About the Book:

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?

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, 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.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is one strange book.  Not because of the content, or the writing, but how I came across it.  As a full time working person, I don’t have as much time as I would like to go to the library, and just dig through books, looking for something to read.  For me that ends up being hours spent in the library, or book store.  And that is just money, and time that I don’t have.  So I have had to find other ways of locating reading material.  Consequently, I have made book blogs, and computers, and book recommendations my very good friends.

So when I received notice from the local library that this book was available for pick up, I was a little surprised.  I don’t remember requesting it, and I am not sure that I ever really did.  However, I recognize that there is a lot of time, money, and effort to offer this service to library patrons — so I went in and picked up the book.  I even made the comment at the library counter that I don’t even remember requesting it.  To which the librarian informed me that “this is a book they just cannot keep in the library because it is so popular — and it is a really great book.”

Well when I finally started reading I began to see what she was talking about.  I absolutely fell in love with the characters.  So much so that by the end of the book I was so angry with the ending that I was ready to throw the book across the room!  (OK — don’t stop reading here.)  What I didn’t realize was this was only the first book, in what is to be a series.  And like the Harry Potter series, the end of the book, does not imply the end of the story.  Boy, was I relieved to learn that this morning!

I have always felt that a truly great author has the ability to get the reader so engrossed with a story, and with the characters that the book takes on a life all its own.  The reader becomes involved with the book on a deeply personal level — and they begin to engage with, a live the story along with the characters.  Ms. Collins has masterfully accomplished this goal with this book.  This is what made me so mad — I just could not see the character I had come to know as Katniss doing what she did at the end of the book.  Nor could I see how a story could end, and only be half finished.

This is an intense story that engrosses the reader from beginning to end, and I can hardly wait for the next book to come out.  The only draw back is I am 385 on the library’s waiting list for this book.  I am in for a very frustrating wait!

All that said, I was pleasantly surprised to come across Ms. Collins, as a writer.  It is hard to find a new writer that you just simply fall in love with.  I had never read anything of her’s before — and I was amazed at her ability to create a story.  Simply put — she is an excellent story teller.  One that I look forward to exploring further.

This is a book that I consider a must read.  It is in the Young Adult fiction category — and I would consider it appropriate for most ages.  The language is clean, and the story is fun.  And yes it deals with some very grown up situations — however, it is presented without the gore, horror, or appalling language that has become so prevalent in modern day writing!  I loved it, and thank you to Ms. Collins for sharing her talent with others.

Tags: Friendship, Government, Suspense, Young Adult

Category: Fantasy, Fiction, Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult Fiction