Okay, so there has been a lot of buzz about this book, the first of a trilogy set in a dystopian future where North America ceases to exist and people now live in a country called Panem that is divided up between the Capital (a glittering city where the rulers of Panem live along with the haves) and twelve districts populated by the have nots, with poverty increasing along with the district number. The general consensus seems to be that you either love or hate this book. While it did start off extremely slowly for me (I’m getting a little tired of the dystopian future currently being portrayed in YA books and animated movies), by the second half of the novel, I was so caught up in the story it was very difficult to put down.
Initially we are introduced to 17-year old Katniss who lives in the Seam in District Twelve with her mother and younger sister, Prim. Her father having died in a mine explosion five years ago, Katniss is left with the responsibility of feeding the family as her mother sank into a pit of abject grief, unable to look after her daughters.
District Twelve is one of the poorest districts, and so Katniss must sneak off to the woods everyday to hunt and forage for food, an activity that is punishable by death, but since there is very little food to go around and Katniss is able to trade her daily catch with the Peacekeepers of the District, her illegal actions are overlooked.
There are hints of George Orwell’s 1984 and other books of that ilk in The Hunger Games, in that the citizens are monitored on a regular basis and must always guard their speech for subversive thought and behaviour is quickly stamped out with death. Indeed, Katniss explains a district uprising or rebellion resulted in an entire district (thirteen) being irradiated, resulting in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death competition where the Capital pits two tributes (a boy and a girl) from each district against each other. The victor returns home to great fame and fortune, including the ability to feed their families for a lifetime. These Games are the Capital’s way of keeping the districts obedient and submissive.
Katniss, of course, is District Twelve’s female tribute, and once she reaches the Capital and the games arena, this book really takes off. Its fast-paced action and compelling characters kept me turning the pages right up to the very end, and left me hungry for the second book in the series, which I promptly placed on hold at the public library. The Hunger Games is an excellent YA novel that will appeal to adults as well as teenagers.
What my fellow bookclubbers thought: It was unanimous this time, everyone loved the book, though some thought Katniss left a lot to be desired as a main character, being rather deeply flawed. But sometimes those are the best characters to read about, particularly if they’re given a decent arc and grow and change significantly. We’ll have to see how the rest of the trilogy plays out to see if she is redeemable or not.
The subject of kids killing kids really hung up some readers, but considering the escalating violence on the street between teenage gangs and even in urban high schools, Collins’ plot wasn’t too unrealistic to consider. Still rather disturbing though.
All in all it was deemed The Hunger Games was a pretty decent read.
Till next time, happy reading!
L J
| TBR = 22 | WPL = 26 |
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