The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins
I am a little late discovering The Hunger Games, I always seem to catch onto these things a little late; I was also late with the Harry Potter series. I liked the premise, the whole idea of a post-apocalyptic world where the survivors are left clinging onto the last ounces of humanity and what's left of its decency is very appealing. The Hunger Games is set sometime in the future after North America - and I assume most of the world - is left decimated after what I can only assume to be a nuclear holocaust of some sorts. The survivors are scattered across the continent of North America and live in districts numbered 1-12, there was originally 13 but it was destroyed when it rebelled against the capital. Every year, to mark the anniversary of the capital's victory over the rebels The Hunger Games are held - it's a literal death match between 2 representatives from each district. The games are meant to be a symbol of the capital's power over the residents within each district. Needless to say, the games don't go quite as planned.
I thought Suzanne Collins did a good job on this book, not a great job, but a good one. I think it lacked in details especially in terms of background information, a little more details in certain areas would have gone a long way. Also I found the first person narrative a little annoying, compacted more so by the story being told through the eyes of a crabby teenage girl who seems to never be in a good mood. A little break to see the story unfold through a different characters eyes would have been a welcome respite. I think the character and plot development were good. While I don't think it's an instant classic or grand slam, it does read fast, and leaves one thinking and has moderate re-readability value. I enjoyed it more then I thought and would recommend it to anyone born after 1980. Overall I give it a score of 7.5/10.
