The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins takes place in the far future, in a post-apocalyptic dystopian version of North America, now called Panem. The story follows the journey of a young girl, Katniss Everdeen, who must play in their government's corrupt version of a game, the hunger games. When Panem rose from the ruins of North America, it was split into a capitol and 13 districts, which inevitably rebelled against the capitol. War broke out, and the 13th district was destroyed. Since then, the capitol has forced 1 girl and 1 boy between the ages of 12-18 from each district to compete to the death for entertainment, or in reality, their form of punishment and reminding the people of their complete control over them. The story begins on the day of reaping (where people are picked for the games), with Katniss hunting in the woods with her friend Gale. When she returns to the city and it comes time for the choosing ceremony, her 12-year-old sister, Prim, is chosen on her first year as an option. In an instant, Katniss volunteers to take her place and must face many challenges in hopes of surviving and returning home to her sister.
After watching the movies and recently reading Divergent, a similar novel, I decided this book would be a good choice. Alas, I was not disappointed and it lived up to my expectations. It certainly was not a difficult read and I had no issues understanding what was going on. The backstory behind the world they live in was set up very well, leaving me wanting to know more about how this all came to be. While there are many post-apocalyptic stories like it, The Hunger Games is one of the most recognizable and iconic ones, and for a good reason. The book tackles the issue of power and how it can corrupt the world, leaving room for many questions about ethics for the reader to think about. Coming to this book from its movie version, I can say it provides more critical detail and emotion that the movie was not able to convey, especially through Katniss’ thoughts.
Overall, it is one of the better post-apocalyptic stories out there and leaves the reader with many things to think about it. It is a good book, but not overly fantastic. If it sounds even slightly interesting, I would recommend trying it out and potentially reading the other 3 books in the series. Even if you don’t want to read it, I would at least recommend watching the book's movie counterpart, especially since another one will be releasing next year.
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