Hunger Games

Hey Friends

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I am enjoying my last weekend of freedom. Sadly I start school this week. To say I am looking forward to it would be a complete lie. It is my last semester at St. John’s University and I am sad about that but I am ready to move on and start law school in the fall. I am done with school and don’t have much desire to finish honestly, but I am not a quitter and I am so close so I will stick it out for a bit longer. Anyway to move on. One of my personal goals this year not mentioned in my new years post is to read more books. I enjoy books and they relax me. So I am going to try and read two a month. I think that is manage with school. I would like more but between work, school, and Karate it is not piratical. Geeze I sound so grown up, when did that happen? Anyway I am rambling again. So like I was saying I plan to read more books. So I decided to start with the Hunger Games Series. It is huge right now and I want to know what all the fuss is about.

Overview (from Barnes and Noble)

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.

My Take 

I actually was a little hesitant to read this book because I did not know what to expect with all the hype so I approached with caution. The beginning kind of reminded be on Anthem by Ayn Rand because of the way the world is now. At the start it was kind of predictable.  I figured Katniss would get in the games to protect her family, it just seems like the logical way. I liked the build up the games and the preparation. I read through that very fast because I was anxious to see what came next. Once the games actually started I have to say I was a little disappointed. It is not like I wanted to read about blood shed the whole time but I expected this to be an adventure not her hiding out the whole time. I knew there were more books so I knew that she most likely would live but I still wanted an adventure and excitement  I wanted to worry about Katniss but honestly I didn’t. I did not really feel connected to the character. There was something lacking I felt. The only time I felt for her was when she was trying to stay alive with Peeta. Also when Katniss kills another child in the arena, we always feel that he really deserved it. He was dangerous. When Katniss begins to like one of her opponents and frets over the “one of us is going to have to kill the other” situation, the other character is killed off by one of the bad guys. Glad we didn’t have to face that one. How convenient. To me it was like taking the easy way out. Not necessarily bad but just not what I was expecting going in. Now the ending I saw coming for a mile away. I knew that they would stay together and win and that it would lead into the next book causing them some issues. I was surprised that something did not happen at the winning ceremonies but for the most part predictable.

Overall

I wanted more from this book. I really wanted to get the hype but just couldn’t. Maybe the build up was too much I don’t know. I still plan to read the other two but I am a little disappointed so far. On the plus side it is an easy read so you can get through them quickly. Would I recommend this book to a friend? Yes but with caution so the friend knows what to expect of the book.