What a barn-burner of a novel. Set in a dystopic future North America, The Hunger Games is written at lightning fast pace. The suspense rarely lets up (but does so in all the right places), the characters draw us into their world, and the consequences of brutality, survival, and deception are examined in this science-fiction reality show.Katniss Everdeen is a fifteen-year-old girl who lives in one of twelve districts enslaved to the Capitol. A previous revolt failed, and ever since, the Capitol has required a boy and a girl from each district to compete in the yearly Hunger Games, a televised bloodbath where the contestants must survive deadly traps, mutant predators, and each other. The last child left alive wins. When the name of Katniss's young sister Prim is drawn, she volunteers in her place, knowing she will likely die but hoping to survive and rejoin her family as the victor.
Collins weaves an unforgettable story with simple yet effective prose, modernizing the Greek myth of the Labyrinth and taking it in a new direction. The similarities of the Hunger Games to current reality TV are well played, perhaps prescient. Violence as entertainment also makes us ask important questions about video games and action movies. However, the story transcends mere commentary. We see the hostile, deadly arena through the eyes of a teenage girl who is headstrong, determined, and desperate to survive, yet heartbroken at the choices she has to make - to kill to defend herself, to befriend someone who must eventually become a mortal enemy, to try to save a life in a situation designed for the opposite strategy.
Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 heartbreaking choices
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