Customer Reviews

The Hunger Games

5 star:		(3,358)
4 star:		(642)
3 star:		(194)
2 star:		(96)
1 star:		(98)

 

 

Wow. I was barely able to put this book down for a second after the first few pages got me completely hooked. Suzanne Collins narrative here has an immediacy to it that, when combined with the very dramatic life-or-death plot, is incredibly compelling. It's entertaining, and incredibly disturbing all at once. If this was merely a good read, I would have given it 4 stars, but they say great art leaves you changed after you experience it... and this book definitely did that. Suzanne Collins has, with one amazing work, propelled herself onto my top shelf.

Parents, caveat emptor! The storyline is brutal. Even though the writing is geared for young adults, the main characters are teenagers, there's very little physical romance, and the actual violence would probably count as PG-13 nowadays... it's probably one of the most terrifying books I've read in a very long time! Right up there with George R.R. Martin, if not more so. Remember what we learned from Jaws: you don't actually need to SEE the shark in order for it to be terrifying. Sometimes not seeing the shark is even worse.

The story is basically about a teenager who is forced to compete in a 24-man-enter-1-man-leaves event. I don't want to spoil it by saying any more, but if you liked The Running Man, you'll definitely like this. And if you're young enough that you don't remember The Running Man, nor did you get the Thunderdome reference, then I'm just way too old. But take an old fogey's advice and read this book.

Amazon, when can I preorder book 2???

Clearly Gregor was merely the prelude. Suzanne Collins, you've been holding out on us, missy. As an author we were accustomed to your fun adventures involving a boy, his sister, and a world beneath our world. I think it's fair to say that we weren't really expecting something like The Hunger Games. At least I wasn't. But reading it gave me a horribly familiar feeling. There is a certain strain of book that can hypnotize you into believing that you are in another time and place roughly 2.3 seconds after you put that book down. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer could convince me that there were simply not enough canned goods in my home. And The Hunger Games? Well as I walked down the street I was under the disctinc impression that there were hidden cameras everywhere, charting my progress home. Collins has written a book that is exciting, poignant, thoughtful, and breathtaking by turns. It ascends to the highest forms of the science fiction genre and will create all new fans for the writer. One of the best books of the 2008 year.

Life in District 12 isn't easy for Katniss and her family. Ever since her father died the girl has spent her time saving her mother and little sister Prim from starvation by hunting on forbidden land. But worst of all is reaping day. Once a year the government chooses two children from each of the twelve districts to compete against one another in a live and televised reality show. Twenty-four kids and teens enter, and only one survives. When Prim's name is called, Katniss exchanges herself without hesitation to compete alongside the baker's boy Peeta. To survive in this game you need to win the heart of your audience, and so District 12's trainers come up with a plan. Why not make it as if Peeta and Katniss were in love with one another? But in a game where only one person can live, Katniss will have to use all her brains, wits, and instincts to determine who to trust and how to outwit the game's creators.

I described the plot of this book to my husband, particularly the part where Katniss and Peeta fake being in love to gain the audience's approval and the very first thing he said was, "Oh! That's the plot of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Then I mentioned that it took place in the future and that government leaders set up teenagers to fight one another to the death and he said, "Battle Royale". So sure, there are parts of this plot that have been done before. You could say it's The Game meets Spartacus with some Survivor thrown in for spice. But that's not what makes a book good or bad, is it? Some of the greatest works of literature out there, regardless of the readerships' age, comes about when an author takes overdone or familiar themes and then makes them entirely new through the brilliance of their own writing. Harry Potter wouldn't have been any great shakes if it weren't for Rowling's storytelling. Similarly, Collins takes ideas that have certainly seen the light of day before and concocts an amazingly addictive text. About the time you get to the fifth chapter that ends with a sentence that forces you to read on, you're scratching your head wondering how the heck she DOES that.

Your story often rests on the shoulders of the protagonist. Is this a believable character? Do you root for him or her? Because basically it is a very hard thing to create a "good" person on the page that your reader is going to fall in love with. Because we readers know that we are flawed, we are often inclined to side with the similarly flawed people we meet between a book's covers. Katniss, on the other hand, is so good in so many ways. She sacrifices herself for her sister. She tries to save people in the game. But there's almost a jock mentality to her too. Katniss can figure out the puzzles and problems in the game, but when it comes to emotional complexity she's sometimes up a tree. Most remarkable to me was the fact that Katniss could walk around, oblivious to romance, and not bug me. Seriously, nothing gets under my skin faster than heroines who can't see that their fellow fellas are jonesing for them. You just want to bonk the ladies upside the head with a brick or something. The different here is maybe the fact that since Katniss knows that Peeta has to play a part, she uses that excuse (however unconsciously) to justify his seeming affection for her. Thems smart writing.

Oh! And did I mention the dialogue at all? The humor? Yep, there's humor. We're talking about a story where adolescents hunger for blood, and Katniss is getting in lines about her trainers like, "And then, because it's Effie and she's apparently required by law to say something awful..." Good stuff. The words pop off the page. And then there's the fact that we're dealing with a dystopian novel where the author has somehow managed to create a believable future. No faux slang here, or casual references to extinct dolphins. There are some animals that were scientifically altered, but you can't have a future without a couple cool details like that, right?

In general, this book throws a big fat wrench into the boy book/girl book view of child/teen literature. People love to characterize books by gender. It stars a boy? Boy book. A girl? Girl book. Now take a long lengthy look at the first book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. It stars a girl... and a boy too. There's a lot of hunting, fighting, and survival... and a lot of romance, kisses, and cool outfits. There's strategy, the world's most fabulous fashion designer, weapons and a girl who knows how to fight. This is not a book that quietly slots into our preconceived stereotypes. And you know what happens to books that span genders? They sell very well indeed. That is, if you can get both boys and girls to read them.

The age range? Well, for most of this story I would have said ten and up. I mean, yeah the basic premise is that a lot of teenagers go around killing one another, and sure there's some romance to deal with, but none of it really seems inappropriate... until a final death scene appears in the book. I won't give any details, but suffice it to say it is gruesome. There are definite horror elements to it as well, so with that in mind I am upping my recommendation to 12 and up. I'm sure that there are 10-year-olds out there who've seen much worse stuff on cable, just as there are 12-year-olds who'll freak out ten pages in. Still, I'm more comfortable recommending it for the older kids rather than the younger. You'll see why.

It occurs to me that there has never been a quintessential futuristic gladiator book for kids. That is undoubtedly the roughest term you can give this book. Now I'm not a person who cries easily when she reads something, particularly something for kids. Yet as I was taking a train to Long Island I found myself tearing up over significant parts of this story. It's good. And it's so ridiculous that a work of science fiction like this could even be so good. You think of futuristic arena tales and your mind instantly sinks to the lowest common denominator. What Collins has done here is set up a series that will sink its teeth into readers. The future of this book will go one of two ways. Either it will remain an unappreciated cult classic for years to come or it will be fully appreciated right from the start and lauded. My money lies with the latter. A contender in its own right.

It took me a while to get to this book because I never saw it out of my two daughters' hands. They devoured it! Once I read it, I understood. This is the second book I have reviewed this month that had a powerful female protagonist (other being 'Graceling').

I found the book to be well written with a fantastic pacing. Their is violence in there, but not so over the top as to be distracting. Intimate scenes are sparingly written so as not to be too embarassing (something I greatly appreciated as a dad!!) The rage against the system theme is prevalent enough to notice, but not as overbearing as say.... Ayn Rand or Terry Pratchett.

All in all, I highly recommend this book for kids from 12 up. The ending leads me to believe that this will be a series. I imagine I will be pre-ordering as soon as it's available. Congratulation Ms. Collins!!

All the best,

Jay

The 74th Annual Hunger Games are soon to begin. The Hunger Games are a fight to the death. In the new country of Panem, in the ruins of North America, each year as punishment for a rebellion and as a control mechanism, the Capitol forces each of the 12 provinces to draw names of a male and female tribute. The tributes are drawn from all people between the ages of 12 and 18. They receive training, are assessed by the game masters and then the betting begins. The games will be televised and are required viewing for the whole nation.

The draws are not exactly even though. You can choose to enter your name extra times, for yourself and for family members to receive a terse, a grain and oil supplement from the government. Thus enters our heroine Katniss Everdeen. She is entered this year 20 times as she is 16 and taken the terse every year, for herself, her sister and her mother. Her close friend Gale has his name in 42 times, but this is the last year he is eligible. Then Katniss has the worst fear hit - her younger sister Prim (short for Primrose) is drawn with her 1st and only ballot. Katniss then does the unthinkable; she volunteers to take Prim's place.

Katniss Everdeen knows that she has at least some chance of survival in the games. She has been secretly hunting in the woods and feeding her family since her father died years earlier. She hunts and gathers what she can with her friend and hunting partner Gale, in the woods beyond the fenced border of District 12. Yet even so, most believe she has just given up her life for her sisters.

Katniss and Peeta Mellark are the tributes from District 12 for the 74th annual hunger games. As they travel to the capitol they have two mentors - Haymitch Abernathy the only surviving Hunger Games winner from the district and Effie Trinket the Capitol's representative in the district. They will each in their own way try to help them to survive both the Capitol, to win favor with the citizens who can sponsor them in the games, and then the games themselves.

This book is very well written, the scenes sharp and crisp, the world believable and detailed. The characters become real as you read. You reach the end and are left hungry for more, which is what you will get as this is book one in a trilogy. The only drawback in my opinion is the lack of a map. I keep hoping for a map of Panem, with the 12 districts, the mysterious destroyed 13th district and the wilderness area's between them. Maybe it is just a guy thing, but I wanted a map. In this book Twenty-four are forced to enter the game zone but only the winner survives. You get a sample online. You can read chapter 1 online but it will only whet your appetite for more. There is also a video trailer for the book you can find online. This is a great Sci-fi book and would make an excellent movie.

You've got to hand it to Collins: No one can plot a fantasy novel like her. Nobody. She has you not from the first page or the first graf, but the first *word*. She creates believable, likable and riveting characters, ridiculously addictive survival scenarios and a rich world to boot. If you aren't up until 4 a.m. finishing this thing, you're a corpse.

My only problem with this novel also happens to be a very big problem: the overall premise. I'm not spoiling anything by mentioning that the plot involves kids pitted against each other in a giant outdoor slugfest to the death. Again: Kids pitted against each other in a fight to the death. Oh, and it's all on TV. Everyone in this post-apocalyptic world either thinks that's neat, or throws up his or her hands and figures there's nothing that can be done about it.

The author explains this away by creating a world of poverty and hunger; the parents of the young gladiators are so beaten down and afraid of the totalitarian regime that they just hug their kids and shut up and pray, but -- and this is just my opinion -- that's not an effective enough mechanism. It simply doesn't jibe with human nature. Even the starving, terrorized parents of child soldiers in Africa have been known to drag themselves into the bush and track their kids down or die trying. As much as I loved everything else about this book, I can't get past the basic setup. Isn't there one parent out there, one crazy uncle or scrappy rebellious mom, who'd stand up and protest at this amazingly cruel custom? There's not a single voice among the privileged rich in Capital City who might kick up a fuss? I know we're talking about a cruel dictatorship -- and an all-powerful one, at that -- but parental bonds have been known to be very strong things, and I think the author could have done a better job selling us on why the barbarism continues.

While I will say that I wanted to keep reading, it just is not a great book.

The Hunger Games is a mix of Roller Ball, Death Race 2000, and The Running Man. The plot is well-documented in other reviews.

My issues with the book are few, but are significant enough to justify a two-star rating.

The Ending. I believe it was too abrupt and almost 'tune in next time for the exciting conclusion of.....' aka 'buy the next book'. The book lacked complete, or at least adequate, resolution.

The Psychology. The story centers around children, most being randomly chosen by lottery, who fight to the death in "The Hunger Games" as a penalty for a past rebellion against the ruling Capitol. They are dressed up, trained, and prepped for the spectacle which is broadcast to the nation on television. Speaking for myself, being placed in this position, I would be in a state of stunned shock - even if the games had become an accepted but despised evil in society, as I'm sure many readers would argue. The author set the main characters off on psychological tangents, such as admiring how good they looked in their costumes, how well their interviews went, how good the food was, etc... Being placed in the same position, did not ring true to me.

The Morality. The book creates a very strong moral dilemma: "as an unlucky participant in the Hunger Games, I'm going to have to kill innocent children, like myself, simply to survive". The book sets up a horrible situation for the main characters and then, I believe, lets them off too easily. This is especially annoying when the 'rules' of the Hunger Games are changed (three times!). I could give many examples, but want to avoid spoilers.

This really is a Young Adult book, which unlike many, will not satisfy the majority of adults (but apparently I'm in the minority).

I will say again, the book was compelling enough for me to look forward to my nightly reading sessions, but has some major flaws.

So this is what keeps troubling me about the book: as an adult reader, I cannot decide if this is merely a guilty pleasure, or a book with substance that, as the cover says, "explores the effects of war and violence on those coming of age." Professional reviewers and Amazon reviewers alike seem to agree that the book has a political angle, and the inside cover goes so far as to say that it combines "suspense and philosophy." To which I can only say.... if that is true, then it is certainly philosophy-lite, even for a YA novel. I will, however, grant that it does have "unsettling parallels to our present."

The reason that I feel so ambivalent about it is that it is such a gripping and suspenseful read; it truly is difficult to put down. But it is so in a way that reminds me of a video game: different opponents, each with specific abilities; changing settings which present new obstacles and hazards; a limited life-line buttressed with revitalizing finds or gifts. Indeed, it's called "The Hunger Games"---duh, right? And yet something about all of this bothers me.

It's structured like your standard voyage and return narrative, with many elements of the hero's quest. But in this book there is no Grail, no Dragon. The reward is simply your life, and the villains are merely pawns like the protagonist. This lowers the stakes and even calls into doubt the idea of heroism. Is fighting for your life heroic? I tend to see self-defense as something very different from heroism.

The real evildoers are, of course, the game makers and the society which permits this atrocity to take place, but this aspect is never really developed (at least there is no climactic confrontation, and not much of a build up to one either).

True: the reader cannot help but to feel disgust for the game makers. True: one is appalled by the extent to which the media forces people to create a false persona and to live a lie. But that is really the extent of the social commentary, and I felt like some opportunities were lost. Ultimately, I found myself asking: Is this enough?

You want the characters to live (they are, after all, archetypes, and hence parts of us all---the courageous, the doomed, the saved). But saying that the Roman Games are wrong as you sit down to watch the gladiators as they are thrown to the lions is not a critique, and shouldn't make us feel any less guilty about watching. In the end, are we the readers just as bad as the spectators in the book? If so, then we've been duped. And I don't think this was Collins' intention.

I don't believe in censorship, I let my kids read omniverously, but I'm grateful I picked up this series and checked it out. We'll be having some long conversations this weekend about the culture we live in and that produces books like this.
At first I thought these books would be a critique of Reality Television, of a corrupt and decadent society where some toil ceacelessly, and others amuse themselves endlessly like late-empire Romans. I hoped as I turned the pages that Suzanne Collins might have something real and important to say about how knowing that we are constantly being filmed changes the way we behave, even when we are in mortal peril. I hoped she'd have something to say about courage and love and the meaning of life and death.
Forget about it.
Where J.K. Rowling is an alchemist, collecting dross and ore from everwhere, and turning it into gold, Collins is a petty thief, stealing hamfistedly from Battle Royale, Survivor episodes and Project Runway. This series has the feel of something concocted by an editor a writer and a marketing director. Be sure to put in a bridal gown...the girls love bridal gowns! What upsets me the most is that she herself is a manipulative Gamekeeper who can make anything awful happen at will to her characters to move along her plot and she invites her readers to be like the audience who watches the Hunger Games, turning the pages to find out who will be slaughtered next and in what exciting way. Did she have any sense of irony or humor or satire (as Battle Royale does) that asked kids to question their experience, I'd forgive her everything, but she doesn't. It's all delivered very seriously. We are allowed to mourn for the very young and the very old but as to those trained for the gladitorial combats they are brute killing machines and we are allowed to cheer their demise. When Katniss kills...it's always in self-defense and she's killing someone who clealy deserves to die...she never is tortured by her own lack of morality. How convenient...
I am reminded of the zen story: You are having a dream that you are on a lifeboat with your mother and your father. You are told that the situation is such that you can only save one of them. Which would you choose? In the Hunger Games, the characters struggle and wrestle with this question but Suzanne Collins hersel doesn't know the answer...the answer is "you are having a dream." Wake up!
Wake up Suzanne Collins.
In the second book she attempts to make it seem like Katniss will inspire or even lead a revolution in this corrupt dystopia...and maybe sort of she does. But it's all completley unwitting. She's a pawn even of the revolutionaries. Besides, since we don't really know anything much about the society, its governmental system, its foundation and maintenance, this is NOT 1984 (although I'm sure Collins would like to imagine for herself that it is.)
Finally, I am left thinking of Harry Potter, how J.K. Rowling wants her readers to feel the weight of each death in that book, of the good characters and the bad, the complex and the simple. Cedric Diggory is a minor character in some ways but his death is not minor. Harry will die to return his body to his parents. This is fiction that raises us up, that asks the best of us, the believes in the best in us.
Collins treats most of her characters like figures in an X-Box game, choosing one or two for us to mourn a little and then focusing on dispensing with her legions in all kinds of creative and inventive weighs.
My final take on these books? Plenty of action, the kids will gobble it up, bu they'll be as morally hungry when they are done as if they had been playing Mortal Combat. Let 'em read them, but please, parents, read them yourself and start a discussion about real revolutionaries, real courage, and real sacrifice.

Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others


STORY: Katniss and Peeta are selected to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games. . .a last man standing game to the death. What makes this a higher risk game is that all the participants are in their early teens. The subjugated districts are required to participate in one way or another or face certain punishment, up to and including complete annihilation.

Where this book really shines, is it sets a post-apocalyptic world, in which a corrupt government keeps it "subjects" impoverished and subdued. By forcing the districts to give up their youth (one boy & one girl) once a year to the Hunger Games, the government continues to remind people about the futility of revolt.

This setting has so much potential, but that is where it end.
The author focuses more on the relationship between Katniss and Peetra, and on surviving the games. These aren't bad things, but with a setting so rich in possibilities, those possibilities are only hinted at. I was hoping for something like V for Vendetta, Brave New World or 1984, but we are given an entertaining story that said very little about the need for rebellion.

Actually rebellion is hinted at but no indication if it will be explored further in books to come.

Yes, the characters are all memorable and likable. We cheer for Katniss and Peetra and want them to succeed. To me this means the author did her job in creating good characterization.


The story did end with the words "THE END BOOK ONE", but other than a new book showing us how the life of the winner changes, no other hint is provided. . .no other mysteries to solve or injustices that need righting are presented.


AGE APPROPRIATE CONTENT: There are a couple of "gruesome" scenes that may be a bit much for young readers. There is no profanity or sex in this story. Nakedness is referred to in the context of Katniss stands naked before the stylist who looks her up and down trying to decide how to dress her for the presentation. Overall its handled cleanly and even with a sense of modesty, which is something you don't see often these days and one thing I appreciated.

OVERALL: A story I kept turning the pages on, especially once the games began. Good pacing. Good characterization. The story was light on theme and failed to exploit its potential. Overall a good first book in a "potential" series.

I must disagree with the glowing reviews this novel has received. As much as I loved The Underland Chronicles, I didn't like this one.

First of all, it is written in the present tense. I know authors sometimes do this to give a "sense of immediacy", but I'd far rather have the story written compellingly enough not to need to use this crutch. So, to me it was just an irritating gimmick.

Furthermore, having the protagonist narrate from moment-to-moment stifled character development. The author tried to work around that problem with some flashbacks, but even those were put in the present tense. Also, the ending is given away by the fact that it is in first person: the narrator cannot die because she is around to do the narrating. Perhaps Collins' thought that writing in present tense would solve that weakness of first person narration inevitably revealing that the narrating character cannot die, but I was not able to suspend my disbelief quite that much.

I found the premise to be cliched: a dystopian society in which coming-of-age rituals have been turned into something sadistic. While used effectively in "The Tripod" trilogy, in this story the device didn't work as well for me. If the bottom age range of those whose names were placed in hazard were a couple of years older, this might have been more plausible. But, as it stands, I found that the premise was stretching it.

So, overall this novel was a major disappointment. I hope that Suzanne Collins' future endeavors will surpass The Underland Chronicles, but for me this wasn't the project that will do so. Had I not read and loved her previous novels, I would have considered the writer of The Hunger Games to be an amateur.

I will give the novel the small credit it deserves for being just interesting enough to cause me to finish reading it. However, I won't be reading the future installments in this series.

The one redeeming value of the book was the character Peeta. I really did like him. It is too bad that the first person present tense narration so greatly limited Collins' freedom to explore this character.