The Hunger Games

"The Hunger Games"
By: Suzanne Collins
A Review By: Christie S.

Welcome to Katniss Everdeen's broken world. She is living in the ruins of a land that was once know as North America. Wars have ravaged this once majestic country. Now the Capitol is surrounded by 12 'districts' and Panem the 12th district is where this captivating story opens.

The Capitol. That is where the political hub of this world happens. Every year the Capitol demands that one boy and one girl ages 12 to 18 from every district come and participate in the annual "Hunger Games"

The Hunger Games are a death sentence. These horrifying games force innocent children to kill each other off one by one in an outdoor arena on live television until only one remains. The purpose? To always remind the people that wars should be avoided at all cost. At least, that was what the original intent was when the games started 73 years before this book opened. Now, the Games have been twisted and manipulated into a bloodbath of political malevolence.

This book is a difficult read in the sense that it makes you think and it makes you think HARD. You go on this seemingly futile journey with independent Katniss. She has to struggle through making choices and weighing the importance of things such as; survival vs. humanity, life against love, and government control vs. personal independence and so do you. Even though this book is engrossing it gives you the chance to think about difficult issues that even exist in our world today. Yes, the are at a lesser level but no one can deny that they still exist.

The Hunger Games is passionate, violent, jarring, engrossing, fast paced, suspenseful, and horrifying book. It makes you cry to think of the injustices of Katniss's world and our own. It presents themes such as; death, grieving, poverty, survival, governmental manipulation, and personal struggle with right and wrong; good and evil. But it is also filled with moments of personal growth, pathos, joy, and hope. Be ready for an exhilarating read that might keep you up nights even after you finish it. It was completely addicting to me. I was obsessed with it until I finished this book. So how does this book end? Read it and find out...