In terms of plot, Hunger Games is riveting: while the futuristic dystopia has been done, the concept of the Games themselves is just disturbing enough to be intriguing. Society feeds off the annual Games, where twenty-four "randomly" chosen children are placed in a controlled environment (controlled being the operative word: the environment is controlled by the government, who can introduce different climates, animals, and obstacles at any time) and forced to fight to the death.

While Suzanne Collins keeps her readers hungering for more, it is almost entirely because of this grotesquely magnetic plotline. The writing is good, but not great. I did not once find myself underlining a passage because of the beauty with which it was written. Words are not overused, but often a phrase or description leaves the reader wanting more. It is a book to read, not reread. ( )

A future in which America has been divided into a central governing city and 12 colonies. The colonies had previously rebelled and are now, as punishment, required to send two young people from each colony to the Hunger Games each year. In the hunger games, the young people must fight to the death, til only one victor remains. Interesting look at a future of tyrany and control. ( )

I give this book a 3.5/5 stars. The beginning is somewhat slow. However, once the main action of the Hunger Games began it was a rather riveting story. The main character Katniss is one of the stronger female protagonists I've come across recently. (*SPOILERS*) Her not being the main pursuer in the love plot and instead having the male as the fervent pursuer is refreshing, instead of the cliché of girl obsessively wanting boy. However, at the end of the book I could not help but wonder why Suzanne Collins did not have Katniss kill anyone truly offensively. I know some would argue that all the kills in this game were both offensive and defensive, as to kill another tribute meant that you were saving yourself from one more person's possible attack. But in comparison to the tributes who murder more coldly (Clove, Cato, etc), all of Katniss's kills were set up as being defensive. For example, with the tracker jackers, the boy who killed Rue, and Cato at the end (his is even a mercy kill) we can always find an excusable reason for why she killed them besides because it's part of the game. For Cato it was because he was going to kill her and Peeta and then because he was in such pain. For the boy who killed rue it was because he'd killed Rue, and Rue was her friend, her ally, and above all, a sort of Prim Jr. It made me wonder whether Collins could not conceive of readers liking a Katniss who could kill just to win. I am sure part of the reason was that Collins wanted Katniss to win by using intelligence rather than brute force. On a separate not, I thought it a bit of a cop out to have the ally tributes (Thresh and Rue) killed by the "bad" tributes instead of having Katniss (and the reader) have to grapple with if she could kill her "friends." I thought that it would've been a more interesting, dark, and riveting novel if Collins had had Katniss and her allies face each other in the end. I also thought it was a cop out for Collins to allow there to be two winners. It is almost as if she had planned on their only being one but as she went on writing it she couldn't rbing herself to kill off Peeta. This is probably not true, but did spark some questions in my mind. All in all however, the novel is worth reading, especially because it poses questions regarding the media and the government's impact on society and how far one is willing to go to stay alive. It will leave you wanting to read the sequel. ( )

** spoiler alert ** I have read so many books with a similar theme - Gathering Blue and The Giver by Lois Lowry, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. I don't think this book was as good as Lois Lowry's. However, it got progressively better from about half way through. Pretty disturbing, a society that enjoys watching children kill each other. I will, of course, be reading the next one, if only to find out which young man is chosen by Katniss. One can only assume that the next step is to take down the capitol. Am I wrong?? ( )

Futuristic tale of the relationships surrounding a survivalist competition forced upon teenagers of less powerful districts in a world governed by the Capitol district. Suzanne Collins' expert, descriptive writings are full of action at every twist and turn and made me feel like I was watching the story unfold in full color instead of reading it. Can't wait for books 2 and 3 in the trilogy! ( )