Book Review: The Hunger Games

Book 7/25 in the 2011 Reading Challenge.  Completed March 14, 2011.

I plowed through this one.  Seriously.  Three days?  With two kids in the house, chaos in the world, and my husband heading off to aid in humanitarian work?  How is that even possible?  Somehow, though, it's true.

I gave this book a five star rating on Goodreads.  I expected to give it a three, at best.  Let me elaborate.


So, ok. Seriously. After being recommended The Hunger Games several times, I gave in. Plus, I saw the notably high Goodreads average rating and I was curious about that. I will admit, despite the 4.63 collective stars and the "good word" from a few valued sources, my expectations were not very high. I know they always say "Don't judge a book by it's cover," but I do. I did. I was not intrigued by the cover of this book in the slightest and I was also a little bit deterred by it's classification as a children's/young adult read. Still, my curiosity won and I started in on it.

I was blown away. From the first few pages, I was captivated. I felt an instant connection with Katniss Everdeen - a very REAL and likable character. I found The Hunger Games to be a lot like an addiction for me - I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't stop reading. I stayed up late with my eyes glued to the pages. I finished it in all of three days - although looking back that seems nearly impossible because the story is one so haunting I feel like I've been entranced by it for ages.

I didn't feel that the concept of this book or the way it was written would be an appropriate "children's" book, but then again I have not read a lot of those lately to know what they're like. I suppose in the same way that books like The Lord Of The Flies (which I didn't care for in the slightest as a mandatory high school English read) are classified as "young adult," this could be too. This book deals a lot with violence and romance and (for lack of a better explanation) government opposition... Topics I find a bit mature for the majority of the audience I was anticipating this book to be geared towards. I don't want to spoil it, but just know that the book is nothing like it's blah cover. Crack it open and brace yourself for the intrigue. Very much looking forward to reading books #2 (Catching Fire) and #3 (Mockingjay).

A movie based on The Hunger Games is rumored for 2012.  I can't wait for that either.