A Book Review - The Hunger Games

First of all, let me tell you that my preference of books is fiction. When I read something I want it to be an escape. I love mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, and crime novels. Some of my favorites are the Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell, the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, anything by Jane Austen, the Soulless books by Gail Carriger, the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, and yes, I also enjoyed reading the Twilight books (sorry).

I have heard a lot about the Hunger Games recently and when I saw that they started production on a movie it really peaked my interest. I decided to give them a try..

Here is Suzanne Collins' (the author) summary of the first book:
In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district (a boy and a girl, aged 12-18) are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

I just completed the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. This is one of those series that I absolutely could not put down. I read the Hunger Games over 2 days while I was in jury duty, I read Catching Fire and Mockingjay each in a day (I read all of them in less than a week).

All of that being said, these books are a MUST READ. I literally couldn't put them down. I cried a little, I laughed, I even got a headache because it was so tense and I had absolutely no idea where they were going. Collins had me guessing until the very end, and the ending wasn't even close to what I had predicted. I don't want to go into detail so I don't spoil anything.. These books are definitely not just for the "young adult" group. Even after I finished reading these, I just sat there thinking about them for a long time. I was still thinking about them when I went to bed last night! I'm ready to re-read them already!

I cannot wait to see how they portray everything in the movie version, set to come out sometime next year. Here is the picture of the actress set to play Katniss from Entertainment Weekly:

Overall, the Hunger Games trilogy has everything in it. They're just awesome. I suggest buying all three at the same time so that you can go straight into the next one!