Sunday, February 12, 2012

Book review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Book review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I’ve gotta admit that when I first started seeing the name “The Hunger Games” in people’s profiles, I was hesitant to try it, assuming it to be yet ANOTHER young adult series. After reading The Twilight Saga I’d actually sworn off YA for reasons that I don’t care to get into, instead choosing to delve into my new guilty pleasure, the very adult “paranormal romance” genre. (Think J.R. Ward’s The Black Dagger Brotherhood.)

However, after The Hunger Games was personally recommended to me first by a friend in the Twilight fandom and subsequently by a friend in the Harry Potter fandom, I decided to give it a go—and I wasn’t disappointed.

The only thing “young adult” about the novel is the fact that the protagonists and the majority of antagonists are teenagers (aside from the main antagonist, which, of course, is the Capitol). The novel is actually shockingly, brutally violent, and it’s not exactly something I’d recommend to the kiddies. Beyond that, though, it is elegantly written, creatively conceived in a sci-fi-ish, futuristic world (as a science fiction nerd at heart, I loved that about the book), and the lead protagonist, a 16-year-old girl named Katniss, is fully-fleshed-out, heroic, smart, yet just flawed enough not to be an annoyingly perfect “Mary Sue.”

I won’t get into the details of the plot (you can Google it or look it up on Amazon), but I would definitely recommend this edge-of-your-seat thriller to anyone who’s looking for a good quick-paced, unable-to-put-down read.

Look for my review of the second novel, Catching Fire, to be posted soon.

-Kari
 

2 comments:

  1. Good, solid review. I know what you mean about hesitating to read; I too didn't pick it up at first because of the hype (not necessarily 'cause of Twilight issues). However being a fantasy/scifi fan I finally gave in. Loved the absolute dystopia and desperation surrounding, well, 11 districts. And to be honest the uncomfortable romance issues were refreshing-- although I'm still not convinced!!! Hope you enjoy Catching Fire.

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  2. Lol, that's funny that you should mention hesitating reading The Hunger Games because of the hype; that's actually the very reason that I hesitated giving Harry Potter a chance! I'm certainly glad that I finally gave in. ;)

    -Kari

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