The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Second Review!)

The top part of this review, the rating, and the quotes haven't been changed at all. I didn't reread it at all. Wrote this review for Banned Book Week from my memory of what happened in the novel. The review is completely different.

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The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1)

By Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2008

374 pages, hardcover

Date Finished: 25/6/2010

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Futuristic, Action, Coming of Age

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "When I wake, the other side of the bed is cold."
~Last Line: "I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go."

Review: First - Why in the world is this book being challenged to be banned? Yes, the gore, etc. sometimes might not be suitable for younger kids, but it really isn't that bad!

I had heard a lot of things about this book before I started reading it. It was the latest series, and I was tired of being left behind. I'm really glad I bought it!

The main character, Katniss, lives in a post-apocalyptic America, hunts illegally, and takes her sister's place in the infamous Hunger Games. No way is she risking Prim's life when it could be saved. Katniss's world gets both better and worse from there.

The Hunger Games is definitely a gory, battle-filled event. Nobody wants to die. The plot in this book was pretty awesome. It was something I'd never heard of before. I like how Suzanne Collins had each district specializing in something different. Each was significant, which showed in the people they sent to the Games.

The characters were unquestionably fabulous! I liked all of them. I really can't just pick one. Peeta and Katniss are definitely the first two, though. It was so easy for Peeta to speak to people; everyone was always charmed by him. I'm sure he saved Katniss more than we can all realize. But that's probably more in Catching Fire. . .

Katniss was a really good character as well. She knew what she wanted; she was gonna get it as soon as she could, any way she could. Her constant objectiveness to the Capitol always makes me want to laugh at the way she chooses to show it. Like the shooting of the arrow into the apple in the pig's mouth. Although that was in Catching Fire, too, lol :).

This book . . . WOW. I can't say anything other than that. You really are missing out if you haven't read this yet. Not to mention the movie coming out in 5 months! WHY on bloody EARTH is this book being challenged to be banned!?

I have Catching Fire, obviously, and have Mockingjay, but still haven't read the latter. Let's all hope that I do very soon! As in before the movie comes out!

Zakiya LadyWings recommends this novel to everyone. Read it, love it, and go see the movie next year. Still can't believe The Hunger Games was challenged.

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and three-fourths :)

Quotes from the Book:

"Just then, Haymitch staggers into the compartment. 'I miss supper?' he says in a slurred voice. Then he vomits all over the expensive carpet and falls in the mess."

"One time my mother told me that I always eat like I'll never see food again. And I said, 'I won't unless I bring it home.' That shut her up."

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (the Hunger Games, #2)
By Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2009
391 pages, Hardcover
Date Finished: 9/17/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Coming of Age, Adventure, Action, Futuristic

~First Line of Book: "I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air."
~Last Line of Book: " 'Katniss, there is no District Twelve.' "

Review: Catching Fire was/ is an amazing sequel to The Hunger Games! There was more action, adventure, and romance -- with more than just Peeta (nothing sexual, parents!). Katniss is devestated that she must return to the arena for th e Quarter Quell (aka, the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games), but she has no choice. Can she start a true rebellion against the Capitol?

Awesome book! Anyone who doesn't read this series, is truly missing out on some ah-mazing books! Recommended to everyone who can get their hands on it! :D

Rating:


Quotes from the Book:

"I act delighted, but I have zero interest in these Capitol people. They are only distractions from the food."

"I'm filled with awe, as I always am, as I watch her transform from a woman who calls me to kill a spider to a woman immune to fear."

"Finnick recites a poem he wrote to his one true love in the Capitol, and about a hundred people faint because they're sure he means them."

"I bet only a handful of the victors can swim. And there was no pool in the Training Center, no chance to learn. Either you came in a swimmer or you'd better be a really fast learner."

"Like everything here, the water's on the warm side, but this is no time to be picky."

"Our jumpsuits are no help at all. We may as well be dressed in tissue paper, for all the protection they give."


--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
By Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2008
374 pages, hardcover
Read: 6/25/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Furturistic, Action, Adventure, Mystery, Science Fiction

First Line of Book: "When I wake, the other side of the bed is cold."

Review: The book's main character, Katniss Evergreen, lives in a futuristic America, and every year, a horrible event happens -- the Hunger Games. Children from across the country of Panem are chosen to go head-to-head against each other in a specialized arena. When Katniss's little sister Prim gets chosen, she puts herself up for danger by taking PRim's place. From that moment on, Katniss's life is changed -- dramatically. In the arena, she makes an ally, only to lose it soon after; then she portrays a "desperate lover" to keep herself and "Lover Boy" alive, only to have the true feelings of her soul questioned in the end. Can Kat get out alive, or will she die trying to get back home?

Suzanne Collins did an extraordinary job starting this trilogy. The book was suspenseful, adventurous, ful of action, and very intriguing. From the moment you get to the reaping (where they choose the people from the District that go to the arena) and Katniss substitutes herself for Prim, to the moment when Peeta and Kat are fighting for their lives, you are stuck with your nose in the pages trying to figure out what's going to happen next.

Katniss Evergreen, as a character, was someone I wouldn't mind being a BFF with. She cares for her family and friends, and isn't afraid to speak the truth when she needs to. Like me, she doesn't really like talking about herself, but she gets on fairly well anyway; her determination to avenge her ally after a tragic parting was something I absolutely loved. Peeta's character was also on eI really liked. He waas fun when he could be, and serious when he had to be. He tells Katniss that he's loved her since he first saw her when they were five. He seems to be truly in love with Katniss, and when she told him about her act in the caves at the end of the story, it broke my heart along with his.

The other thing that I really loved was the plot. It drew me in at every chance tha tI was reading the book. Whether there was a lot of action and Kat was fighting for her life, or none at all and she was momentarily safe and sound, I was all over the pagesreading to see what would happen next, who was the next victim of unwanted death. I have to say, this book was superbly written, and I' glad that it's a series. Unfortunately, it was open-ended. Collins stops The Hunger Games when Katniss and Peeta are about to greet the cameras waiting for them at home. I was so mad and frustrated when I got to this part! I was like, "How can you just stop a book like that, with so much about to happen?!" I'm definitely very anxious to get ahold of the sequel, Catching Fire, sometime soon.

Rating:


Quotes from the Book:

"Just then, Haymitch staggers into the compartment. 'I miss supper?' he says in a slurred voice. Then he vomits all over the expensive carpet and falls in the mess."

"One time, my mother told me that I always eat like I'll never see food again. And I said, 'I won't unless I bring it home.' That shut her up."

"I've left on Peeta's undershorts because they'r enot in bad shape an dI don't want to pull them over the swollen thigh, and, all right, maybe the idea of him being naked makes me uncomfortable."


--Zakiya, the walking butterfly