Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopian
Series: The Hunger Games #1

Hardcover, 374 pages

Published October 31st 2008 by Scholastic Inc. 

ISBN 0439023483 (ISBN13: 9780439023481)

Where did I get this book?: I purchase this book for my own reading. 

Summary (Via Goodreads): In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister Primrose, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Review: 

 I’ve heard about this book for years now, but was never really interested in reading it. At the time, I was reading only urban fantasy or paranormal romance novels and didn’t know what to make of the dystopian genre. After seeing the movie trailer for The Hunger Games, I was intrigued. I went out and bought the entire series. I am so glad that I read this book, it was way better than I anticipated. The characters and the world-building were exceptionally believable.  Katniss, and all the other characters in the novel were well developed, and as a reader I felt connected to the characters. Whatever was happening to them in the book, as a reader I also felt their joy, sadness, and pain.

The pacing of the book was great; it had me constantly turning the pages eager to find out what will happen next.  I finished the book in 2 days, would have been sooner if I didn’t have school LOL. The book is told from Katniss’s point of view; and the majority of the book is full description rather than the usual dialogue that I read. The ending of the book had a lot of surprises that I wasn’t expecting (example: what happened to the dead tributes). Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone whose looking for an action-pack novel. This is my first dystopian book, and surely it will not be my last. I look forward to reading more of Katniss’s adventure in the next two books in trilogy. Like everyone this weekend, I will be watching The Hunger Games movie as well!