The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

After the destruction of North America the nation of Panem emerges, in the middle, a shining Capitol with twelve less scintillating nations surrounding it. In order to remind all of the residents of Panem of the brutal war and the power the Capitol holds, the Capitol forces each district to send a boy and a girl, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, each year to the Hunger Games, a fight to the death, survivor style, broadcasted on live TV.

In the devastatingly poor District 12, lives a sixteen-year-old named Katniss Everdeen. She lives alone with her mother and twelve-year old sister Prim, being the sole provider for their family, making sure that they just scrape by. When the day of the reaping comes (the event where names are drawn for the Hunger games) Katniss herself feels that she has a greater chance of being picked, but never would expect Prim to be chosen. When the worst happens though, Katniss immediately volunteers herself to participate in Prim’s place, becoming the girl to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games.

Without even realizing it, Katniss soon becomes one of the top contenders to win the games, as survival is second nature to her. If she is to win though she will have to call upon her keen sense of intelligence and expert survival techniques.

Oh my goodness, this book is jaw droppingly good! Every single sentence left you grasping for more and wanting to turn the page so fast that you have to be careful they don’t rip. Everything about the book worked and fell so easily into place that it was absolutely impossible to put the book down.

The plot itself was extremely unique and was filled with adventure that kept you extremely riveted. Even though Panem was a fictional world it was very easy to see many parallels to our world, which I found extremely interesting. Suzanne Collins also made this imaginary world very lifelike and made the events of the games so real that it felt like I was sitting in my living room watching them on TV along with all the other residents of Panem.

Another aspect that really made the book shine were the characters. Regardless of how big of a role the character played they were well developed. Katniss was an amazing and strong character and had a nurturing side that was completely unexpected, but very welcoming. Peeta, the second main character, was a sweetie. He was funny and genuine and I loved how he added the romance element to the story, which in my opinion made the book that much better.

As for the author’s writing, it was impeccable. She threw you into the arena and made you breathe the same air as Katniss, Peeta and all the other contestants. She created a fascinating world, using fantastic imagery, which made it easy to picture the beauty of the Capitol, all the amazing outfits the contestants wore, and of course the brutality of the arena. She also created one heck of a cliffhanger with the ending of the book, setting up for the next book (CATCHING FIRE) to start right away.

Overall this was one heck of a book. The author combined a ridiculous amount of suspense, a ridiculously cute romance, and so much adventure that this has easily become one of my favorite books. As soon as I had finished it I immediately wanted to read it again and again and again. I strongly recommend it to absolutely everyone and cannot wait for the sequel.