The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Hunger Games
Book Review: A Great Beginning
Summary: 5 Stars
The premise of The Hunger Games is superb, and the characters are a nice balance of familiar and eccentric, What is painful about the book is knowing, as you read, that we aren't that far from the world of the novel. Collins generously assumes that duel to the death reality TV could only happen of the players came from an oppressed poor and were forced into it. I think she overestimates the decency of the viewing audience.
A lot is being made of the "suitableness for children" of this book, and I have to admit I had some trouble figuring out what all the fuss was about. I was reading stuff this gruesome (Robert Howard) when I was nine or ten, and I hadn't been through ten years of desensitization through movies, comics, and television. One person you care about dies. A few others die, but most of them trying at the time to kill someone else. Even the moral dilemma of the novel doesn't seem all that difficult.
The real interest in the novel is only laid in foundation here. What is the weakness in the authoritarian government that kills children just because it can? How can a people so radically separated from their oppressors technologically rebel with any chance of success? The government of Panem is futuristic in its technology; the "districts" the government feeds on are at best medieval. There is no answer in the first book, but it poses the question so well that I read the second.
Book Review: A Great Book
Summary: 5 Stars
One major conflict of The Hunger Games is the fact that there can only be one winner from the annual Hunger Games. Each of the 12 districts must send one male and one female to compete in the Games. Each competitor must fight for survival because the last person standing is the winner. Katniss Everdeen, from the twelfth district, begins to like and admire Peeta, the male competitor from her district. She realizes that she and Peeta could be the last two finalists and she would have to kill him or be killed herself. Near the end of the competition the Capitol decides there can be two winners if they are from the same district.
I would compare Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games with Tobias MacIvey from A Land Remembered. I think that these two characters would get along because they are both hard working people. Both of these characters had many challenges that they had to overcome. These two characters would have helped and encouraged each other during the most enduring of circumstances. Neither one of these characters would have allowed the other to give up on any task. The bad side of this team would be the lack of common sense to stay out of trouble. These two characters would most likely hurt each other while attempting to survive the daily challenges of hard lives.
The Hunger Games is a thrilling and suspenseful novel that keeps the reader wanting more. Suzanne Collins has done an outstanding masterpiece for young and old readers alike. Winning means everything, including your life. Competitors fight to the death, using inventive ways to terminate each other. Who will win, who will die, let the games begin.
I would recommend this book to someone else. I would recommend it because it is a very thrilling book that never gets boring while reading it. It always keeps you wanting to know what is going to happen next in the story. People who would enjoy reading this book would be people that like a lot of action in their books. There is always something interesting happening in the book.
The Hunger Games is about survival. Each competitor must use their smarts and their strengths in order to survive. This book makes me realize that body strength does not mean you will win. You must stay focused and use all resources available in order to succeed. Even when you think there is no solution, sometimes you need to have hope and faith.
Book Review: A Great Book!
Summary: 4 Stars
Such a good book! I was so surprised I liked it because I wasn't sure when I read the description. The rave reviews had me very curious! The book is disturbing and riveting...you have to kind of get outside of yourself while reading it because it is a very brutal concept. I loved all the characters- overall just a really interesting read. I couldn't put it down and I cannot wait for the next book!Book Review: A Great Read Aloud Story
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book to my 5th/6th grade class. It was the most successful book I have ever read aloud. I had students begging and bargaining with me not to stop reading. Though violent at times, the story gave the students great food for thought about loyalty, trust, superficiality, and survival. The plot has gut wrenching twists, the characters are strong yet flawed, and the setting is imaginative.Book Review: A Great Story That Fizzles Out Too Soon
Summary: 4 Stars
The first comment I'm going to make about this book is that if you're intrigued by the synopsis you should definitely read the book. It took me only 2 days to read because from the opening chapter I didn't want to put the book down. It was well written, the characters were well developed and the story just grabbed my imagination.
I'm not going to waste time with an elaborate description of the story because I'm guessing you've already read it somewhere else. But I will say that the hopelessness of the situation the main character, Katniss, is in really grabbed me. Here's a 16 year old girl who gets thrust into these games where there is virtually no chance of her getting out alive. She's going to a place where there are 23 other competitors who viscously want to kill her because its the only chance at survival. The quality of the writing actually made me anxious myself because I could just imagine being in her shoes. And when the author stuck to the story of Katniss trying to survive the book continued to be intriguing.
The one area of this book that fell short was the subplot between Katniss and the supporting character Peeta. Suzanne Collins tried to add too much of a romantic storyline to a survivalist story and she didn't balance it very well. The result was that it took the anxiety of the situation away, I stopped worrying about the fact that the main character was being hunted by desperate teenagers, many of whom were enjoying themselves. This led to the ending of the book being a bit of a disappointment mainly because the feeling of desperation left me a number of chapters before.
The majority of the book in my opinion was excellent and I have eagerly started reading Book 2 in the trilogy. I'm hoping Collins can bring back the powerful emotions that the first book created but failed to sustain. But like I said at the beginning, if you read the synopsis and were intrigued, definitely read this book.