Author: Suzanne CollinsGenre: I honestly have no idea. Post-Apocalyptic maybe?
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 374
So, I finally got around to reading this. I know, I know, the entire rest of the world had read it months ago. That's kind of the reason I hadn't. I just have this passionate aversion to following the crowd, so if the crowd is reading a runaway-best-seller, I'm going to be avoiding said bestseller.
But, after the raving recommendations of several friends whose judgment I trust (and because my brother is dying to see the movie but I don't want to see it without reading the book), I decided to relent. My thoughts?
Oh. My. Goodness.
This book is completely unlike anything I have ever read - as evidenced in part, I'm sure, by my inability to assign a genre to it above. The story and characters are completely engrossing, utterly captivating. I don't remember the last time a book has kept me on the edge of my seat like this one did!
Set in post-apocalyptic North America, the story follows the main character Katniss on her forced journey to the Hunger Games - a sadistic ritual bloodbath labeled a sport by the iron-fisted government. The goal: Kill or be killed. As if that's not bad enough - it's not even that simple.
I don't dare try to say any more than that for fear of giving something away, but I will add that I was surprised at how clean the story was for a work of secular fiction. There were a few brief instances of nudity, which I obviously disliked, but there was no sexual connotation to it at all which is one consolation... I guess. In fact, though it wasn't stated as such in so many words, some of Katniss' thoughts and internal monologues even suggest a belief that sex is something reserved for marriage - an amazing find in a secular book! Of course there was a good deal of violence in the book, but it wasn't gory or glorified or anything disgusting like that.
I would feel comfortable recommending this book to anyone eighteen or older. Recommending it to anyone younger would depend on the individual person. One word of caution: make sure you have the sequels on hand when you start reading The Hunger Games. Once you start reading it you won't want to stop, and once you reach the end you won't want to wait for the second one. I'm already reading Catching Fire, and it shouldn't take me long to get through it... since I can't seem to put it down.
I really liked this book too. And I read it much sooner than most people did, even though I still haven't put it on my blog. I haven't seen the movie,yet, either, but I want to. I didn't really like Catching Fire.
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