The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This was a complete departure in reading for me; I usually don’t read young adult stuff and wasn’t very interested in reading these books.  But my new book club was reading the Hunger Games so I decided to give it a try and was hooked from the first chapter.

The premise is horrifying.   It’s set in a futuristic society which has arisen after the destruction of North America.  A Capitol district populated by the rulers of the society is surrounded by 13 districts.  There was an uprising against the Capitol resulting in a Treaty that among other things ushers in the Hunger Games.  These Games are the Capitol’s way of providing a yearly reminder and punishment for the people who instigated the uprising.  Each year 2 children are chosen from each district to participate in a televised battle to the death.  There can be only one victor.    As the description in the book says “this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.  How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion”.

The main character is a 17 year old girl named Katniss.    The book opens with the reaping, a time when the 2 participants from each district are chosen, 1 male and 1 female.  Katniss is not chosen but her 12 year old sister is and Katniss invokes and old rule that says she can volunteer to go in her sister’s place.

That’s all of a summary I will give you.  This book is a page turner.  In fact I stayed up late a few nights to finish it.   Katniss is a strong female character.   After the first chapter I completely forgot that she was only 17years old.  Yes, there is some violence in the book but it is in context and not overdone (in my opinion).   By the time I was finished the book I needed to read the rest of the series.  It is well developed and again in my opinion, well written.   I won’t say anything about the other two books as it’s impossible to say much without giving the story away. 

There are strong themes of good and evil, love, family and of course coming of age throughout the series.    This book evokes strong emotion from people.  My book club had people who loved it and others who hated it.   I think that if you can stomach the premise you will get to read a really good story with likeable characters and things to think about.   I highly recommend this series.