Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

"I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go."






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 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 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 death 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 love. 











I read The Hunger Games for the first time over two years ago and I've been meaning to re-read it since. With the brand-new movie and my brand-new copy of the book from the wonderful Amanda's Writings, the timing couldn't have been better.


Honestly, I'm sure everyone that by now has heard of The Hunger Games. (If not, how's life living under that rock?) So instead of going on and on (and on) about how amazing it is, I'm going to bullet point my thoughts to keep this nice and short.

1. Katniss. There are definitely people who dislike her character, but I'm totally behind her. Having a hard life makes you into a different person, but Katniss always held onto what's important, and I completely respect her for that. I loved being in her mind the entire book—if it had been written any other way, it just wouldn't have been the same.

2. Plot. Suzanne Collins took a mind-twisting concept and wrote it out to its fullest potential. The world is so believable, and there's so many concepts she thought to put into it that it truly makes The Hunger Games unique among its YA competitors.

3. The relationships. I'm not just talking the romantic ones, but all the people that Katniss connects with: Peeta, Rue, Gale, Prim, Cinna, Haymitch, Effie. You learned so much about Katniss from the way she interacted with these people, and I loved that every one of them was part of the story.

4. Everything. Okay, this is an insanely broad point, I know, but it's true. There is literally nothing I dislike about this book. The moment I finished a chapter, I wanted to go re-read my favorite parts in it. I'm know I'm going to re-read over and over, and my fingers are already itching to pick it up again. 

If you want my recommendation to read it, you have it. I love this book. So. Much. (I didn't even include my usual "what I didn't like" section.) Go buy it. Go read it. Go fall in love with it.

Read other reviews for The Hunger Games at:

63 comments:

  1. It's so time for me to read this again! Like you I first read it a few years ago. Now with the movie out I really want to go back and read them all again. I feel like there's so much I don't remember. Great review! =)

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    1. I know, you can forget so much about something! I really loved reading it again, and I'm excited to re-read Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Thanks! (:

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  2. following from book blogs

    http://karlacc-bookaddict.blogspot.mx/

    hope you can visit my blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for following! I checked out your blog, and I'm following it now.

      Thanks for stopping by! (:

      Delete
  3. Great review. I really like the format you have going here.

    I've noticed that the vast majority of the reviews on this site are of books written by women. Do you find that you are naturally drawn to female authors or is this a conscious choice?

    Personally, I've found that I tend to prefer female writers. I've even blogged about it. Check it out:

    http://adamsapple2day.blogspot.com/2012/02/sex-bias-in-reading.html

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    1. Hmm, I've never noticed that before. That's a really interesting thought. I think the YA book market has more female authors than not, and I'm a bit of a romantic, so I think there's more women writing YA romantic kind of books than men, but I've never made a decision on whether or not to read a book because of the author.

      Thanks for the compliment; I'm following your blog! (:

      Delete
  4. Hi Cheyenne! I love your blogs, they are both great and now I'm following. If you wanted to join my blog too, you find it here: http://alicepluswonderland.blogspot.it/ Thank you!
    All best! Aly

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    1. Thank you so much! Your blog is really, really, cute. I'm following it! (:

      Delete
  5. Hello, thanks for sharing this review. I agree with pretty much everything here and I especially like #4, hehe :) Also, thank you for the welcome on book blogs! I've followed both your blogs (Cover to Cover is an awesome idea).

    Natasa @
    What Makes YA Beautiful

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    1. Haha, thanks. It was the best way I could think of to summarize my opinion! ;)

      Anyway, thanks again! I'm following your blog; I love the way it's set up! (:

      Delete
  6. I never thought I'd like this book the way I did. I agree with you about "liking all the relationships".

    New follower here!:)

    glass @ I'm a reader, what about you?

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    1. Haha, it totally blew me away the first time I read it.

      Thanks for following! I'm following your blog now. (:

      Delete
  7. Hi Cheyenne:

    It's nice to meet another Cheyenne (smile). Anyway I love your blog. My address is - www.misscheyennemitchell.blogspot.com "What if nearly 200 year old vampires were raising two, normal, teenage daughters that are their own flesh and blood?" Intrigued? If you would like to find out I invite you to read "THE COVERING" it has received all five star reviews. Also, I have "SYROIA" which is not for the squeamish but very good. I think I will nickname myself "The Magician of Novelists" since my fast=paced thrillers are very hard to put down, believe me. It's like magic!!

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    1. Haha, yes it is. And thank you!

      I'm following your blog now; thanks for leaving a link! (:

      Delete
  8. Great Blog! Thanks for the invite. I'm currently reading the Hunger Games for the first time. I know, better late than never. Check out my blog at http://fromthebootheelcottonpatch.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you! I hope you're enjoying it! As you can tell, it's one of my favorites. (:

      Delete
  9. Wow, you've got two great looking blogs! What is the distinction between the two as I see you are still updating them both?

    Sarah

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    1. Thanks!

      {This Girl Reads} is where I post my book reviews whenever I finish a book. (No memes or anything else—I love them, but I don't have the time!)

      [Cover to Cover], on the other hand, is updated daily with covers I like—or on Sundays, something special like a vs. battle—but most of those I haven't even read. It's where I judge books solely on their covers. ;)

      So {This Girl Reads} is a review blog, and [Cover to Cover] is a cover blog.

      Thanks for asking. I hope that explains enough! (:

      Delete
    2. Okay, that does make sense. I have my reviews on a separate blog from my other book related posts as well. I wish blogger allowed us to have two separate feeds on the same blog, but I guess this way we have to get more creative. :)

      Sarah

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    3. That would be nice if they had that! I guess it's a good thing we bloggers are creative. (:

      Delete
  10. You've summed it up perfectly. I loved this book, and you just totally nailed all the points :D Great review and I'm a new follower! I'm currently having a giveaway on my blog if you'd like to check it out :)

    Rabiah
    Confessions of a Readaholic

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    1. Awe, thank you! I'm going check your blog out now. (:

      Delete
  11. Hi. I just found your comment on Book Blog in my spam, so I'm checking out your blog. Looks good, new follower. I'm off to check out your other blog now :-)

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    1. Haha, ALL my Book Blog emails were going to spam for some reason, and I didn't figure that out until I had 394 emails in it. It took so long to go through them!

      Thanks for following! (:

      Delete
  12. Great review!! I love The Hunger Games too!! TEAM PEETA!! lol. I'm a new follower and just wanted to drop by and say hi :)

    Feel free to check out my blog & follow too!!

    -Riya (The Teen Book Guru)

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    1. Thanks! Haha, total Peeta fan here. I'm following your blog already. I love it!

      Thanks for stopping by! (:

      Delete
  13. Hi Cheyenne,
    Thank you for stopping by my blog.
    By the way, great review. This serie is awesome!
    Lucie

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    1. You're welcome! And thank you! It's one of my absolute favorite series. (:

      Delete
  14. You are right, the book is amazing, from the characters and plot to the breathtaking action. Lovely review ;)

    Happy midnight reading!

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    1. Thank you! I'm going check out your blog right now. (:

      Delete
  15. I love this book! I waited forever to read it- and just read it last month. I can connect to Katniss and I think Suzanne Collins has an amazing style. I really enjoyed your review. I look forward to rereading this one in the future.

    I am a new follower here. :)

    ~Jess
    http://thesecretdmsfilesoffairdaymorrow.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks for following. I really love Suzanne Collins' writing style—I actually read her Middle-Grade series just because I love her so much.

      Thanks again! I'm following your blog now! (:

      Delete
  16. Hi! I'm Vanessa from Book Blogs and I'm your new follower!
    I totally agree with you about the Hunger Games.I absolutely loved them! I read all 3 books in 3 days,I just couldn't put them down.The only thing I don't like is that now that it's a movie,a lot of people put emphasis on the love triangle,which is not the most important thing in the books,the political and social situation is!

    Vanessa
    mysoulbelongstobooks.blogspot.com

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    1. Oh, you're lucky that all the books were out when you read them! I had to wait, I think, 6 months, until Mockingjay came out to finish the series. Yes, I completely agree with you about the love triangle thing. The districts and the Capitol and all that are so interesting!

      I'm following your blog now—thanks for leaving me a link!

      Delete
  17. Hi, Cheyenne--I'm following you now. My blog is http://roxannebland.com

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  18. Hi. I'm now following (from Book Blogs site). Just to clear up any confusion, my picture on your followers list is my Say This Write logo and I used my picture on the Book Blogs site. Anyway, it's nice to meet you and I look forward to reading more of your blog in the future.
    Stop by www.saythiswrite.blogspot.com and say "Hello."

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Gotcha. Thanks for following—I'm following your blog now! (:

      Delete
  19. Cheyenne-
    You dropped me your link on Book Blogs (here's my link: http://bookorcrook.blogspot.com/) and I am following you now. Question: do you think--given our busy lives and the infinite number of books out there--that if I have seen the Hunger Games film, that the book is so much better that it deserves a read anyway? Thanks!
    -Jesse

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    1. Thanks for following! I'm following your blog now.

      My personal opinion? Read the book. The movie doesn't even begin to compare to the book.

      Delete
  20. This is such a great review! I love the little font that you used to separate the different sections of the review. Super cute! Are those pictures or did you just find a font in the post composer?

    Thanks for reaching out to me through southern bloggers. Where are you from? Im from Florida ;) South and north florida. I just joined your site through GFC and email. :)

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    1. Thank you! They're pictures I put together on Paint. (I know, classy.) It's one of Blogger's fonts: it's called Covered By Your Grace. I just love it.

      I'm in Louisiana, home of gumbo and lots of rain. ;) Thanks for following!

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  21. Hey Cheyenne! Nice to meet you!

    Hunger Games is a Classic LOVE book. =)

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    1. Nice to meet you, too!

      I could read it over and over again. I'm proud to have it on my shelf! (:

      Delete
  22. Hey Cheyenn! Great Post! I love these books but for some reason, it's hard for me to reread them. I enjoyed them but they can be so powerful and intense sometimes. I usually need a long break before I can even think about going back to them! Know what I mean?
    -Amanda
    http://shmandarinorange.blogspot.com

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    1. Yeah, I totally understand that. Plus, there's always so many new books to read, I always have trouble making time to reread books I love.

      Delete
  23. Hi Cheyenne! Thanks for stopping by from SBB!! :)
    Feel free to chat me up anytime on twitter! @readingangel002

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    1. You're welcome! I'm following your Twitter now. (:

      Delete
  24. Hi Cheyenne. Thanks for stopping by my blog from Southern Book Bloggers. I loved the Hunger Games to, and the moview. Folling you now on GFC and twitter.

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    1. Thanks for following! I'm following you on Twitter now. (:

      Delete
  25. Returning the followage! Loved the Hunger Games of course. Look forward on your thoughts of the other two.

    Beth ^_^
    http://sweetbooksnstuff.blogspot.com/

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    1. Haha, followage is now my new favorite word. Thanks for stopping by! (:

      Delete
  26. Hi Cheyenne! Glad to meet another Southern Book Blogger!

    I really need to re-read Hunger Games, too. I read it when it first came out and tried to get it in before seeing the movie but yanno. Time got away from me. Now, you've made me want to read it again!

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    1. Hey, thanks for stopping by from SBBs!

      I hope you reread it—I definitely enjoyed it. (:

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  27. Hey Cheyenne! Love your name by the way. Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day :)

    I really need to re-read Catching Fire. I kind of rushed through it and now I'm sure I need a refresher for the 2nd movie.

    JJiReads.com

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    1. Thank you!

      I need to read it, too! I actually reread The Hunger Games the day before I saw the movie, and it was great to have it all fresh in my mind.

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  28. Great review! I loved this book too! I pretty much devoured the entire series in the span of a few days. I really couldn't put them down! I reviewed this book as well so if you're interested you can read it at http://www.scribblingbookworm.com/the-hunger-games/

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    1. Thank you! I think the story line of the series is extremely addictive, too.

      I'll go check out your review! (:

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  29. I HAVE to read this book. seriously.I don't know why I am putting it off....... :(

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  30. I would not watch this in till I read the book and I'm so happy I waited because it had so many things that were not in the book but I loved the movie too. Thank for your thoughts on it I totally agree 100% on all the reason you love it!!

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    1. Haha, I always read the book before watching the movie, too. I'm glad you loved this book as much as I did! (:

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  31. This book is so popular and I'm glad you also really like it! The main character is extremely strong-willed and the side characters are interesting!

    regards,
    grace of Tony Lama Boot

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