Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Misty (Book Rat)

Briefly: Katniss Everdeen is a 16 year old girl fighting to survive in
District 12. She hunts illegally in the forests outside of the fence;
she does whatever it takes to keep her family alive. When Katniss'
little sister's name is drawn as one of the twenty-four tributes to go
into the Hunger Games-- a battle to the death, where only 1 of the 24
participants will live -- Katniss volunteers to go in her place and
learns what it really means to fight to survive.

If you haven't
heard of the fabulousness that is this book, I think you've been living
in a hole. It's hard to describe this book or review it without talking
in circles or giving something away, so I'm just going to do a quick
little review where I rave about its fantasticness.
We all know I'm a fan of dystopia, and this one is a prime example.
You
have the classic struggle: Katniss, and all of the other inhabitants of
the twelve Districts, are at the mercy of the ruthless Capitol, where
the yearly deaths of the tributes is entertainment.
You have the
humanist aspect: There are good people in the midst of this, on the
District side as well as the Capitol side, allowing you to gauge the
"wrongness" of this dystopian world.
You have the ?: a triangle no less, but if you haven't heard of Peeta and Gale...again, hole.
You
have the questions, the myriad 'why's that come with a great dystopian
novel, that make you discuss it with friends and coworkers, and let it
invade your brain and analyze yourself and what you hold true.

All of the factors of a great dystopia are there.

But
The Hunger Games is more than that. Katniss reads incredibly authentic;
I never felt like I was reading Suzanne Collins, it was always Katniss.
Collins keeps a great tone throughout, and makes Katniss likeable even
when she's being a bit bloodthirsty/obtuse/naive, etc.
There is
great gray area in the book, which I love. Every one seems so human and
flawed, and therefore it is sometimes painful and heartbreaking, but
always engaging and powerful.
The idea of the Hunger Games
themselves -- a Roman arena-style fight to the death, taken to the
extremes that modern and future technology make capable -- is
brilliant. The idea that the Hunger Games are not just entertainment
for the rich Capitol-ites, but are punitive measures taken against the
rest of the country (the Districts) for an unprising, is brilliant.
There is an ominous tone, and that fantastic eerie psychological
quality that abusers use -- "you brought this on yourself" -- taken to
the extreme, as well as the fact that the Districts are essentially
having to send off their children to fight to the death, while they are forced to watch it on TV -- disturbingly brilliant!

If you haven't read it, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???