Goodreads Synopsis: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
My Confession: It took me a really long time to jump on the Hunger Games bandwagon. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me, "Have you read The Hunger Games yet?" -- well, let's just say I'd be a very rich woman. Each time, my response was no. No, I hadn't read them. No, I didn't know what they were about. Some bookaholic. Slowly but surely, I started noticing that the series was becoming a phenomenon, with movie hype garnering extraordinary momentum every time I turned around. Everybody--and I mean everybody--has been talking about this series. I guess I was just flat-out curious. And mildly ashamed that, with my self-proclaimed bookworm status, I hadn't picked this book up before.
And....it blew me away. It absolutely blew. my. mind.
Character Power: I've never read anything quite like this. It twisted me inside out and wrung me out to dry. My immediate and intense attachment to the characters, especially Katniss, Gale, and Peeta, goes to show how powerful the story is. While the novel's overarching situation--life in a post-apocalyptic world controlled by a Big Brother-esque government that takes pleasure in killing twenty-three children a year in a nationally-televised bloodbath--it's how the main characters react to these absurd circumstances that makes the novel so compelling. The scenes in the "arena" are so blood-curling, so unfathomable, and so incredibly written. I had a serious problem putting this book down for more than two seconds at a time. I felt like I was there, experiencing everything with Katniss--every fear-filled, survival-driven decision. She's an amazing narrator, full of strength and will. She's a rockstar in a world that's taken away every chance to feel joy.
Recommendation: READ IT. DO IT. NOW. And I mean, finish this blog and go to the bookstore. I had no idea what I was missing, but let me tell you--I was missing out. It's impressive how much this book makes you feel. There were so many times where I couldn't believe what I was reading; the story, at times, gets so painful, so absurd, so unbelievable, but it never stops feeling real. You will get sucked in. And if you're a reader, you know what a brilliant sensation that is.
Rating: 5/5
374 pages, published by Scholastic Inc (Dec. 14, 2009)
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