The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Dec 05, 2010 Terri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, apocalyptic-dystopian-fiction

After North America was almost destroyed, the nation of Paem emerges. There are 12 districts which they keep under a tight rein by staging The Hunger Games each year. Where two "tributes" from each district fight to the death in an arena. This has become great entertainment. This year, Kaitliss' sister is chosen as tribute so she steps in to take Prim's place.

I really enjoyed this book. Her fight for survival drew me in and I kept turning pages, reading this in one day.

I enjoy Ms. Collins Overl ...more

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Feb 16, 2009 emily rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2008-to-2010, owned-physical, young-adult, dystopia-apocalyptic, the-movie-is-pretty-good-actually

i started reading this book at 9:30 this morning. i read throughout my work day (to the great neglect of my actual work) and including about a two-hour break, i was done by 7:15pm. i could not stop. i think this book is great because it manages to do three things simultaneously : tell a good story, keep a good pace with the action, and be easily and instantaneously relatable to its audience. doing one of these things might be difficult to a less adept author; collins does all three very well. ka ...more

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Dec 07, 2008 Clickety rated it really liked it

Shelves: library, recommended-to-me, scifi, ya, fiction

Okay, first of all, to fend off any rabid fans, let me say that I think I tend to be stingier with stars than most people are. I really enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. I was surprised by how much I liked it, but I think that has more to do with my incredibly low expectations (despite - or perhaps partly because of - the incredible buzz around the book; I didn't like any of the Twilight books, after all).

And I'm hearing Newberry buzz and hoping to goodness it's wrong. The book's just not ...more

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Aug 09, 2010 hh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, ebook, sff, 2010, borrowed, ya, sloreaders-fub-book-club, 2012

all i can say about this book is that it is totally effing brilliant.

reread: 4 April 2012
still effing brilliant.

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Mar 13, 2010 Sarah Sammis rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2011, pc, scifi

I know it seems like I never review current popular fiction on this blog and you might think that I never read it. I do but I do it at my own pace. Sometimes though I end up being slower than first intended. In the case of the The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I bought it right around the time that Catching Fire came out but my husband saw it and read it first. He then went on to purchase the second and third (Mockingjay) so I have those to get two soon.

Katniss lives with her mother and siste I know it seems like I never review current popular fiction on this blog and you might think that I never read it. I do but I do it at my own pace. Sometimes though I end up being slower than first intended. In the case of the The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I bought it right around the time that Catching Fire came out but my husband saw it and read it first. He then went on to purchase the second and third (Mockingjay) so I have those to get two soon.

Katniss lives with her mother and sister in District Twelve of Panem, a nation of twelve districts and a centralized capitol. In District Twelve the only available job is mining except for the few places that sell the essentials (like the bakery). Katniss lost her father to a mining accident and now makes up the difference by poaching. In other words, life is hard; the government is totalitarian and you have to break the law just to survive.

But the bulk of the story is the Hunger Games themselves, a yearly event where each district picks a teenage boy and a girl by lottery to represent the district in the games. Katniss ends up being the female representative for her district.

Most of the book then is about the games, the journey to the capitol, the preparation and finally the brutal game itself. It's an adult, government mandated and televised re-enactment of The Lord of the Flies and a la Highlander, there can only be one survivor.

I liked who Katniss is realized as a character. She's written with a strong and believable voice. Her observations of the way things are done in the capitol. She also provides fascinating insights into the different districts, based on what she knows of them.

The brutality of the Game itself is well written. It's shocking and stomach turning and thought provoking. The Games despite their depravity seem believable and at times frightening.

There are two details that I have problems with the book. The first is in the world building (or I guess nation building). The set up of Panem is described as being twelve districts with a thirteenth that rebelled and was totally destroyed for its dissension. Thirteen districts immediately brings to mind the original thirteen colonies / thirteen states of the United States. I'm sure that's no mistake given its location. The problem though is that Panem takes up not only the foot print of the continental United States but also from how Katniss describes it, parts (or the entirety) of Canada. That's a massively huge amount of land.

I realize that the Soviet Union took up a large piece of land too and maybe that's part of the inspiration behind Panem. And clearly the revolution part of the story is coming in books two and three so maybe my problems with the set up will be more directly addressed.

My second problem isn't so much with the book but with the fandom and marketing that goes with the book. I'm speaking of the different "Team" buttons that were so popular when Mockingjay was first out. Asking fans to pick sides seems completely contrary to the theme of the first book! ...more

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Apr 28, 2010 J-Lynn Van Pelt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: multicultural-kid-and-ya-lit, strong-girls-and-women, young-adult-and-adolescent-lit, science-fiction, favorite-young-adult-books, nyra-2010-books, romance-ya-and-adolescent-lit

The first time I read this book, I really enjoyed it. The second time I read this book, I loved it! It is a well developed dystopian, sci-fi adventure that has a strong female lead, just the right bit of romance, and explores how in a totalitarian society people can still maintain their own dignity. Throw a little anti-hero development and a fight for survival and you can't ignore this story! I highly reccommend this one and can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy. ...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Cassie rated it it was amazing

Amazing. So incredible! It's like the crazy literary love child of 1984 and The Most Dangerous Game with hints of Khmer Rouge Cambodia and Imperial Rome, set in post-apocalyptic America. It's been a long time since a book has gripped me this much. I literally could not put it down, and ended up staying awake all night (on a weeknight) to finish it. Cannot recommend highly enough! ...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Cindywho rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, fantasy-sf, ya

What's a better teen fantasy than a reality show including make-overs and violent death? This one is designed to be an exciting movie (casting's already begun) and I tore right through it. Peeta could have used a little more personality, but it's all about Katniss anyway. The reader did a good job with voices and I've already started the next one. ...more

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Oct 03, 2010 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian

I was worried when I started that this book wasn't going to live up to the hype, but it really did. I can't wait for the next one to be available! ...more

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