The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
(The Hunger Games, #1)
Genre: YA dystopian
Format: borrowed paperback
Read: 1/21/2012 — 1/22/2012
In Six Words: I see what the hype’s about.
Links
Suzanne Collins — Website
Amazon — Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle
Add it to Goodreads
Book Order
1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay
Synopsis
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 all 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, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister Primrose, 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 dead 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 will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
-from Goodreads
Why I Started Reading This Book and Final Verdict
Back in November, it was discovered that I had not yet read any of the books in the Hunger Games series. This caused quite a stir, and I ended up starting a petition to get me to pick up the series. I had 33 (32, really) people sign it.* Even so, it took me until January to finally pick up the first in the series. Hannah from Once Upon a Time and I decided to do a joint review with a twist: an audio discussion of the book, kind of like a podcast. You can find that below. Just be aware that it does contain spoilers, so if you are one of the few remaining hold outs, don’t listen to it — just go read it.
And yes, I can fully say that I am glad that I read The Hunger Games and that I didn’t give up after the first 10 pages for a second time. I was not completely blown away (like I was with Divergent), but I can see why this is as popular as it is. And I am most certainly looking forward to the movie in March. Now I just need to find the time to continue with the series.
Audio Discussion (with spoilers!)
*Thanks to: @ksauce, @soulswallo, @gonewiththeword, @Ashley_E_Prince, @synfulsaleana99, afairytalelove, Your Mom (who was really Jess in disguise), attackthestacks, Sarah @ Saz 101, Rachel (And the plot thickens), @yrdsblib, Amy @ bookgoonie, Missie The Unread Reader, Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives (@ReadingWifeJac), PoisonRose79, @yogikai, IsaBookSoulmate, Ellief716, Ellie, Loretta / Between The Pages / @Loretta_Lynn86, @loveofbooks409, Alisbookshelf, @StoryboundGirl, Ashley (@BookLabyrinth), @gwenythlove, Smash, BooksOverBoys, mandikaye, @thebookvixen, Jenny, Hengnash, Cindy, Carrie (NewUTMommy), Danielle chaosandcoffe :)
18 Responses to “Joint Review with @jaediasrantpage: The Hunger Games”
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I remember Mockingjay release in 2010, EVERYONE was reading it, I couldn’t enter twitter or blog feed without seeing the cover at least once and I felt so left out cause I hadn’t read the series! UGH.
My internet connection is uber slow so I am still waiting for my youtube to finish buffering so I can hear the podcast! lol
Yes, our pod review is a bit long. Though it was longer without editing.
I was the opposite, Divergent got on my nerves but I really enjoyed The Hunger Games ;)
I kind of wonder if my opinion of Divergent would have been different (or the same) if I had read The Hunger Games first. Guess we’ll never know.
It WAS fun. And long. Good job we only recorded that half an hour else.. well.. not only would we have crashed YouTube but probably a few brains along the way. xD
I know! It would be fun to do more podcasts/reviews.
Well I’m glad you gave the book a chance even if you didn’t love it. See I think the thing here is that other dystopians were based off of this one so this is sort of like how Twilight started the YA Paranormal Romance genre, this really kicked off Dystopian so I think it will forever deserve some credit.
I’m glad I stuck with it. I still really enjoyed The Hunger Games – I mean, it’s pretty rare for me to finish a book in a day, unless I’m compelled to for some reason.
Love the podcast. I might actually do something like this with my students–we’re starting a post-apocalyptic/dystopian unit next week & I’ve encouraged all those who haven’t read HG to pick that one up (though they had 12 other choices–so many great books in that genre nowadays). Even though it wasn’t a 10 for you, I’m happy you enjoyed it!
This would be great, especially with the movie coming out soon.
I rarely give books a 10. Of the 100+ I’ve reviewed, I’ve only given two a 10.
This was seriously in-depth! The fact that you finished in a day says something about your enjoyment. I’m glad you gave it a shot, even if it wasn’t as awesomesauce for you as it was was for 5.2 billion others. :D
Pretty impressive considering we did this a few weeks after reading, too.
Yes. THG was incredibly fascinating and engrossing. I enjoyed it. I just don’t think I loved it as much as other people. Which is okay. I still liked it!
I also think the hype can kind overwhelm the reader. When I read it, I had barely heard of it. I had NO expectations (that was sometime before Mockingjay came out & pre book blogging world for me). As wonderful as I think it is, it is hard to live up to that much pressure. What did Ash say? 5.2 billion others.
Yes. I think hype actually ruins a lot of books for people. It leads to high expectations, which aren’t necessarily good. Luckily I’ve been gifted with a healthy dose of skepticism.
I’m happy I pushed you to read this! AND YAY for the movie! I <3 THG just as much as Divergent I think :)
Thank you for being one of the driving forces behind getting me to read this. :)
Great review, ladies!!
I found Katniss more frustrating than annoying. I also liked her grit. :) Peeta, Peeta…love him! I found him more cunning than Katniss, but I believed his feelings for her were real. Katniss is a little clueless sometimes, especially when it came to him. Gale is almost insignificant in this book, but plays a bigger role later on. And yes…there’s a love triangle coming up…brace yourself! lol
Clueless is a perfect word for Katniss. Kind of understandable, but still made me want to smack my head. Oh, Peeta. I want to huggle him.