So it’s been forever since I posted my last book review. I’ve been reading lots, but nothing that motivated me to hop on here and push a book down your throats. Which is what my book reviews tend to become–read this or I’ll challenge you to a duel. Read this or I’ll haunt your attic for the rest of your life. Okay, I haven’t pulled out the attic bit yet, but the point is that my book reviews tend to spiral into coercive threats.
I finally wrapped up a series that really put me in the mood to threaten you all again: I just finished the Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins.
So here goes: read these books or I’ll never . . . um . . . never . . . seriously, I will never . . . right!
Wow. The holidays must have really sapped the aggression out of my nature. I need to get my violent side back up and running asap.
Anyway, let’s hop on topic. These books are fun. Vivacious. Original. And man is the plot ever surprising. If you had asked me to make 3 predictions about where the story would head after I finished the first book, I would have been wrong on every count.
It’s not great literature, but it’s fun in the same way that watching an action movie is fun. The writing is very visual, and very emotional. It would make a fantastic video game, and a fun movie as long as the director didn’t overdo the special effects. It’s good teen fiction, and great entertainment for adult-type people as well.
Let’s put it in a nutshell: imagine a dystopian world in which Harry Potter has to face down his opponents in the TriWizard tournament, except that they fight to the death. And there you have it. Are you with me?
No? Okay, I’ll expand. Here’s a little plot summary of the first book: the USA fell apart long ago. The center of power is now the Capitol, a city of decadence and riches which rules over and is supported by twelve districts. Plastic surgery is the norm in the Capitol, where people get their skin dyed pink or green, have jewels inserted into their skin, and decorate themselves differently with each new fad. The districts are another story: poor, overworked, dirty, and hungry. Our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, hails from District Twelve, which is a mining district. An electric fence surrounds her town, coal dust is in the air, and hunger is a daily part of life. In order to punish the districts for a rebellion that took place 75 years prior, the Capitol created a yearly event called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is basically a televised tournament in which two teenagers from each of the twelve districts fight to the death. It’s the ultimate reality TV show, and it’s broadcasted all over the country. The Capitol goes wild for their favorite contestants, and greedily eats up the drama that for them is merely a diversion, but for the contestants is almost certain death.
Is it violent? Yes. But not hideously so. I think it depends on your level of sensitivity. Mine is unnaturally high, and I have come through unscathed.
By the end of the first book, your heart will be racing, your palms sweating, and your left eye will start twitching. The only way to correct these symptoms is to snatch up the second book and start reading. Since my library took for-e-ver to send me the second book, my eye twitched for approximately ten weeks. If you noticed it, please don’t bring it up–it’s still a sore spot for me.
As the Hunger Games become the launching pad for a revolution, Katniss becomes a symbol for the oppressed districts . . . and I can’t tell you anything more.
My lips are sealed.
But lemme tell you–if you think you already know the gist, you don’t. It’s surprising. If I were a movie producer, I would have snatched this up as soon as it was published.
Thanks for the review. I might have to give them a try. Looks like your eye is going to be twitching for another two years waiting for the movie though:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/
Penelope is brining me this trilogy this week, apparently her husband is a big fan. And Now I’m super motivated to read them.
I haven’t been this hooked on a series since HP. I’m halfway through Catching Fire. I want to fly through the trilogy but I’m having a difficult time putting it down.
Katniss is my hero.
I love these books! Can’t wait for the film adaptation!
I read these over the summer and I loved them. I couldn’t put them down!
I love this series. From the moment I picked up the first book I had to immediately buy the second one. I had to wait a FULL YEAR for the third book to come out and it was pure torture. I love them and recommend them to anyone that will listen.
I worked at a bookstore over the summer and these books were crazy popular! I want to see what they’re about 🙂
i am addicted to the hunger games! <3 i stayed up all night to read it a second time lol i dunno it is just that good. i am so excited to see the movie when it comes out!! http://on.fb.me/gXrImz
Loved this series! All but the last bit, that is…I would love to pick your brain about how they ended mockingjay. I was not pleased. But even so, I still recommend all 3 books!
Okay, you’re like the tenth person who has blogged about this series and who has said that they’re must reads. So I am ‘finally’ going to take the plunge. Ha, ha. Seriously, I’ve been meaning to read them for awhile. I think I’m going to pick them up this weekend!
I have heard nothing but great things about this trilogy, and I’m ITCHING TO GRADUATE so I can actually read something that not part of the snooty literary “canon.”
I’ve been meaning to read these!! Thanks for the threat 😉
Hey thanks for checking out my blog- yours is great, mmm pasta! Anyhow, just read this trilogy over Christmas and loved them too- I have my 12 year old reading them now (15 AR points each, bonus!) as I realized after reading them that they are actually Teen fiction, ha ha! (but so is Twilight I believe)
question. i have a blog and curious did/do you have to pay for the use of the pics of the books? if so, how do/did you go about getting permission to use the images of the books, as i am wanting to use them as well 🙂 thanks for your help.
Well, I don’t know how I managed to miss this but I’m thrilled you read this trilogy! I enjoyed it so much and am looking forward to the first movie (it’s out in March, did you hear?), though I already expect the usual disappointment I feel when I watch a movie try to bring a book to life b/c nothing matches the way my imagination conjured it in my head. lol