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 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 … it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Still, if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
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A page turner and an original idea of the future world.
Loved it can’t wait to read the others this one was great
this is by far my favorite book of all time. the characters are all so lovable, and charming, the story follows an amazing storyline, and really is just a wonderful book.
it’s written beautifully, not to hard to read, and is filled with juicy, thrilling, scenes, as well as, sad gruesome, and emotional scenes.
i’ve now read the trilogy three times and i still haven’t gotten over the beautiful love triangle. unlike a lot of books, suzanne collins lets you take sides, and root for your own favorites.
she also perfectly incorporates ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder) with many different characters.
overall, i rate this book a 10/10. i recommend to both young, and older, readers. it’s truly an inspiration to me, and many others.
If you can, read the book before seeing movie. Quick read.
I loved this book!
This book was a game changer for young adult fiction. It is as good as it gets.
I thought this book was absolutely amazing. From the characters to the setting, just everything. I really like it, because in this book many underestimate the main character who happens to be a girl, and she proves them wrong! It messes with your emotions and I love that!
Much better than the movies
Interesting. Intense. I liked it.
I’m glad I read this just to say I read it. I feel like this is one of those books that people can’t believe that you haven’t read it or at least seen the movie. I always like to read the book before the movie anyway even though I’m usually disappointed somehow. So, it’s time to watch the movie, I guess.
I liked this book but I probably won’t read the other two even though this left off on a bit of a cliffhanger, I’ll just watch the movies.
I can’t help but think that Fortnite based itself off of The Hunger Games. It has some of the same basic principles and themes and similar tasks, risks, and rewards.
I have put this off over and over again, just the same as I did with Twilight. Unfortunately, when a book or book series becomes soooooo big, I kind of get jaded into not wanting to read them because I am so sick of hearing about them. This was the case with The Hunger Games. Never having read the series, I already knew the main character’s name and the plot line of the book. A little piece of me dies inside when Hollywood ruins a good book for me.
So at the end of last week, when I finished the 5th and final audio book for the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, I decided to go ahead and give The Hunger Games a shot. I have had the audio book in my library for months and just couldn’t bring myself to hit play. Well, I am standing here before you (sitting, really) to admit that I am an idiot. I have been putting it off and putting it off only to find out that regardless of whether or not Hollywood is cramming Katniss down our throats, this book was actually pretty good. Well, for the most part.
Although I do feel that it started out a little slow, once the story line’s momentum got rolling, this book took off like a rocket. However, there is so much to catch up on at the beginning that you are left with a feeling like you’re not really sure how the characters ended up where they are. There is a lot to learn at the very beginning of the book but it doesn’t take very long to get the clarification you need to understand the story. Suzanne Collins did a wonderful job writing this book in such a way that although there is a lot of history, you don’t need a formal history lesson to understand the past events that lead to the current way of life.
Another reason I have held off on reading The Hunger Games for so long was plain and simply, the concept. In everyday life, I am far from squeamish. I am very liberal in my views. Quite honestly, not much bothers me. The concept of this book bothers me a little. The whole idea of pitting children against each other in a fight to the death is horrible. Stomach churning. Gruesome. Horrific. Take your pick. I could keep on going. And yes, I have read Lord of the Flies. Tons of times. I actually still own a copy of the book and have the movie. But children forced to act like animals to survive is still shocking and heart breaking at the same time. It would have been worlds easier to swallow if it was adults fighting one another to the death. I know that killing is still killing but there’s something very wrong with robbing a child of their innocence that way.
With all of that being said, I did like the book. I have such mixed feelings on this that I am not even sure if I am explaining myself properly or if I just look like a bumbling idiot who cant help but contradict herself. Eh…welll….what are you going to do.
The things that I liked about this book are hard to pin point. Katniss is a good character. A solid character. She’s very easy to respect. Life has handed her a horrid hand of cards and she has done everything in her power to adapt and help her family survive. She is very easy to like right from the get go. Peeta took a while to grow on me but he really is a great character with a huge heart. Gale is fantastic from page one. However, we don’t really see a whole lot of him in The Hunger Games. Seeing where things go with him may be enough to make me want to read Catching Fire and Mockingjay. A few more of my favorites were Haymitch and Cinna. Haymitch may be drunk 97% of the time but he is a riot. And although we didn’t see a lot of Cinna in this book, I am hoping that he is also a returning character. There’s more to him, I am sure of that.
Very well written story if you can get past the fact that it’s a bunch of kids who have been put in a situation where they have to commit premeditated murder or face the possibility of execution. Issues aside, the writing is done well and the characters (even the fiercest of them) are lovable on their own level. I wanted to love this book with all my heart but I just didn’t. To the point that I am not 100% positive that I will be moving on to Catching Fire. I have a week at home for a staycation coming up so who knows, I might just give it a listen anyway.
Overall, (*sucks in a deep breath as she feels like she’s about to commit book blogger suicide*) I give The Hunger Games 3 stars. Good book but I wasn’t floored. I had expectations going into this book because of how much everyone and their brother has raved about it for months now. I try to NEVER go into a book with expectations and I think that those expectations played a part in the lack of mind-blowy-ness.
I do not apologize for my less than stellar review but I would suggest that if you’re even a little bit interested in the book still, check it out. What may not have tripped my trigger just might kick yours in the face.
This book is very violent, but also is a very good book. The author does an amazing job building real to life characters. I literally fell in love with Peeta’s kindness, felt terrified from Clove, and laughed along with Haymitch’s dry sense of humor.
Halfway through the book I ordered the two sequels!
It was amazing. I loved it even though I was in third, fourth and fifth grade. I was being yelled at in math to put the book away and same at home at dinner and bed. I loved to read it. If you like something to leave you constantly on a cliffhanger every page this is your book. Not only is it a page turner and flawless in details but it has some romance too. Romance and compassion through survival and struggle. I absolutely cannot say how much I loved it. As my first true novel I have no regrets!
One of my all time favorites!
I cried buckets over this one! This book has wonderful characterizations, a creative plot, and a writing style that is at once effortless and compelling. I am completely tortured that book 2 is not in my hands yet!
Great read. better than the movie.
Loved it.
Spoiler Alert: And they all die in the end.
The story follows a young 16-year-old girl, Katniss Everdeen, who offered herself for her younger sister in the yearly reaping of the Hunger Games. It makes her the hero to the people of the Capitol. They are the enforcers of the the yearly slaughter of children that the citizens excitedly call entertainment. The Capitol designed the Hunger Games to place 24 children, 1 girl and 1 boy reaped from each of the 12 districts, into an Arena to kill each other, with one surviving Victor. Katniss is the girl from her district, and is put into this Arena with her male counterpart, Peeta Mellark. As the pages of the book turn, you find heroes to root for and the lines of morality tested.
This book (and overall trilogy) is a great favorite of mine for the action, love and hard choices made by Katniss and the supporting characters. It brings to mind the considerable aspects of how a society could crumble, and how one must find a way to rise from the ashes.
Age recommendation: 13+
Some violence, gore, and romance. I found no mention of any LGBT. Pretty clean in terms of language.
Super good book
Perhaps, having heard about the story before hand, my expectations were too high. As dystopian teen survival fiction goes, it was pretty good. Not really my favorite genre, but a pretty well developed world and characters.