Set in a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games.
There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her younger sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence.
But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.
Since 1991, Suzanne Collins has been busy writing for children's television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. For preschool viewers, she penned multiple stories for the Emmy-nominated Little Bear and Oswald. She also co-wrote the critically acclaimed Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Santa, Baby! Most recently she was the Head Writer for Scholastic Entertainments Clifford's Puppy Days, and a freelancer on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
While working on a Kids WB show called Generation O! she met childrens author James Proimos, who talked her into giving children's books a try.
Thinking one day about Alice in Wonderland, she was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City, you're much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and, if you do, you're not going to find a tea party. What you might find...? Well, that's the story of Gregor the Overlander, the first book in her five-part fantasy/war series, The Underland Chronicles.
Her next series, The Hunger Games Trilogy, is an international bestseller.
At present, Suzanne is at work on a picture book with James Proimos. She currently lives in Connecticut with her family and a pair of feral kittens they adopted from their backyard.
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This book captures you from the very start. Such a great story line, gets you so easily invested in the characters and their story.
Would highly recommend it to everyone and anyone
I’m so hideously embarrassed that it took me this long to even start the series. Being completely honest, I hadn’t heard of the series before 2012 when I was more or less still internet Amish. The first I’d heard of it was when the film came out. I watched it and although it wasn’t my cup of tea with the crazy violence and politics, I thought it was a brilliant and unique concept. I bought the series, but as the hype surrounding the films got bigger, my enthusiasm to read the books diminished. It’s always the way. I always end up not enjoying something if there’s a lot of hype because I feel too much pressure to like it.
I loved parts of this book the way I loved The Hobbit: an epic action-packed story that’s so fast paced you spin in circles doing double-takes and re-reading lines. But I gave it 4¾. Because of the ending. Dun dun DUN.
I’m not much of a girly girl myself at the end of the day. I’m very independent and not much annoys me more than girls swinging off of their boyfriend’s arm and being utterly co-dependent. Throughout the story I loved Katniss for being so freaking badass, but then it just brought the tone down for me personally at the end when she was confused about her feelings for Peeta. I was a bit worried she was turning a little Bella Swan-esque… but we won’t go there. We won’t let it go there. Other than that: the plot was brilliant. The characters were brilliant. The cliff-hanger (minus love triangle) was brilliant. Brilliant!
'The Hunger Games' is probably the biggest thing since Harry Potter with the book selling millions of copies; and there is good reason too. 'The Hunger Games' is an incredibly engaging and interesting concept that intrigues a lot of readers and with a main protagonist that readers can relate it is no wonder The Hunger Games is such a popular novel.
The novel is written in the perspective of Katniss Everdeen; a tribute in the next Hunger Games, which is an annual tournament held in order to prevent rebellion in Panem (The world in which the story is set). Katniss is forced to fight against other teenagers to the death until there is only one victor. Faced with moral dilemmas and struggling against all odds we witness Katniss's journey as she fights to survive.
The concept behind 'The Hunger Games' is incredibly inventive (Even though it shares some resemblance to 1999's 'Battle Royale') and was my favourite part of the novel, unfortunately I found it difficult to get as much enjoyment out of it as others. Honestly, I thought that the novel was poorly written. The story is interesting, but the actual language doesn't really flow and when compared to other bestselling authors it just isn't up to that kind of standard. I still enjoyed the idea of 'The Hunger Games', but still think it could've been done better.
With that aside, Collins has done an excellent job in creating a fascinating world and making this appeal to a wide variety of readers; with love, action, survival, thrills and rebellion; 'The Hunger Games' has something for everyone; so if you are a lover of fiction I recommend that you decide for yourself; is it a perfect bullseye or does it just hit the mark?
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