The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 454

Chapters: 27

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Series: 1-The Hunger Games, 2-THG: Catching Fire, 3-THG: Mockingjay (THG = The Hunger Games)

Person: First

Tense: Present

Opinion: 9½/10

Website: http://www.thehungergames.co.uk/

Blurb (quoted):

“Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain death.

In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister’s place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

Quotes from the cover:

“Constant suspense… I couldn’t stop reading” – Stephen King

“Bare-knuckle adventure of the best kind” – The Times

“The Hunger Games is amazing” – Stephanie Meyer

Summary:

Katniss has a tough life, caring for her mother and sister with little to no money. But when her sister is chosen to participate in a ‘game’ where you either kill or die, Katniss feels she has no choice but to take her place, though she sees it as nothing more than a death sentence.

Until, that is, she finds out she and Peeta (the other boy from her home chosen) had a great stylist and her mentor is going to sober up to help, and then hope begins to flicker.

But winning (which means living) seems impossible when some of the strongest competitors have it out for her. Katniss is forced to rely on her practiced hunting skills, knowledge of plants, and cunning wit to surive.

Of course, when she finds herself in love with Peeta halfway through, things start to look bad, but the final show down isn’t until after the Hunger Games have ended.

Is there a chance Katniss will make it back to her family?

Judgement:

This book stole my heart, my breath, my attention. Admittedly, it took a few chapters to hook me, but once it had hold, it had ownership over me. I literally didn’t put the book down until the last page – which left me wanting to pick up the second one.

It’s a compelling story, with action, romance, thrill, adventure and everything in between.

There was a little confusion in parts, with a few too many details, but it all worked itself out quickly enough. The only reason it doesn’t have a 10/10 is because if it hadn’t been highly recommended to me, I wouldn’t have read past the first three chapters – not because it wasn’t good, but because it was a little slow going.

What really made me fall in love was the realism; I could literally see the words playing out in film before my eyes as though it were a movie. It was very believable, highly descriptive and left you unable to tear your eyes away with the almost constant drama and panic.

It’s made my list of recommendation and will just about stop your heart.



Coming soon in movie form!