Book Review- Hunger Games Series

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The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins

I first heard about these books a couple of years ago when Rob read Hunger Games and talked about it in a blog post. It sounded interesting and I wanted to read it someday, but you know that whole going to school thing got in the way. But in October I was able to pick up the Hunger Games and begin reading it. The next day when I finished it I hurried to the library at the high school and checked out the next two books because none of my friends had copies I could borrow and I wanted to finish the story right then. In fact, two days later I was done and changed forever. This is a story that once you read it, if you are not changed you, well I am not sure what you are, but I am sure it will change you somehow.

Let's take a look at the book jacket summaries of the books: (if you haven't read the books and think you might want to, you may want to stop reading today)

COULD YOU SURVIVE ON YOUR OWN, IN THE WILD, WITH EVERYONE FIGHTING AGAINST YOU?
Look inside The Hunger Games
Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.


Look inside Catching Fire

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Suzanne Collins continues the amazing story of Katniss Everdeen in Catching Fire, the second novel of the phenomenal Hunger Games trilogy.


Mocking Jay:
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

So now for my opinion:

I absolutely loved these books. There are some disturbing things in this story. Things like a government taking children and forcing them to fight to the death and using it as control by fear couched in entertainment. But without that, there is no story. Without Prim being chosen so Katniss can take her place, there is no story.

But the questions this story brings up are endless and were catalyst for many discussions between Ethan and I, because he read them almost before I could close the back cover.

So tell me, what exactly would you do to survive?

Would you take your sister's place?  Break the law to get food for you mom and sister? Fight to the death?

And if you did, would it be ethical?

What would you absolutely under no circumstances not do to survive?

Let's discuss these questions as well as what you liked and didn't like about the books.

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Indeed.