The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: September 2008 by Scholastic Press

My Rating: 5 stars but I wish I could give it an even higher score!
Tags: YA | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Series (Book 1)
Includes: Violence/Murder, Sensuality

First Lines: When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Period.

I have heard a lot of great talk about this book around the blogosphere, so I didn't hesitate to go out and buy my own copy of the novel. Just the summary alone had me hooked. I liked how this book had parts of many genres - action, suspense, romance, science fiction, etc. It covered just about everything.

For me, the story started out a little slow and I was kind of disappointed by the first few chapters since nothing big was happening yet. But now that I look back on it, I realize that the author was just setting up the characters, time period, and background information since it is set in a futuristic world.

From Page 4
Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour. Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying to scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces.

It took me a week to get really sucked into the book, so I began to get in the habit of carrying it around with me wherever I went in case I had a few minutes of reading time. Because of the interesting cover, I was asked many times what the book was about. However, once I started explaining the summary - I just couldn't stop! So I'll try my best to give a short and to-the-point one. ;]

The novel is set in a futuristic world in a place called Panem - what's left of North America, which is run by the government called The Capital. Each year, The Capital randomly chooses a boy and girl from each of the 12 districts to compete in the deadly Hunger Games. It is a televised gory fight to the death, where only one winner, or "victor" survives in the end. After her younger sister's name was chosen to fight in the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen volunteers herself instead.

From Page 21
Somewhere far away, I hear the crowd murmuring unhappily as they always do when a twelve-year-old gets chosen because no one thinks this is fair. And then I see her, the blood drained from her face, hands clenched in fists at her sides, walking with stiff, small steps up toward the stage.

Now I'll tell you - this book was unlike anything else I had ever read. The creativity practically jumped off of each page, screaming in my face. It's not until a couple of chapters in, once Katniss actually enters the arena to start the Hunger Games, that it became addicting. I read the book for the entire five hour drive home from the beach - refused to put it down even during bathroom breaks and turned down dinner, too! Even if this doesn't sound like your type of book, it'll be a mistake if you turn it down. You are missing out on one heck of an amazing book.

I fell in love with particular characters and cried along with Katniss when they were brutally murdered by other competitors in the games. I blushed during awkward moments with Peeta, the baker's son who was also chosen from the same district to compete. My heart felt like it would burst out of my chest during intense fighting scenes and I had no idea what would happen next. Overall, I was completely absorbed in this book and felt like I literally was in the arena with Katniss during the Hunger Games. The sudden cliff-hanger ending was a shocker to me, and I didn't see it coming at all. I am on the verge of outbreak since I have to wait another month for the sequel to come out! This is by far one of the most creative, addicting, well-written action and survival books out there. This would make an AMAZING movie!

*Update: They ARE making this series into a movie!

Book Supplied by: I bought it at Borders!