A review from reader Beth Vrabel:
Take Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and mix with the Olympics. Blend in all that's evil about reality televison, add a dash of "Romeo & Juliet," and you'll end up with something not nearly as irrestible as "The Hunger Games."
This book, despite being geared toward Young Adults (of whom, sadly, I am not), was so compelling and original that I flipped back to the beginning to read again as soon as completing the last page.
"The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins, is set in the future, in what was
once the United States. Now the nation is divided into districts, each
surrounding and supporting the Capitol. All resources and wealth are bottled
in the Capitol, while the districts' starving residents supply labor and,
when it's time for the annual Hunger Games, the entertainment. To keep the
districts from rebelling, the Captiol created the games.
Players are selected from among each districts' children, one boy and one
girl, through a lottery system.
Only these games are literally life and death. Every citizen is required to
watch as the children brutally murder to be the last survivor. This child is
then lauded as a hero for her district, which, for the next year, will have
slightly more provisions because of the win. The heroine of the book is
16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, tough and brave, who volunteers to play to
spare her little sister.
While the horrific concept and brutal action makes putting down "The Hunger
Games" impossible, a tender love triangle and its poignant conclusion has
nearly the same effect.
Two sequels are planned for the book, but the ending was satisfying. It's
not like in some series, where readers feel cheated with an abrupt,
cliff-hanger ending. Still, I'll be among the first in line when Collins
releases the next book.
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