I could not put this one down! The Hunger Games reminds me of The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Stephen King), a book I loved as a teen. The story is violent, often brutal; however, it is not pointless -there is a lesson in the horror. This is one of the few in this genre that will entertain both genders. Unlike others written for teen girls, The Hunger Games has an exceptionally strong female lead character. ( )

a very interesting book about realationships life or death situations and the witts that could help you get out of the life or death situations. recommended for both boys and girls. ( )

Even though this is a teen book, I really enjoyed it. Collins has such a vivid imagination and has created a future America (renamed Panem) that is bleak and brutal. I was rooting for Katniss the whole time during the hunger games. I could hardly put the book down. I can't wait to see what happens to her and Peter in the next book! ( )

‘The Hunger Games’ is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian novel where the government hosts an annual game. The annual game is a random lottery where twelve boys and twelve girls, one from each district are selected to participate in a life and death battle. The “Hunger Games” is a televised event used to remind the districts that the Capital exerts the control.

Katniss Everdeen is the narrator of the story. She volunteers to participate in the game when her younger sister Prim is randomly drawn. The two members for District twelve are Katniss and Peeta. Peeta reveals on-air his love for Katiniss which ultimately grabs the attention of the audience. The audience members are permitted to sponsor a child and send gifts throughout the game. Katniss realizes they must uphold the role of star-crossed lovers to maintain their sponsors. She believes this is essential to her survival. When a rule is changed in the game, Peeta and Katniss’ relationship becomes even more important.

I thought the plot was unique and interesting. I do enjoy dystopian novels, and I had to begin reading the second book right away. I highly recommend the trilogy, and I understand what all the rave was about. Go, and buy your copy right away, you will not be disappointed! ( )

What a great book! I was not so sure I would like it. I read it in 24 hours and have started [Catching Fire] already. Great female lead. The relationships are excellent. The emtional and physical turmoil that the characters go through is great. Much better written than Twilight with a female lead that you do not want to strangle. I recommend this book. ( )

Things this made me think about: Our entertainment culture of 'reality tv' and whether it takes things too far, the role of Government in our lives, and the nature of sacrifice and true love. Such a lot for a book written for teenagers and with the feel of a fantasy. The premise is that in the future the U.S. has been through a disaster and now survives as the state of Panim, which holds 'hunger games' every year in which a boy and girl from each of the districts is chosen and then the competitors are forced to fight each other--to the death--until only one is left standing. And this is the entertainment highlight of their year. The reader follows a young girl from one of the districts--Katniss--who is chosen from the games and by her will transforms them. It is amazingly though provoking and full of vivid description and thrilling as well as poignant moments. Definitely one worth reading, I think discussion groups would also find much to glean from it. ( )

Hands down, the best YA novel I have ever read. Suzanne Collins brings fantasy and dystopia to such a high caliber, I'm not sure anyone could compete. Fantastic.

What I loved: I really liked this entire book, but I especially liked the Katniss. She really brought a human element to the Hunger Games. It seemed she was there to survive instead of kill. I also liked her friendship with Rue. This book is just fantastic, from the separation of the Districts, to the craziness of the people who live in the Capitol.
What I did not like: I knew what was going to come from the gamemakers after they announced that two victors would be crowned. I don't want to ruin the ending, so I'll leave it at that, but I felt it was a little predictable.
Recommendation: I would buy this book for my library (medium public library). ( )

It's the future and what was the U.S. has been demolished and what exists is the Capital (I'm thinking it's Denver) and 12 Districts (District 13 was destroyed). Katniss is 16 years old and lives in District 12 (Appalachia...think Tennessee). She's basically taking care of her little sister and mom because her dad died in a mine explosion/cave-in. To stave off starvation, Katniss sneaks out of the Districts fences and poaches for food with her friend Gale, an 18 year-old guy-friend.

Enter THE GAMES. Once a year the Capital holds The Hunger Games which basically reminds the people that the Capital rules over everything. Every kid ages 12-18 has an entry into The Games. A boy and girl from each district are randomly chosen to represent in The Games, which a duke-it-out Death Game with only one winner.

We know where this is going. Obviously Katniss is the girl representing District 12. To add to the problem, the boy chosen is handsome and nice Peeta who helped her years ago after her dad died.

Why did I like this? I think Katniss rocks. She's taken the hunting skills her father taught her (including her prowess with the bow and arrow) and is now using them to save her life. She knows a heck of a lot about foraging for edible and medicinal plants. It just reminded me of all the books I liked growing up about self-sufficient kids. You know, My Side of the Mountain, Island of the Blue Dolphin, and of course Invitation to the Game.

For some reason I kept imagining The Games to take place in some sort of arena, instead of them being dropped off in the wilderness. And obviously the deaths can be pretty gruesome because, well, you've got 24 kids killing each other in the wilderness.

I immediately made my husband read it. He liked it but I don't think as much as I did. I put the next book on hold at the library and of course we're both going to read it. ( )

Another great YA recommendation from Sarah!I understand now why Amazon.com kept suggesting this for me whenever I searched for [b:Graceling|3236307|Graceling|Kristin Cashore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255623835s/3236307.jpg|3270810]. The main characters are both young women whose lives depends upon their extraordinary survival skills. And they have very similar-sounding names.Katniss is one of two dozen teens selected for the annual Hunger Games, a government-sponsored reality show where the contestants fight to the death while the public watches and wagers. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that she survives (there is a sequel after all), but the WAY she outsmarts the game is brilliant (and I wish I hadn't spoiled it for myself by reading a review of [b:Catching Fire|6148028|Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255646980s/6148028.jpg|6171458] before reading this book -- don't make my mistake!).As the games progress, Katniss is always aware of the cameras and the public watching her every move, and she makes her choices with their eyes in mind. I couldn't help but feel as if I, too, were a part of that morbidly fascinated horde. As a reader, I look forward to the conflict and the tragedy, and she's playing to me as well.Can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. It's burning a hole in my library queue. ( )

Engaging dystopic vision of the future. Excellent protagonist, complex and nuanced values played out. Beautifully written YA lit. ( )

This was one of my first forays into contemporary young adult literature in decades. It was not a disappointment. I couldn't wait to snuggle up with it and find out what happens next. Katniss, the female protagonist, lives in a controlled world reminiscent of Fahrenheit 451. The annual Hunger Games pit 24 teen-agers in a fight to the death.

The storyline is perfect for discussing issues of the day such as "How does REALITY television impact society and humanity". The book sets up the sequel, Catching Fire, marvelously when Katniss realizes she could win, but still lose.

You'll find this book worth the time. ( )

The Hunger Games begins as a hybrid of several well-worn premises: in a dystopian future, people live in carefully fenced-in, intensely state-controlled colonies (The Giver, City of Ember) trying to eke out a living as unobtrusively as possible. Once a year, a lottery (Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery") is held to choose participants in the annual "Hunger Games," in which teenagers - one male and one female from each colony - are forced to slaughter each other in an elaborate and extended gladiatorial contest. This is the Capital's way of ritually reasserting its hegemonic power over the bodies and minds of the colonists (oh, you know, a combination of the legend of the Minotaur and Lord of the Flies).

There are one or two kinks in the writing here - few enough that I suspect it is a problem of editing rather than of Collins's prose style, especially since she puts a great deal of thought into how to construct this narrative and these characters in a way that seems fresh as well as mythic. Her main innovation is to conceive of the Hunger Games as reality television, a sinister colonial tool that hypnotically captures the attention of the entire empire even as it oppresses them by stealing the lives and free will of their youth. Every time our heroine makes a move, no matter how vicious or tender, in the Hunger Games, she considers how it will look to the viewers. PR is a matter of life and death.

This sort of self-consciousness is delightfully postmodern, and just my cup of tea. But I also enjoyed how Collins goes out of her way in the opening moments of the book to make us slightly uncomfortable with our heroine and the harshness her life of poverty has instilled in her: a few pages in we already know that she tried to drown her sister's beloved cat when it was just a kitten. After a few more pages we learn that a wild cat (a cougar? I can't quite remember.) took to following her around as she hunted, perhaps sensing a kindred spirit. She liked the animal, but it was scaring away the game, so she kills it. This is a throwaway moment - done in a single sentence, never to appear again - but it is canny and complex characterization, and it paves the way for what is to come.

Excerpted from my blog: http://sycoraxpine.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

its a relly inststing and asome ( )

Katniss is definatly a Dynamic character. She is also the Protagonist of the book and I guess "round" whatever that means. ( )

a fabulous take on the strength, bravery, and perseverance of one 16-year-old girl named Katniss. Through the course of the book, see changes from a self-trusting, troubled girl, to a self-trusting, trouble, loving, in-love girl. Its a beautiful story that i highly recomend to everyone!! xD ( )

I always feel that an author has done their job well if I find myself truly caring about the charactes. With that as my measuring stick, Ms. Collins has indeed done an excellent job. I found myself grabbed by the story and the fates of the characters in it. While the setting is an post apocolyptic future, the emotions the characters deal with are some that most everyone, young and old can relate to, at some level. The story was well paced. I thought the authors did an excellent job balancing the action of the book with character development. It was engrossing from beginning to end. The author also did a great job providing "food for thought" without hitting the reader over the head with her message. ( )

This book is about the future of North America. It is now a country called Panem. It is split into 13 Districts and the Capitol, but the 13th district has been destroyed. The Capitol is running a harsh rule against all of the districts and the last district was destroyed in the rebellion. Now, over 70 years after the rebellion, they hold the Hunger Games. Every year the Capitol takes two tributes, one boy and one girl, from every district, stick them in an arena, and make the m fight...to the death. This is supposed to amuse the people of the Capitol and to remind the districts that the Capitol uses them. The story follows Katniss, a girl from District 12. She is sent off to the Hunger Games and the book relates what happens there.
I really loved the idea of this book, it is very interesting. The idea of what the future of America will be is pretty out there, but all the more intriguing for that. It is full of action and some romance. The only complaint I have is I would have liked more background and description. Can't wait to read the second book, Catching Fire. ( )

This is a quick read. It is a little slow in the beginning but it definately picks up quick and leads you through the whole story wondering what will happen next! Loved the imagery and the storyline. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys getting attached to the characters. I am half way into the second book and can't put it down. I always root for the underdog and this is a story that really supports that. It is a world that you find yourself being able to vividly imagine as you go along. I would like to see a movie made out of it!Glad the second book is out already but can't wait fot the third! ( )

this was a o.k book. in the middle it gets a little boring but the fights were great. ( )

great book. Charector develpment is great. ( )

When I read the jacket summary for this book, I thought, hasn’t the whole televised fight to the death in a scary future world premise been done before? I had flashbacks to the 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man, which imdb informed me is based on a story by Stephen King. King actually wrote my favorite review of this book, calling The Hunger Games “as addictive as playing one of those shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex.”

I also found this book to be addictive, even if the premise isn't a new one. The heroine is strong and compelling, and the plot is suspenseful, action-packed, and moves at a swift pace. I was immediately drawn in by Katniss’s narrative and couldn't stop flipping pages. While this heroine has no problem drowning kitties, gutting squirrels she killed with her bow and arrow, and holding her own in the bloody arena, she also has a gentler side, shown by her selfless love for her sister and compassion for some of her competitors. I would definitely recommend this book and am looking forward to reading the next in the series--Catching Fire. ( )

This is a book about a war to the death. It is very fast. It has a lot of blood and guts in it. If you like war books you will like this book. ( )

This was a great book fo young adults. It was suspenceful violent and very thoughtful. ( )

You know, I really have to hand it to Stephenie Meyer.

She described my experience while reading this book perfectly.

Ms. Meyer wrote of The Hunger Games, “I was so obsessed with this book I had to take it with me out to dinner and hide it under the edge of the table so I wouldn't have to stop reading. The story kept me up for several nights in a row, because even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it….”

Well, maybe I didn’t find it as thought-provoking as all of that, but it did keep me up at night, and I certainly could not put it down. It is a gripping dystopian adventure yarn, an escapist story of the best kind, which picks you up and carries you away with it, whether you want to go or not.

The events are set in the futuristic country of Panem, which vaguely encompasses what once was modern-day North America. It is divided into twelve districts that remain under the close watch of the Capitol, and every year each district must send two of its young people there for a widely televised fight-to-the-death in a vast and treacherous arena.

Katniss, our sixteen-year-old heroine, becomes the female tribute for her district when she takes the place of her younger sister, Rue, who she is certain would be unable to survive in the arena. With Katniss, it’s another matter. She is strong, determined, and has been hunting to provide for her family for several years now, taught by her good friend (and seemingly obvious future love interest) Gale Hawthorne. The male tribute from her district is Peeta the baker’s son, with whom Katniss has already had one life-changing encounter, and whose fate will prove to be bound up with her own.

The world Suzanne Collins has created is quite fascinating, and for the most part she allows it to speak for itself, avoiding moralizing and overt social commentary. One cannot help but notice, though, the heights (or rather lows) to which our contemporary obsession with entertainment and appearance may be taking us, as typified by the ridiculous, ignorant, and somewhat heartless people of the Capitol. The values of the people in District Twelve, where our heroes hail from, seem much more basic and medieval, probably due to the state of near poverty in which they live. Throughout Collins’ prose remains simple and direct, yet it is also extremely evocative: I could see the various dishes and costumes she mentions appear before my eyes as I was reading, not because she spends any lengthy amount of time describing them, but mostly because her references to them are so odd and off-hand that they caused me to wonder about them and imagine them for myself.

What really makes this book work, though, is the emotional reality and power of it all. At one point I found myself cheering as Katniss defied the judges of the Games, then later came close to tears—and then to anger—at the demise of a beloved minor character. This is one wild ride, exciting enough to sustain the interest of today’s videogame-obsessed society (indeed, portions of the Games themselves reminded me of a videogame), but well-written and -characterized too. It is not great literature, and I doubt it will make my list of favorites even in the Young Adult genre, but something must be said for a book that so grabbed my attention as to make me read both it and its sequel in a single weekend (although the annoying cliffhanger ending was certainly a factor in that as well). Recommended. ( )