The Hunger Games, By Suzanne Collins, printed in the U.S.A., 2008. Published by Scholastic Press. (374 pages.)
By Amelia Timbers, Grade 9.
5/5 stars.
Of all post-apocalyptic young adult novels with female protagonists, Hunger Games is one of the best. I believe Suzanne Collins wrote a masterpiece of a book, complete with grueling suspense and lots of cliff-hangers. The purpose of the book of course is to keep the reader hooked, and Suzanne Collins does it masterfully.
The Hunger Games began 74 years before the book takes place, commencing when thirteen districts, each in charge of a specific product or need to provide, rallied up their courage and strength to overthrow their dictator government, The Capitol. This started a war, which the alleged rebels lost. As a sign of their dominance and complete power over the districts, the Capitol created the Hunger Games, an annual occurrence where each distinct must reap both a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and seventeen to send into an arena—created by the capitol—to fight to the death, until only one remains. The entire thing is broadcasted on live television. This last standing tribute is crowned the victor and is sent back to their home to live in a fancy village made especially for them and their families. They each receive a compensation in money, and never want for anything again.
The Hunger Games begins with Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl who lost her father to a mining accident and must now care for her mother and sister, volunteers to go into the Hunger Games for her sister, Prim. Her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark, confesses his love for her in an interview, Katniss is confused. She goes into the arena, still confused, and sees that Peeta has teamed up with the careers, who are the tributes from districts one, two, and four. They often train for the Hunger Games and volunteer to prove their worth to their districts. When Katniss sees that Peeta has teamed up with them she is all the more confused and only a little bit angry. She tries to kill the Careers later, with a nest full of venomous wasps, and succeeds in securing herself an alliance with Peeta when he saves her life from them later. She then cares for him, playing the love angle to the audience. He falls even deeper in love with her, while her feelings for him she can’t unravel the meaning of. As both Katniss and Peeta come closer and closer to winning the Games, the Capitol announces that if both tributes from the same district come out alive from the Games, they can both be crowned victors. This of course makes Katniss want the win even more, and when it’s down to just her, Peeta and a tribute from district two, they have no problem seeing him get eaten by a bunch of angry mutts.
They wait, and wait, hand in hand. The Capitol then informs them that they’ve gone back on their previous statement about the two victors and that only one victor may be crowned. Katniss knows that if she kills Peeta she will be loathed in her district and she can’t decide if she really does have feelings for him. He tries to kill himself, so she can win, but she stops him, pulling out a handful of very poisonous berries. She tells him to swallow them on the count of three. They’re just about to do themselves in, when the Capitol tells them that they’ve both won, and that they are the victors of the seventy-fifth Hunger Games. They celebrate in the Capitol, only to find out that pulling the stunt with the berries was borderline on a rebellious act. Katniss and Peeta must now convince them that it was purely out of blind love for each other, or the results might be disastrous.
The Hunger Games is nothing short of a classic, but there were some downfalls to it. The first and probably most noticeable was the dialogue. There was nothing wrong with what the characters were saying, but the verbs used to illustrate that they were speaking were either not the right ones, or in the wrong spot. For example, Collins writes: ‘“You had no right! No right to say those things about me!” I shout at him.’ Where it probably would have made more sense if she’d gone: ‘“You had no right--!” I shout at him, “No right to say those things about me!”’ Another minor downfall is Katniss’ attitude towards, well, Peeta and Gale. She’s always wondering what angle they might be playing, or what strategy they’re putting into play. For example, she never really appreciates Peeta saving her life, she just wonders why in the world he’d have done that. She says: “…was he playing the Lover Boy angle as he initiated in the interview? Or was he actually trying to protect me? And if he was, what was he doing with the careers in the first place?” – page 197.
A paragraph would not be enough to summarize the high points of the book. It’s masterfully planned and executed, apart from a few things. Something most people appreciate is that Katniss is a strong female protagonist. Not only does she vanquish the Hunger Games, but also pulls her male fellow tribute through as well. She can shoot with a bow and arrow, which, apart from some exceptions, hasn’t really been seen before. Another very interesting thing is the intricate love triangle placed in the middle of the plotline. Both Gale and Peeta have feelings for Katniss. They both make their feeling clear, and let’s be honest, are both led on by Katniss herself that they both have a chance. Throughout the whole book she can’t decide who to choose, even though the choice is obvious.
In summary, the book was absolutely fantastic and comes highly recommended from more people than just me. Out of five stars, I’d say six, because the book definitely raises the bar on quality of young adult reading. It makes you cry, laugh and bite your nails all in one sitting and will leave you itching to read the next. I’ve personally read it four times, and it hasn’t decreased in quality at all. All in all, the Hunger Games is a must-read.