The Hunger Games - Dark Publications

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Product Description
Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

Customer Reviews: Read 203 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Engaging. Brutal, but engaging! August 20, 2008
37 out of 42 found this review helpful

Wow. I was barely able to put this book down for a second after the first few pages got me completely hooked. Suzanne Collins narrative here has an immediacy to it that, when combined with the very dramatic life-or-death plot, is incredibly compelling. It's entertaining, and incredibly disturbing all at once. If this was merely a good read, I would have given it 4 stars, but they say great art leaves you changed after you experience it... and this book definitely did that. Suzanne Collins has, with one amazing work, propelled herself onto my top shelf.

Parents, caveat emptor! The storyline is brutal. Even though the writing is geared for young adults, the main characters are teenagers, there's very little physical romance, and the actual violence would probably count as PG-13 nowadays... it's probably one of the most terrifying books I've read in a very long time! Right up there with George R.R. Martin, if not more so. Remember what we learned from Jaws: you don't actually need to SEE the shark in order for it to be terrifying. Sometimes not seeing the shark is even worse.

The story is basically about a teenager who is forced to compete in a 24-man-enter-1-man-leaves event. I don't want to spoil it by saying any more, but if you liked The Running Man, you'll definitely like this. And if you're young enough that you don't remember The Running Man, nor did you get the Thunderdome reference, then I'm just way too old. But take an old fogey's advice and read this book.

Amazon, when can I preorder book 2???

5 out of 5 stars

I devoured it in one sitting. August 28, 2008
19 out of 28 found this review helpful

I didn't really have high expectations for The Hunger Games. The blurb sounded interesting, but you never can tell with young adult fiction, particularly in the science fiction genre. Trust me: I've been burned before.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a compelling story with a strong, realistic protagonist. I didn't always like Katniss, but I understood what motivated her to take the actions she did. The story is nothing new -- comparisons to Battle Royale, The Running Man, and even William Golding's Lord of the Flies (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations) are all valid, but Collins's story is well-crafted, and it was difficult to put this book down. When I reached the end, I was both pleased and dismayed to find that this was the first in a series. Pleased because Katniss's story isn't over; dismayed because I will have to wait for the rest!

2 out of 5 stars

I liked this story better when it was called "Battle Royale" July 22, 2008
18 out of 35 found this review helpful

Comparisons between this book and the modern classic, Battle Royale are inevitable. The plot's almost the same; totalitarian government forces groups of teens (in the case of this book, kids as young as twelve), to fight to the death while the whole thing is monitored (and in some versions of "Battle Royale", broadcast).

So to start with the premise is hardly orginal. Also, just like with BR, the premise is entirely unrealistic. There has never, in the entire scope of human history, been any society that uses kids as gladiators. Ever. That it would happen now is even more unlikely than it happening centuries ago.

One positive difference between the stories is that Katniss is a bit more interesting than Shuya, who frankly came of as a fairly useless pretty-boy. She also (slight spoiler), actually kills people, which, depending on the version of BR, Shuya isn't allowed to do or, if he is, it comes at the very end.

Further the world Collins paints is... just weird. Some sort of post-apocalyptic version of the United States where everything has different names (cause it's a post-apocalyptic future, you know), there's a totalitarian government that kills people en masse (cause it's a post-apocalyptic future, you know), and the characters all have odd names (cause it's a post-apocalyptic future, you know), that are strange, unfamiliar, or made-up (exceptions: she uses several Roman names, and since I'm a sucker for Roman history, I find that somewhat entertaining).

I also found a rules change done towards the end of the book to be very, very annoying, since it really came off as the author trying to have her cake and eat it, too. It took some of the tension built up between the main character and one other, and basically threw it out the window.

I could've also done with out the "cause" for the collapse of America which, from what I can tell, seemed to boil down to ecological chaos causing the whole world to go nuts. Yeah, not buying it. At least BR had the decency to be an alternate-history story.

I'll give the author credit for her writting skills. She does have some real talent, and I might be interested in reading some of her other works, ones with plots somewhat less trite than this one, but really this book was just a disapointment, being that it's essentially a retelling of a story that wasn't that great to begin with.

5 out of 5 stars

The Hunger Games - Definitely worth reading! August 20, 2008
17 out of 23 found this review helpful

It took me a while to get to this book because I never saw it out of my two daughters' hands. They devoured it! Once I read it, I understood. This is the second book I have reviewed this month that had a powerful female protagonist (other being 'Graceling').

I found the book to be well written with a fantastic pacing. Their is violence in there, but not so over the top as to be distracting. Intimate scenes are sparingly written so as not to be too embarassing (something I greatly appreciated as a dad!!) The rage against the system theme is prevalent enough to notice, but not as overbearing as say.... Ayn Rand or Terry Pratchett.

All in all, I highly recommend this book for kids from 12 up. The ending leads me to believe that this will be a series. I imagine I will be pre-ordering as soon as it's available. Congratulation Ms. Collins!!

All the best,

Jay

4 out of 5 stars

I Hunger for More Games! July 31, 2008
16 out of 21 found this review helpful

I was not sure what to expect after seeing the teen/Sci-Fi label attached to this Novel. Being a middle aged male and seeing the main character was a teenage young adult female, I was wondering if I had made a mistake in ordering this.

I was quite pleasently surprised, with the magnetically riveting tale of a future that was dark, bleak and saddening. What has become of a once great continent. A story of a girl becoming a woman in the most brutal circumstance. When she's forced to chose between family,friendship,love and survival. A future where young people are forced to play a game of battle, and survival between what would be called states or districts to the death.

Only one can claim victory! Maybe not as simple as it seems. We all have choices in our lives, this young woman has to make choices in a world gone mad, where government has decided that these games must take place to keep an already beaten down people in there place. Well written, entertaining and a real page turner is how I would describe this work. I would have to say yes it has a teen flare as it's told from the young ladies perspective in her own narration. I enjoyed it all the same.

I would recommend this novel to anyone above the age of 10 or so, it does have some violent passages. Overall a nice surprise, glad I ordered it at the end of reading. I might even get the sequel. Which I would assume will be on it's way.
If it looks interesting to you, pick it up. You will enjoy it.

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