The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Date Finished

Series: The Hunger Games (Series Review: #1, #2, #3)

Rating: 5*

I think it's appropriate that my first review on my blog is of a book I am still thinking about, and re-reading, over a year after I finished it.

I love Suzanne Collins, and I love her writing style. It still ceases to amaze me how she managed to write about such a gruesome, terrifying topic, while still managing to make it popular all over the world. It has been impossible for me to read a book since this one without comparing it to The Hunger Games,  and without thinking, "I would give this five stars, but I gave The Hunger Games five, and this one was NOT The Hunger Games." My friends and I actually STILL argue over Peeta and Gale, and who Katniss should have chosen (btw I am team Peeta ALL the way... He gave her bread... still brings me to tears...)

If you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, read it now. If you are not reading it because you think it's too gruesome and disgusting a concept, shame. Deal with it. You are seriously missing out if you don't read this in your lifetime. For those of you who don't even know what it's about, you should feel ashamed. There's even a movie, for goodness sake. But, for those of you who have been living under a rock for the past two years or so... Basically The Hunger Games is about a teenage girl, Katniss, who lives in Panem, a country made up of twelve districts. She lives with her mother and sister, Prim, in District Twelve, which is responsible for the mining of coal. Every year, the Capitol (the Government, basically) holds a public reaping in which one girl and one boy from each district are chosen to go and fight in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants fight to the death in an arena in order to remind the public not to rebel against the government. Katniss' sister gets chosen, and in order to save her sister's life, Katniss volunteers in her place. The book follows Katniss as she fights for her life in the arena, and it even has a love triangle for all you romantics out there.

Panem is so real to me. Throughout the series I felt as though I was right beside Katniss, experiencing everything just as she did. The characters are so real and believable; Suzanne Collins never lets you forget that the participants of the Hunger Games are only children, fighting to the death in some sick custom created by the leaders of a country devastated by poverty, in order to get revenge on its people for a rebellion that occurred 74 years earlier.

Seriously, READ THIS SERIES. Now. No matter your age, interests, favourite genre... even if you don't read. Even if you've read it. Read it again. It's amazing.

"Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when it's morning again they'll wash away
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you."