From then on, whenever I have a parent looking for a teenage book (especially boys), I press a copy of The Hunger Games into their hands and I'm yet to have someone come back unhappy. I too had marked it to read, but till recently, another book always managed to grab my attention away. I finally got around to reading it prior to the movie opening. And just like my son, I was instantly hooked till the nail biting finale.
North America is the nation of Panem, a country with 12 fenced-in districts that all work to feed the enormously wealthy and technologically advanced capital. Its a dystopian world. A dictatorship. Every year to remind the residents of its power, the capital hosts the Hunger Games, a bloodthirsty reality TV show. Twenty four contestants -One boy and one girl from each district - are chosen to battle against one another. The last contestant will return to their district
Our heroine, Katniss lives in district 12 - the mining district. Her circumstances have forced her to be resourceful and tough. She's a pragmatist. A survivor. A skill that comes in handy when facing her opponents.
Collins has written an action-packed narrative, guaranteed to thrill. Aside from the obvious page-turning plotline, Collins challenges the the reader with deeper issues of society's growing indifference towards suffering, and the foundations by which our core values are based.
My rating: 4 out of 5
