ISBN: 9781407109084 [UK]
Continent: North America in the post-apocalyptic dystopian future
Country: Panem
Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
"I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to...to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games" (Peeta, page 172).
The idea of the Global Reading Challenge is to read books from every continent, but since there aren't many books to come out of the frozen wastelands of Antarctica, for the "seventh continent" you get to choose your own genre: historical, sci fi, nautical, fantasy, or whatever. I've chosen alternate realities, which is what brought me to Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games. And wow, I'm glad it did.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen is from District 12, the poorest of Panem's districts, located in what was once Appalachia. Life is tough, and it's only Katniss's illegal hunting that keeps her little family from starvation. But things get even tougher when Katniss ends up as a tribute in the Hunger Games, the annual televised competition in which twenty-four kids--a boy and a girl from each district--fight to the death. There can only be one winner.
I don't want to give away too much of what happens, but I absolutely love this book. I wanted my train ride to work to be twice as long just so I could keep reading it. The world in which Katniss lives is intriguing, frightening, and believable. The characters are complex, and the dilemmas they face are fascinating. I love that Katniss is strong, skilled, and smart, but not overly confident. I love the uncertain relationship between Katniss and Peeta, the boy tribute from her district. And I love how evil, really evil the Capitol is for hosting the Hunger Games.
The pacing in this book feels pretty much perfect to me. The first person present tense narration lends a sense of immediacy, a sense of urgency to the story. The action is intense, but the author lets the reader breathe periodically too. Which is good. You need those breaks, because reading this novel is intense.
The day I finished The Hunger Games, I only just stopped myself from running to the bookstore to buy the sequel, Catching Fire, on my lunch break (and only because I'm trying to save money). I've reserved Catching Fire at the library, but it's taking an agonizingly long time to come in.
Wonderful book. Four-and-a-half stars out of five. Just read it.
The day I finished The Hunger Games, I only just stopped myself from running to the bookstore to buy the sequel, Catching Fire, on my lunch break (and only because I'm trying to save money). I've reserved Catching Fire at the library, but it's taking an agonizingly long time to come in.
Wonderful book. Four-and-a-half stars out of five. Just read it.
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