THe Hunger Games

Wow. It's been a long time since I read a book as compelling as Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games. While aimed for a teenage audience, much like the Twilight series or the Harry Potter saga this book has managed to also create a stir amongst adults. Unlike the Twilight books, which are fad-based and poorly written, this book has earned the attention it has received.

The book centers around a Dystopian society where a city known only as "the Capitol" rules over the 12 Districts. At one point, the Districts tried to rebel, but the Capitol held them back, rampaging the Districts and destroying the former 13th District. As punishment, the Districts are severely restricted in what they are able to have and do. If that wasn't enough, they instituted the Hunger Games.

The participants of the Hunger Games are selected from each District. One boy and one girl aged 12-17 is selected at (sort of) random. These children then are forced into an immense outdoor arena with one goal: be the final competitor alive. The Gamekeepers add to the intensity by playing with the ecosystem or introducing deadly weather events and ferocious mutated creatures. All of this is televised for the Districts to watch. The District (and combatant) that survives gets showered with incredible riches. The brutality of the games (and the fact that children are the stars) reminds the Districts that the Capitol is in charge.

Katniss quickly finds herself as the female contestant from District 12. She is a scrappy girl who has taught herself to hunt and provides for her family, which consists of her mother and her sister. They depend on Kat for almost everything they need. Kat is joined by Peeta, a shy boy who has long had a deep affection for Katniss, a fact completely unknown by Katniss.

They have many obstacles to overcome: a washed-up alcoholic mentor, a lack of access to the level of training the wealthier districts enjoy, and 22 other desperate teens who want nothing else but to escape alive and victorious.

And only one of them can make it out alive.

I haven't been this glued to a fiction book in an extremely long time. Unlike far too many action/adventure/sci-fi/fantasy books written for adults, the main characters in the book have a lot of depth. Not only do they behave and speak in a realistic way, but they cultivate an attachment with the reader. Collins also wrote the book in first person and present tense. The fun thing about this is that the narrator is neither the "omniscient narrator" of the third person nor the first person narrator relating past events. This technique takes only a chapter or so to get used to and really adds to the excitement - the narrator doesn't know how things are going to turn out!

My only complaint is that the dystopian society has not been completely developed yet. I hope that comes in future books because what I saw seemed very intriguing.

One quick warning - this book does contain quite a bit of violence. It's not overly gory, but definitely PG-13 with flashes of R (just because of the amount of killing that happens). Overall the book has a PG-13 feel, but violence is the only concern. As a result, I would recommend this book for anyone 13 and up (10-12 only if their parents know their kids would be able to handle it) who wouldn't mind the violence and enjoy a good exciting dystopian novel.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

99/100