The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)

The adventurous action story of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins sets in the nation of Panem, or a place once known as North America. The nation of Panem is made of a Capitol surrounded by 12 districts which border it. To assure authority and keep districts in order, the Capitol forces all districts to send a boy and a girl, between the ages of 12 and 18, to participate in the annual Hunger Games, which is a fight to death between the 24 teenage tributes. The victor, or the last one standing, is heavily rewarded and his or her district is also showered with food and luxuries. On the day of picking, Katniss, the protagonist, takes her younger sister’s spot as she is chosen.
Though unwilling, Katniss begins an adventurous battle which fully portrays her bravery. With District 12 counting on her for prizes and food, her sister surviving with a single, half-depressed mother, and the expectations of the Capitol, Katniss is still determined to fight the odds of survival and win the Games. Under so much pressure, her ability to be able to manage problems is incredible and definitely admirable. However, the most intriguing part of Katniss is her overall character development through the story as a stubborn girl who ends up learning to trust.
Throughout the novel, the language used is fairly simple, but very effective. Collins’ use of simple words paint an imaginative, but clear story. Though sometimes over-imaginary and somewhat hard to believe, the story itself is very well thought out and plotted. Collins takes complete advantage of the story’s future setting as she expresses what a future world would look like. Through the eyes of a teenage girl, the novel presents a unique point of view that constantly gives a tense feeling, which keeps readers at the tips of their mind, ready to flip to the next page. With weird relationships clashing with physically bloody battles, the novel consistently keeps the reader sucked in. This book is definitely a five star book and is for action and suspense lovers!

Honestly, I didn't think I would like this book at first. I mean, come on, putting a bunch of kids in an arena to fight to the death? It just sounded so horribly wrong and gruesome, but man was it full of such suspense. The writing was so good that I felt like I was Katniss herself, the main character in the book. I literally could not put the book down. I was even late to work a few times (I like to read when I wake up) because I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The chapters are like cliffhangers that beg you to keep reading.

The Hunger Games is about a girl named Katniss who takes her sister, Prim’s place as a tribute in the hunger games.The main character, Katniss, lives in District 12, in a poor mining community called the Seam with her mother and sister.Two children in each district are chosen randomly to compete with each other to the death in an arena. The event is televised for everyone in the Capitol to see. The winning tribute is given food for themselves and their families.Along with Katniss is a boy named Peeta Malark, who is also drawn to fight in the Games.Peeta Malark is the baker’s son that Katniss knows through school.

I read the Hunger Games trilogy a year ago, and I was absolutely amazed. Loved the characters and point of view. I admire how strong and confident Katniss was as a female lead. It was refreshing. Great detail and the plot is unique. Reading it all over again in preparation for the movie.

I admit, with the hype surrounding THE HUNGER GAMES, I was nervous to open the book. How could it possibly live up to all the amazing things people were saying?

It did.

Collins has a strong, compelling writing style, and this book grabs you from the beginning. When Katniss volunteers to go to the Hunger Games in her sister's place, I got chills. With that one selfless act, Katniss changed from a hard, not incredibly lovable character to someone sympathetic and worth cheering for.

The worldbuilding is fantastic and terrifying. I loved learning about the districts and the Capitol, and getting a peek at the crazy fashions and voyeuristic nature of the elite before we're thrown into the Games, which are terrifying and nightmare-inducing.

While I wanted more from Katniss -- for her to make changes and decisions -- this book was still a winner for me.

This is amazing book, you really can't stop reading it once you've started. I started out buying the first one only not expecting much from it, but i ended up going to the bookstore, buying the second and third and reading them non stop. This is amazing!

I heard about this book series and was told if I read the first chapter and put it down, then it wasn't my type of book.

That seemed like a fair proposal.

Well I couldn't put it down. I started the first book on a Saturday morning, and continued reading the 2nd and 3rd books through the nite and into the wee hours of the morning.

It's just that good.

If you understand (not like or hate) American Idol, reality TV shows, then you'll get Hunger Games.

It's the type of book where you HAVE to know what's going to happen to the characters. You really end up caring about them.

I guess they're making a movie of this. My advice is to read these books so that you have the story the right way, then go watch the movie in a few months or whenever it comes out.

If you're wondering if these books are girly, they're not. The girl is totally kickbutt and the guys in the story aren't doe eyed pale faced wannabe vampires. They hunt, they fight, and they survive by any means necessary. People get shot, eaten, attacked, electrocuted, brainwashed, it's intense!

Check out Hunger Games, you won't be disappointed

I didn't realize how much I loved this book until I reread it. I hate rereading books, mostly because I love the experience of reading a book for the first time, and rereading the book sort of takes away all the magic for me. This book is one of the only exceptions.

PROS:
-The world is amazingly developed:
Panem is a continent separated into 12 Districts, and Katniss Everdeen lives in the 12th. Each District is known for its different duties to the continent, and District 12 specializes in mining, and is one of the overlooked Districts. Every year, there is a spectator/gladiator event that involves two "Tributes" from each of the Districts, and they must be children, rallying up 24 kids to participate. The event is called the Hunger Games, a piece of revenge by the Capitol of Panem on an earlier rebellion, where the Tributes fight to the death live on television.
-The setting is a character:
District 12, the Capitol, and the Arena all come alive in the story. The Arena's features differ each year for the Games, and Katniss battles in a very woodsy-type arena. The characters have to accomodate to the forest.

CONS
Katniss:
Katniss's character has always bugged me. I like Katniss Everdeen, but not the way she makes decisions, or the way she acts. Katniss is the real "mother" of her family, and hunts for food though the law doesn't allow it, and takes her sister Prim's place in the Hunger Games. But Katniss is a very rash and instinctual character. She thinks some things through, but she, in my opinion, gets sort of a big head, and takes advantage of all the attention that she earns. That isn't an entirely bad idea, but Katniss should spend her time focusing more on the task at hand rather than manipulating the Capitol and its viewers.

Reader reviewed by darklightkid

Far into the future, the North American continent, after being ravaged by war and famine and who knows what else, has become the nation of Panem. Panem consists of a beautiful, modernistic Capitol somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by 13 districts, each one poorer and more pathetic than the last.

74 years ago, the districts, tired of the Capitol's oppressive ways, led a short-lived rebellion, but the Capitol's forces defeated them quickly and even annihilated District 13 completely. To punish the remaining 12 districts for their actions during these Dark Days, the Capitol set up an annual event called the Hunger Games, where each district is required to send two teenage tributes - a boy and a girl - to be shut into a massive arena and forced to fight to the death for food and other supplies, with the last one standing being declared the winner and winning their home district bragging rights for a year. Oh and did we mention the whole travesty is televised live to all of Panem?

This year, in District 12, the coal-mining district where everyone is either at or below the poverty line, sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps up to compete in the Games in the place of her sister Prim, four years younger. Her fellow tribute is Peeta Mellark, son of a baker, who has had a crush on her for years. (Incidentally, Katniss has her own love interest, named Gale Hawthorne, who often joins her on illegal hunting expeditions beyond the fence encircling the town that comprises all of District 12.) Together with their mentor, the eternally drunk Haymitch Abernathy, and their Capitol representative, Effie Trinket, Katniss and Peeta travel up to the Capitol and enter the Games.

The Games aren't exactly fair, of course. In Districts 1, 2 and 4, the tributes are trained beforehand (Katniss and others call them, derisively, Career Tributes), completely against the rules. The Games planners repeatedly throw in increased dangers, such as deliberate fires and/or tracker jackers (a created species of wasp with hallucinogenic venom and all the ferocity of a pack of rabid pitbulls) just to make more tributes die and thus make the Games more "interesting." And as for Katniss and Peeta, they are especially popular, partly due to the costumes created by their bright young designer, Cinna, and partly because they are pretending to be a couple...which sets them up for, shall we say, special treatment.

This book is one of those that should be on a list of "10 Action Stories You Must Read Before You Die." It is ragingly good and seriously insane. My only problem is the fact that so many guys in the novel have such female-sounding names (Peeta, Gale and Cinna come to mind here).

Can't wait for the movie either...March 23, 2012! The pics of Jen Lawrence as Katniss are amazing, hope the rest of the actors look just as good. And when the heck will they cast Cinna? He's indispensable, but the producers are making no sign of choosing anyone to play him...WHY?!?!?!?

Reader reviewed by Kayleah.

This book O My GoSH!!!! it was absolutely amazing!!! It is a little think but totally worth it!!! Katniss, Peta, Gale, Prim, there all amazing!! I just love the book. If you are into adventerous romance, amazing books. Read Hungeer Games!!!! just its astonishing and made me freaking happy because it was that amazing!!!!!!!