The Hunger Games





Scholastic Inc., 2008, 374 pp
Suzanne Collins





ISBN 0-439-02348-3


The Hunger Games is an action-packed thriller that captures the reader’s mind and attention. This book is impossible to put down once you have begun reading. It’s jam-packed with fascinating science fiction, but still realistic enough that you can relate to the characters and their lives. Also the romance that enters the book intertwines with the dangerous challenges making this perfect for both males and females. Parts of The Hunger Games will pull on your heartstrings, but others will cause your heart to race.

The Hunger Games is an emotional and riveting story of a teenage girl that will do anything, even put her life on the line, for her family. She lives in a post apocalyptic world called Panem, where a strict and unforgiving government has total control. The world is split into twelve districts, once thirteen districts, and in the middle of the districts is the Capitol. For a past uprising of the districts, there is an annual barbaric game named the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a cruel game where twenty-four kids between the ages of twelve and eighteen are ripped from their homes and placed in arena to fight to the death. One boy and one girl from each district, and what are the odds of Prim, the main character’s sister, being picked? Seconds after Prim is picked to be part of the games Katniss, the main character, volunteered to take her place. This is where the action begins, and the love.

Katniss grows close with a fellow tribute, and is stunned when he proclaims his love for her, “I don’t think winning will help me… because she came here with me.” Attempting to win the games then becomes even more of a challenge. She struggles with two main things now, love and survival. She reassesses her goals during the games, debating whether her life is worth more or less than his. Their love might just be enough to keep them both alive.
With so many twists and turns, the book keeps you on your toes. Suzanne Collins writes in such a way that makes you fall in love with each character and care for them, too. Also the way she describes the scenery, allows you to easily picture the gorgeous, but dangerous, arena. I would recommend this book to anyone, for it has a mixture of so many genres, it appeals to all!