The Hunger Games thrills

Sydney Greene, Journalism Class
February 6, 2012
Filed under Entertainment

The Hunger Games trilogy has risen to fame over the past several months, with people from all over the world reading the thrilling, exciting, page-turner series that will be coming to the big screen in March.

Author Suzanne Collins was relatively unknown before the publication of the first book in the series, The Hunger Games.

The novel takes place in Panem, a country made from the ruins of North America and divided into twelve districts which are similar to states or counties.

The story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in District 12, the poorest of all the districts.

Katniss has a strong, independent personality shaped by her father’s death in a mining accident when she was eleven. She also uses her hunting skills to keep her impoverished family alive.

In order to maintain peace and entertain the privileged people of the Capitol, aptly named The Capitol, the twelve districts must offer up two tributes each year to play in the Hunger Games.

Katniss’ younger sister Primrose is chosen as a tribute in the first novel, but Katniss quickly volunteers to take her place, changing her life forever.

Peeta Mellark is chosen as the second tribute, and he and Katniss develop a strange relationship which makes the reader wonder whether they are truly in love or not.

After the tributes travel to The Capitol, they spend a week in training and are then thrown into the Games.

The Games are my favorite part of the book – the objective is to be the last one left alive. Along the way, tributes battle one another and endure horrible, life-threatening situations such as forest fires or genetically engineered wasp attacks.

Collins does an amazing job describing the Hunger Games and left me wanting more. I really enjoyed the action sequences. She made them so thrilling and exciting that I felt as if I were actually there.

The twists and turns she added into the story were phenomenal.

There are many surprises by the end of the Games, but I won’t spoil them! The cliffhanger ending of the story was the most dramatic part.

While reading this book I wondered, “Why didn’t I pick this up earlier? It’s amazing!”

The writing was extraordinary and the plot imaginative. It may be one of the best books I’ve ever read.

It’s addictive; I suggest picking them up on a long weekend if you can- you won’t be able to put them down.

If I were to rate this book, I’d give it almost 10 out of 10 stars, and each novel only gets better.