It was not that long ago when dystopian novels were being published at a unprecedented rate. That phase seems to have passed but the books that captured our hearts are here to stay and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is one of those novels.
The Hunger Games: Summary
In Panem (which is somewhere in the Rocky Areas in an unspecified time period), 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen watches as her younger sister Primrose is chosen to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games. These games are life-and-death situations for teenagers that are for entertainment purposes for the watching audience. But Katness is not going to let her sister risk her life in the games.
Katness volunteers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games. She isn’t the only one from District 12 participating in the games. Peeta Mellark is also selected for the games and in the press conference, he confesses his feelings for Katniss. Katniss has feelings for someone else but has to pretend to have feelings for Mellark to get the support of the watching audience.
In the actual games, Katniss has to face fellow citizens of Panem in a contained setting. Only one person can win the games but the rules are changed here and there to make things interesting. As Katniss tries to survive the games, she realizes that she and everyone else are pawns of the game’s owners and she fights back to their annoyance.
Will Katniss survive the games? Will she keep her sanity after all the horrific events she experiences? All Katniss knows is that she is going to make the owners of the Hunger Games pay.
Commentary
I will admit it took me a while to read The Hunger Games. Part of that was the perceptions because I wasn’t too interested in a tournament of teenagers killing each other. But I eventually got around to reading it and I coundn’t put it done and I knew I had to finish the series!
Katniss is a great protagonist (more so in the first novel then the remaining two) and the drive that keeps her going makes the book a page turner. The plot works because of the human element that Collins makes sure to emphasize. Katniss and her opponents are teenagers that are thrown into the mouth of the lion for the entertainment of adults. And that is the norm in Panem.
Not many books can make you get behind a character yet this novel does it with ease. Yes, the enemies are hard to relate to and are pretty weak but Katniss and her drive make up for it. It’s a great read and had one of the better movie franchises to come out of the dystopian era.
Conclusion
The first novel and the series were an amazing read and I am glad I gave this novel a chance. Just because a novel is popular and has garnered a huge fandom doesn’t mean that the novel or the series won’t be good. I enjoyed the series a lot and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Young Adult novels or good writing.
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