TSS - Review - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Synopsis from publisher:

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 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 weigh survival against humanity and life against her love.

My thoughts:

It has been a while since I've had dreams about a book. I read a lot of books that I really enjoy, but it takes something special for one to cross over into my sleep pattern. And it almost always takes a couple of days - I need to have lived with a book for a while, breathed it, mulled it over in my mind, before it starts taking over my unconscious. I started dreaming about The Hunger Games the first night I brought it home from the library - I had read all the way to page 63.

I'm sitting here finding it hard to describe how much I liked this book. Many of the ideas in the novel have been written before - drawing names to see who will be sacrificed, the Big, Evil Government keeping its people enslaved by fear tactics, the priviledge of the rich vs. the struggle of the poor, the plucky, underdog of a heroine who must overcome unfathomable odds....I have read this before, right? But there is just something about THIS PARTICULAR heroine, with her SPECIFIC set of circumstances, that was just genius.

And it wasn't just Katniss, although I can't remember when I have liked a heroine more. Each character in The Hunger Games was so good - multifaceted, rich, completely human. There were some pretty bad people in this book, and yet even they were interesting, and sometimes really funny.

And, of course, there is the nonstop adrenalin rush of a plot that kept me up at night, NEEDING to read just one more chapter. The only thing I don't like is that it's the first in a series, so now I have to wait for (probably) years to find out how the story ends. Man, I HATE falling in love with a series in progess. I hate it, but I love it. Yep, I'm that girl.

Honestly, the best thing I can say is Go Get This Book! I can't imagine that you will be sorry. I am quite sure this is one I will be reading and re-reading for years to come.

Finished: 3/12/09
Source: Franklin Avenue Library
Rating: 9.5/10

Don't just take my word for it! Here is what some other fabulous bloggers thought:

Amy of My Friend Amy
Lenore of Presenting Lenore
Trish of Hey Lady...
Tasses of Random Wonder
Aerin of In Search of Giants