The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

About a month before the first movie hit theaters, my oldest niece, Callie, said that I needed to read The Hunger Games because she really wanted to see the movie with me. I had never heard of it, but not wanting to miss a chance to bond, I read it, and then we saw the movie, and then I quickly read the following two books needing more. Like so many other books to movies, this series quickly became something that Callie and I continued to enjoy together. With everything going crazy in the world right now, I still wasn't ready to return to my usual hard and scary books full of murder. While The Hunger Games is full of murder, it's at least fictional.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Katniss Everdeen lives in District Twelve of Panem, and while life is far from perfect, she has her family, her best friend Gale, and hunting. However, when the annual Reaping threatens to take her 12 year old sister, Prim, into The Hunger Games and certain death, Katniss does what no one else in Twelve ever has: she volunteers as tribute. Her male counterpart in the arena is Peeta, the bakers son. While Haymitch, their mentor, prepares them for the Games, Katniss knows that she will eventually have to kill Peeta and 22 other people if she wants to make it home. When Peeta declares his love for her, everything changes again, and things only get messier once they are in the arena. When given the opportunity for both of them to come home, Katniss has to figure out if she can trust Peeta. After that, she just has to figure out how to survive.

So I'm not going to lie, this series is a little scary. The idea that a government would sacrifice twenty-four children each year and put on a show as they kill each other in gruesome manners until there is just one left is terrifying. (Quick side note: I know a lot of governments do a lot of very terrifying things to children presently, but I am not going to get into that.) Also, the fact that they use previous winners to teach the new tributes how to survive is mad. It's bad enough you have to kill or be killed, but now you have to teach a new child how to do the same thing. Honestly, the fact that this has lasted 74 years is astonishing. I really don't know how there wasn't another rebellion long before this. But it also makes me question why other countries haven't stepped in. Y'all know I love to know how things got to this point, what the back story is, etc. They use phrases in the book like "use to be called the Rockies" when referring to actual places. I want to know what caused the states to stop being states and split up into the 13 Districts. What happened before the Dark Days? Back in 2017, I read a mini-trilogy called The Dark Days which was supposed to describe what caused everything, but I didn't enjoy it and it did not provide me with the answers I wanted (read the review of The Dark Days here). It's also by Ginger Gelsheimer, not Suzanne Collins, which is probably why I didn't get my answers.

(Source: Giphy)

I really love the characters in the book. I know there's a lot of memes about Katniss having to pick between two hot guys before she can save the world, and don't get me wrong, they're funny, but I also get it. Katniss is just 16 at the start of this, and because of everything life has thrown at her, she has never really had time to figure out if she liked anyone when she is thrown into a situation when some guy she's never really talked to is professing his love for her. Despite her bizarre circumstances, she is still a teenage girl feeling real feelings we all feel at one point or another while growing up. For her, it just happens that she also has to save her sister and the world while she figures everything out. Because of all of this, I'm not a big fav of Gale. He never made his feelings for Katniss clear, and she doesn't really know what her feelings are, so she doesn't owe him anything special when she gets back. It wasn't right for Peeta to throw his feelings out there like that, but Haymitch is right, it makes her likable, and that's what gets you sponsors in the arena. And while speaking of Haymitch, I have to say, he's my favorite character. I wish I was as witty and dry as him. He is personality goals. Granted, maybe not the best personality goals since he's a drunk with emotional issues, but he did have to kill/watch killings or even more people because he was a tribute in the 50th Quarter Quell (more on that in the next review). Obviously, I do not have any of those experiences to justify my behavior if I started acting like him, but I do love him still. Even minor characters in the book though are all brilliant. Collins does a wonderful job of making each character memorable and have a special spot in the readers heart.

(Source: Giphy)

While this series might not be the best series to get my mind off of the current state of the world, it is a great series to make me appreciate my friends and family, while also reminding me of reading the books and watching the movies with Callie. The sentimental stuff aside, it's a very captivating read with great characters, plots, and lessons about standing up for what's right.

Rating: 7/10
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games (Book 1 of 3)
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction
Dates Read: April 8-9, 2020