The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Reading The Hunger Games as an adult versus as a 12 year old is a very interesting experience. Considering the current political climate over what is happening in the Middle East as well as the growing violence all over the world, the dystopian aspect of The Hunger Games doesn’t seem particularly far away.
I think we all know by now what it’s about but here’s a brief explanation:

Panem is the country where our main character, Katniss Everdeen, lives. It is divided into 12, formerly 13, districts and each district has a purpose. The closer to the Capitol (the Capital) you are, the more important your district’s purpose is. Katniss lives in district 12, the mining district, and they are the furthest one away. There used to be a District 13 but it was bombed to smithereens during the so-called Dark Days and is now too dangerous to visit.

Every year, as punishment for the uprisings in the past, 2 people, a boy and girl, from each district are chosen for The Hunger Games, a period of entertainment for the rich while they watch the children kill each other and die for entertainment. Katniss’ sister, Primrose, is the one that’s reaped and Katniss volunteers. The other tribute, as the chosen ones are called, is Peeta Mellark, the son of the baker in the district. Another character of fairly relative importance is Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’ best friend and hunting partner to keep food on their tables.

The interesting thing with how Collins wrote this book is that no matter how you interact with it - you’re going to be as guilty as the citizens of the Capitol that see it as entertainment. If you say you like the series, you’re guilty of liking it because it’s a form of entertainment in which you’re reading about children killing each other. If you tell me you re-read the books or constantly watch the movies - I’m going to hope you do it because Katniss is a very interesting character and how she brings down the Capitol at the end is so interesting to watch.

I hate to say that I liked it really. I think this is the best YA dystopian book because frankly, all the other ones that came out during the same years like Divergent, The Maze Runner, etc. did not hit as hard and frankly, I’m not particularly compelled to re-read Divergent (although I do want to re-read The Maze Runner). Even then, there are a bunch of other YA series’ that, now that I think about it, feel like a fever dream. We have Matched and then we have Delirium in which love is a disease. We also have The Program in which teen suicide is an epidemic but apparently it gets better later on (not that I’d know, I stopped after the first book).

Collins masterfully managed to create a substantial analysis and de-construction of modern society (both when it released and now) under the guise of a book following a young teen girl that’s not like others who is forced to participate in a game that nearly guarantees her death and parade around before it. The way that Katniss is written - she knows she’s not like others because she becomes the head of her household and she has to protect not only her sister but also her mother, the same person who should be protecting her. This is not some cheesy take on the “not like other girls” trope that makes you roll your eyes. In fact, you come to truly admire Katniss when she volunteers for Prim, when she becomes friends with Rue, her burying her in flowers and her also being ready to eat the nightlock berries. She’s different because she’s forced to be - she has to learn to survive and even at the end of the book, she’s still living to survive and hunting to survive despite winning the games and having a lot of money.

I have to say that when I read it as a teenager, a lot of the themes went right over my head and I definitely bought into the whole love triangle that not only did the Capitol push but also the movies. Now as an adult, especially living in rather precarious times, I can say that Peeta was the only right choice (argue with the wall) and the important thing is not the romance at all, it’s Katniss’ almost non-hesitation to volunteer for her sister and to take care of everyone else before herself.

So, in conclusion, I think this book should be read by everyone, especially teenagers because it can help them discuss certain themes and how writers can put in critiques of certain aspects of life in their stories and make their statement without it being obvious. It’s weird to say I loved it but I did.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Love,

Mila