The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Evan’s ESS = 8 out of 10
Erin’s ESS = 8.5 out of 10
Content = PG-13 (Violence, Adult Content, Violence, Drunkenness, Hovercrafts)
“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”
Why: Okay, it might be a tad presumptuous to take on three books in one review, however due to some difficult staffing decisions here at Two Bibliomaniacs, we must boldly confront this challenge.
We should really begin by saying that The Hunger Games trilogy lived up to the hype (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay). This statement should not be taken lightly considering the torrid love affair that the blogosphere has enjoyed with these novels. The series really is YA dystopian fiction at its best.
Imagine a country with absolute government oppression, where the population is split into 12-ish districts and children are pitted against one another in an annual death match. Such is the nightmarish reality for Katniss Everdeen and everyone else living in bizarro North America. In one of its many displays of power, the Capital hosts an annual televised event where 1 girl and 1 boy are randomly chosen to participate in the ultimate fight for survival. With these brutal games as the backdrop Katniss’s personal struggle quickly becomes even more significant than she could have ever imagined.
This series held us captivated from start to finish. Looking back, there was even a comical 2-3 hours where we frantically tried to locate a copy of Catching Fire. We’d like to officially apologize to the elderly woman and two small children who were slightly injured in our search...
To be honest, it took us a few days before we could pass any final judgment on this series and we still don’t know how to feel about some components of the ending. The subject matter in The Hunger Games is weighty and pleasantly thought provoking. There’s love, action, force-fields, and hovercrafts. Yep, we said hovercrafts... The characters were also very complex, forcing us to wrestle with many of their choices throughout the series. Yet, every time we questioned Katniss (which was rather frequently) we were reminded that she was forced into an arena and left to brutally kill or be killed by her peers. It wasn’t hard to give her and a few of the other characters (Haymitch) a free pass.
Alright, who’s ready to rebel against the Capital with us? Fine, but we’re still in the mood to rebel against something... Got it! Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. Seriously, who’s with us?!
Editor’s Note: Rest assured, we were only kidding about the aforementioned staffing decisions.
I'm glad you liked it!! I'm getting rady to read Mockingjay. Loved the first two books. :-)
ReplyDeleteEveryone & their brother seems to have read this series. I was surprised (and a tad shocked) to see some fifth graders (obviously super-geniuses) reading it on one of my substituting jobs. I guess I have some catching up to do :)
ReplyDeleteHunger Games! Yes!
ReplyDeleteI've been so bad getting around to my blogroll - apologies! I LOVED this series and glad you both did too. I thought the characterizations were great and the ending was unexpected but a bit of a relief for me.
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