The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) in DC Public Library

Oct 27, 2009 martha rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, year-2009

I didn't want to read this because the concept is so horrifying, but it came so highly recommended I gave it a try and then literally couldn't put it down. It's been a long time since I was so into a book that I read it outside while walking from point A to B. I'm really excited for the rest of the books, and hoping for some of the more subtle motivations of some of the characters (that Katniss of course missed) will be drawn out.

There was one part I found really gratuitously gory and upsetting, ...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Carrie rated it it was amazing

When I finished this book last night, I was thinking about how I would rate it. It's not the best or most well-written book ever, and sometimes it feels like books should only get 5 stars if they are destined to be classics. But the book is absolutely gripping, the first book in a long time that I haven't wanted to put down, that I have thought about when I wasn't reading. Sure, it's YA dystopian fiction, but I read because I like to, because it is enjoyable to me, and this is one of the most en ...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Megan Reichelt rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, ya

(If you have read the book, you can skip this part) Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12 of Panam. Once the Districts rose up against the capital city, and now, to remind them of their terrible defeat, the capital city requires each district to send one male and one female child as tribute to compete in the yearly Hunger Games. The children must compete to survive, and there is only one winner. Katniss volunteers to spare her sister from the games and is plunged into a world of false pageantry (If you have read the book, you can skip this part) Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12 of Panam. Once the Districts rose up against the capital city, and now, to remind them of their terrible defeat, the capital city requires each district to send one male and one female child as tribute to compete in the yearly Hunger Games. The children must compete to survive, and there is only one winner. Katniss volunteers to spare her sister from the games and is plunged into a world of false pageantry and glamour until the day of the games dawns. She, and her fellow tribute Peeta, must survive at all costs. But in the end, only one of them can go home.

This is the third time I have traveled through The Hunger Games, but the first time I have read it in print. I first listened to the audio book, which did not leave a good impression on me. The actress playing Katniss had a thin whiny quality to her voice that made me dislike her. Then, I saw the movie, which I thought was a good adaptation. However, I loved reading this book.

Katniss is a smart, strong character, not at all whiny like the audio book had me believe. She focuses on the next thing that will help her survive. Her silence and distrust for everyone is not natural. It comes from her oppression. She learned to keep her mouth shut. She is pragmatic because she has to be. The one thing that remained from the audio book was my frustration at her being such a poor judge of character. If she had been horribly wronged in some way by someone she trusted out of malice, I could understand how she would see the worst in Peeta’s motives for so long. However, he has been nothing but kind to her, and she always questions it.

Now that I have read it again, smaller details start moving to the fore, like her relationship with her father and how it is a source of strength for her, and her relationship with her mother and her feeling of betrayal at her mother’s depression (which I had not realized was medical, rather than emotional).

The book is fast paced and action packed. It always seems longer when someone is reading it to you, but I zipped through this book, and was always surprised how the next adventure was right on top of the last one. It still dragged for me at the end, especially the one time when you think that Peeta and Katniss are getting out of the cave for good and going off to kill Cato, but then have to return for a final night in the cave.

The survival parts, where Katniss is alone in the woods, surviving and fighting and planning are so much more compelling to me than the romantic parts. In this read, I realized how truly clueless Peeta was that Katniss was pretending to love him. For some reason I thought the book had more Gale and Peeta romance bits, but perhaps that was because I listened to all the audio books in a row and lost the demarcation of each book.

This book is violent and disturbing, yes, but it is based on the old myth, Theseus and the Minotaur where young people were sent as tribute to feed the Minotaur. It is not as gory as Battle Royale, a movie of with a similar plot line, nor is it as disturbing as other books we have read this year (Never Fall Down). It is in fact, rather tame.

Children kill other children, but when you are a child, you see yourself as capable of adult things. You see yourself as the adventuresome hero who can do what must be done. In a way it is good that Suzanne Collins has so clearly defined the good guys from the bad guys, and that our protagonists only kill in self-defense, by accident, or through mercy. If the delineations had been more nebulous, I would certainly be concerned or if our main characters had no regard for the lives of those they killed. As much as I love fully fleshed out villains, and ambiguous protagonists, the subject matter is such that it might have led to readers taking a callous view of human life.

Funny side note: The first time I listed to Hunger Games on audio book, my boyfriend and I were traveling to Disney World. We got to the hotel and were staring up at the plastic fountains and twinkle lights and smiling faces and perfect bedrooms, and the irony of the situation began to sink in. ...more

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Dec 24, 2010 Alison rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, re-read, bookclub

Review from 3/14/12:
Still really enjoyed this, and in fact read most of it in a matter of hours on the night I started it. This time around it reminded me less of The Long Walk, and it was also interesting to re-read this first book while knowing what would happen in the rest of the series. If you're at all curious about the film I really do recommend reading the book before you go. This is so fast paced that you'll whip right through it, even if you're not a fast reader (remember, it's a young ...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Lilly rated it really liked it

I read this in two days. It is a great story. Not the most well-written piece, but it is meant for teenagers. The story unfolded well and had some great plot twists.

I have the second in the trilogy ready to go.

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Nov 28, 2018 Beth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Has ruined so many audiobooks for me now. Tatiana Maslany brings the perfect expression to Collins' work. I want her to do the sequels now, too, because starting the original audiobook of Catching Fire was NOT ENJOYABLE after finishing this. ...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Justin rated it really liked it

Quick, easy, completely gripping read! Vividly described dystopian adventure featuring a heroine attempting to survive a horrible 'game' pitting her against other teenagers in a fight to be the last man standing. ...more

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