The Games of Hunger

In the year and a half (give or take) that I've known a certain friend of mine (hence forward referred to as AVC), she has been bugging me to read The Hunger Games series. Now, I'm not generally one to pick up books after they've become really popular, because I don't like feeling that I only picked it up because it was the cool thing to read. But I finally gave in last week, and borrowed her copy of it. It was awesome. I finished it in about three hours. And so, I give you my thoughts on it.

1) It was a pretty amazing book. I really liked it...obviously.
2) I have now joined the ranks among ranks of teenage (and not so teenage) people who are eagerly awaiting the release of the movie.
3) I don't particularly care for Katniss.


...say WHAT?

Yes, I said that I don't particularly care for Katniss. Well, maybe that's phrased wrong. I don't care for Katniss's flaws, or, in this case, lack thereof.

Think about it:

1) She manages to hold together her entire family from the age of eleven, and she always manages to succeed.
2) From the opening ceremonies, she is the favorite to win.
3) She always seems to get just the thing she needs, when she needs it.
4) She never has to kill the people that she doesn't want to, but she kills another tribute out of mercy.
5) I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the ending feels a bit contrived to me. You know that it isn't going to be allowed to happen. You also know that Katniss is going to get in trouble for it.

Keep in mind, though, that I have only read the first book in the trilogy, and my opinions may change as I read the other two books. So feel free to disagree with me.

I do recommend the book to those who enjoy adventure stories. If you're a bit squeamish when it comes to the more gory side of writing, you probably wouldn't enjoy it too much. It's not a "blood and guts everywhere" type book, but there is plenty of description.

Turner