Review: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Do yourselves a favor, GO OUT AND GET THIS BOOK!
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, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

This is by far the best book I've read in quite some time. It is completely different than anything else I've read. Katniss (not to be confused with Catsnip), our heroine of the story, learns to illegally hunt game in the forest, with her friend Gale (a boy), for survival. Her father, before he died (don't worry this is not a spoiler), taught her how to hunt and survive in the wilderness. She uses her gatherings to sell and trade in the Black Market. Without Katniss, her mother and little sister Prim, couldn't survive.

The story begins with the family, and every other family in District 12, going into a drawing. Although, a "drawing" sounds like a fun lottery, to District 12 and all the Districts in Panem, the drawing could mean death. Two members of each district between the ages of 12 and 18 are drawn. One boy and one girl. The 24 tributes (that's the word used for the victims, ahem I mean, the chosen ones) must all compete against each other in a survival of the fittest match a.k.a the Hunger Games. There can only be one survivor. When Prim's name is called, Katniss races to the stage and volunteers herself instead. The second tribute, Peeta, the Bakers son, is also called.

They're both swept into a different world. One, at first, is filled with an exceptional amount of food - a feast. They are heartily fed for the week before the match is to begin. They are assigned stylists who primp and prepare them for the cameras and interviews they're about to give, as if they were going to some happy place to vacation. (The irony of it all is never lost on the reader.) The purpose of this charade is to attract sponsors. The more likable you are, the higher your chances of attaining one. Sponsors will send you little packages throughout the Hunger Games that will help you in some way. Thus the more sponsors you have, the better chance you have of surviving.

Unfortunately for Katniss and Peeta, the tributes from the other places come from richer Districts. The have been training their whole lives for this. These tributes are known as Career Tributes. Katniss and Peeta feel they don't stand a chance. Apparently so does their "prep team" because they have formed an illusion in front of the camera and audience members during their interviews of a blossoming love. Katniss doesn't understand why're they're doing this at first because, in the end, when it comes down to the last few combatants, she may very well have to have a face-off with Peeta (since their can only be one survivor). It finally dawns on her that by playing up the "romance bit" it just may get her more sponsors. She's not much of an actress though so it's a bit of a struggle for her since she's always closed off her emotions.

The 24 combatants are thrust onto a man-made field for hand-to-hand combat. They must all fight for their survival and kill one another. The last person standing wins. When the buzzer sounds, signaling for them to get out of their starting point, they must either decide to run up to a table filled with some survival kits and possibly face other members who are willing to kill them over the same kits or run for their lives into the forest.

The members face starvation, dehydration, infections, fires, and everything horrible you can think of. In a place where everyone is out to get you, Katniss forms an alliance with an unlikely person and they strike up a friendship. Then the rules change: there won't be just one survivor. If two members of the same District are left standing, they will both be the winners. At that, Katniss and Peeta find each other and strike up a romance. Is it real? Is it played up for TV? Will they both survive or just one of them or will they both die from their infections and dehydration?

This is definitely a true page turner. Even though it's considered a young adult book, it deals with adult content. Not in the romantic "adult content" sense, but in the topics it covers and the questions it forces you to ask yourself, such as, what would I do in that situation? Would I be able to kill if I were being attacked? Would I survive in the wilderness (I already know the answer for me... NO). Would I be able to trust someone I know would kill me in the blink of an eye, but who's help I need to survive, ironically enough?

I give this book and I highly recommend it!