as tastefully as possible, and in a way, we get to see Cato as a human being by the end, rather than just a monster.
ReplyDelete"My thanks to the people of District 11."
My absolute favorite line in the book. Brings tears to my eyes every time.
Amanda - I agree that she did handle the Cato scene as tastefully as possible. It's just such a horrible way to die. And also I think it shows just how vicious the Capitol and the Gamemakers really are and makes the closing ceremony even more horrifying than how Cato is treated.
ReplyDeleteAh, I'm happy to have found someone who loved it as much as I did! Only another month-ish for the next one. :)
ReplyDeleteI <3 this book. I just read the second and loved it. I'm running a contest for it on my blog if you hadn't heard yet.
ReplyDeleteLOVED the Hunger Games and can't wait for the sequel next month. I enjoyed your well-written review!
ReplyDeleteSue
Kristen - I have entered and I'm crossing my fingers ;)
ReplyDeleteSue - Thanks for the compliment. I can't wait for the sequel either.
What a fortunate "phoning an author" pick for you!!! I've heard nothing but raves and raves about this book, and your review just stokes my curiosity about it even more. I'm definitely adding it to my TBR list!
ReplyDeleteJenners - I know! I used the college directory where I work and opened it to a random page and pointed down ad it landed on Collins. And the only author that came to mind so Joan Colllins so I did a google search for author Collins and the Hunger Games popped up. I happened to have it on my shelf but had never picked it up so this worked out great!
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