The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1)

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Labels: Fiction | Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: July 3, 2010
Recommended To: Adult
Contains: Minor references and a good bit of violence

Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository | Kindle
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Blurb From Goodreads: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, the shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh 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 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 weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
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I was very curious to read this book, since I finally watched the entirety of the movie. I'm well aware that when book are turned into movies, the movie always loses something in the transaction. While the movie wasn't a huge deal for me, I was interested to see how far the movie strayed from the book and what the book had to offer that the movie lacked. As it turns out, I think the book is better than the movie, although the movie does do a pretty good job of portraying the main story.

Probably what I loved most about the book was Katniss' point of view and thinking process. Since it was exclusively from her point, the reader could only know facts which Katniss herself knew. While it at times it was possible to understand other characters' ulterior motives and plans, it was interesting to see how Katniss put the pieces together herself. I liked the reality that while the "romance" between her and Peeta is what ultimately saves both of them, she had a hard time separating what was her own true feelings and setting them aside from the act. Her confusion over her own thoughts and feelings were easy to relate to and made her a stronger character in the long run.

I know there are some pretty strong viewpoints on this book--some people things its over the top great, while others are crazy against it due to the violence. I think Collins did a good job of using the scenario in order to portray her real point--we, as humans, are quickly becoming desensitized the the violence in the world, and to some degree and turning to a point where it's used for enjoyment (ex., violence based movies). The point of the book was to bring awareness to this fact through an extremely exaggerated scenario--and I think it worked. I would recommend this book to an audience who will understand the agenda of the book and keep it in mind. I bought this book, and therefore was not asked nor required to write a review. These opinions are my own; I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated for this review.