The Hunger...Games?

Let's me just say that this particular book I have chosen is has been amazing. It has pulled me through the whole thing, and I have barely put it down. It is exciting and thrilling. And let's just be honest, I finished the 374 pages in two days. I probably could have finished it in one day if I didn't have to work or sleep. But since I have to do both, it has taken me two days. What book has been so good you may ask? Well, I'm glad you asked because I will happily share.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

via

Anyone heard of it? I'm sure some of you have. And for those who haven't, here's a quick synopsis:
The book is set in the future after the fall of the American government. The country is divided into districts and each of the 12 districts has their own purpose, which is mostly all for the good of the Capitol. The story follows a teenage girl, Katniss, who lives in District 12 and has had to provide for her younger sister and mother ever since her father died. The Hunger Games takes place every year and everyone between the ages of 12-18 has to put their names in, then one girl and one boy from each district gets the "honor" of going to participate in the games. Katniss being on the older ends has her name in the drawing quite a few times, but her younger sister who just turned 12, has her name in for the first time. After Katniss's younger sister's name is drawn out of the drawing during the reaping ceremony, Katniss steps forward to volunteer to take the place of her sister. The boys chosen from the district is one Katniss barely knows by the name of Peeta.

From the moment they are picked, the story follows Katniss and Peeta as they journey together to the Capitol then get paraded around and dressed up and interviewed and scored. After days of all that, they finally have to take part in the games, where the last one standing is the victor. Now Katniss finds herself struggling to survive and maintain herself during the games despite  the other contenders trying to kill her and the gamemakers setting traps for them to make it more interesting reality TV.

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Okay, well, I'm not going to tell you anymore than that because I don't want to give it away. In fact, you're lucky I told you that much because it is just a page-turner. It's exciting and I just haven't been able to get enough of the story of this young girl.

I like Katniss. She's got spunk. And she's scrappy. Plus, despite the brutality of the games she is kind. She tries to stay true to who she is and realizes that the Capitol doesn't own her and she wants to survive not just for her but for the people in her life and the people she met because of the games.

When I first started reading the book I couldn't help but think about how horrible the whole thing was. I'm reading a book about kids killing kids, but as I kept reading I realized it was more than that. Yes, the book at it's simplest form is a book about kids killing kids, but if you look deeper it's more than that. It's about the future and what we as a society might come to. It's about the strengthen of character and fighting to keep true to who you are and not letting anyone take that away from you. It's a book about survival.

There are three books in this series and I have never been more excited (except with Harry Potter) to continue reading into this world. Nor have I been quite as excited (except again Harry Potter) to see the movie that is set to come out next year sometime.

I would recommend this book to everyone. It's a quick and easy read but the author, Suzanne Collins, did such an amazing job of being the story and the characters to life. I just don't have enough to say about this book, but then again I don't want to give anything away. Okay, off you go....go read...