In 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 a harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them to 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 steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
The Hunger Games is different from most other teen novels. There is minimal romance but still tons of drama. Katniss is not a wimpy character like most other heroines now days, much to the relief of my mother when this book was picked for my Book Club. She is independent, brave and smart. She was the only person in her district that changed places with an unfortunate person that was picked to play in the Hunger Games. She knew her little sister Primrose, although she was excellent at pick herbs, wouldn’t survive in the Games, she wouldn’t be able to kill anyone, Katniss could.
Another character in The Hunger Games that I really liked at some points and IMMENSLY hated at other was Haymitch Abernathy, the perpetually drunk mentor for District 12 tributes (District 12 is the coal suppliers for the rest of Panem). Haymith was the last surviving tribute in District 12 from The Games, when he became a mentor he started drinking because all of the tributes from District 12 were hopeless contestants, until Katniss and Peeta. Katniss was his favorite tribute out of the two in my opinion (keep in mind I haven’t read the book in a while) Peeta was not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, he could fight and camouflage expertly but he couldn’t walk quietly to save his life. In the Games the ability to be quiet was a HUGE anventage, in my mind anyhow. In any case, before the Games started Katniss and Peeta eventually made Haymitch sober up so that he could mentor them better, this had its ups and downs, a drunk Haymitch would order them around, insult them a bit but a sober Haymitch is actually smart, I know, shocking. He expects more, pushes their ‘buttons’ all the time, Haymitch is a perfect example for tough love.
Maybe what I said, excuse me, wrote before about Peeta was not true, maybe. After all Peeta managed to make it two the top two tributes, him and Katniss, he is a very good liar when it comes to protecting the people he loves. In the beginning of the Games he lied his way into the temporary alliance with some other tributes from the wealthier Districts (the boys and girls from District 1 and 2, the girl from District 4 and, of course, Peeta) to distract them from Katniss (smart move ‘Lover Boy’ as the other tributes dubbed him). Some people may like Peeta, they may call him charming or whatever but, please how did he survive the Games?
This brings me to Gale, Katniss’s friend back at District 12. Gale first met Katniss out in the woods when she was hunting out in the forest, he thought her name was Catnip. Gale is protective, is easily angered on the day of the Reaping, the day that Effie Trinket reads the out the names of the tributes, and likes to imagine what it would be like to live in a different place (“I never want to have kids,” I say. “I might. If I didn’t live here,” says Gale. “But you do,” I say, irritated. Page 9). Gale is her only really friend at District 12, before she meets Rue in the Games.
Rue is a 12 year old girl from District 11, the agriculture district for Panem. Katniss makes an alliance with Rue about have way through the book. Since Rue is part of District 11 she knows a lot about food which is a huge advantage for Katniss because they don’t have that kind of stuff in District 12. Rue could identify healing herbs, berries and some animals that lived in her District but she couldn’t kill the animals and you can’t live on just berries in the hunger games. Katniss also had a insulated sleeping bag while Rue only had socks for warmth, so you can see the it was a win-win situation for them. Unfortunately in the Hunger Games every good thing must come to an end.
The Hunger Games is a really great read because it has depth. When I say depth I mean you get to really know the characters, you could place them in a random situation and you would know how they would react. The Hunger Games also has a very good plot, not one that has been used a hundred times again and again like some books *coughTwilightcough*. Of course it still has the traditional ‘who should I pick?’ but The Hunger Games is definitely not a gushy romance novel (hopefully you picked up on that earlier in the blog…), it has just the right amount of romance, sadness, adventure and suspense. The Hunger Games won many awards, # 1 New York Times bestseller, USA Today bestseller, Wall Street Journal bestseller and Barnes & Noble best books of 2008 for teens and kids to name just a few. Obviously, it’s not just me who likes this book.
good but i got a little confused with all the terms but i guess thats just cause i haven't read it. also it seemed a little scattered to me and for my pickyness when your talking about rue you said "have way thru the book" but it should be half* instead of have but sounds good i might just have to take it from the "library"
ReplyDeleteMegan, there was one thing that you didn't make clear in your review. You should add a paragraph about what the Hunger Games ARE. Otherwise, I liked the review, and I want to read the book!
ReplyDeleteI like how you've organized your analysis here - character by character. It allows you to provide some plot details without falling into the trap of providing only plot summary. I also DO like how you chose to end it. Everyone's using an awful lot of first person in these blog posts -- which is fine for blogs, but worries me as it's not acceptable in most academic writing. So long as everyone keeps that distinction in mind, we'll be fine. Anyway, because you frame your review in first person, ending with awards and accolades from others takes your review beyond the personal and I like that.
ReplyDeleteYou do have more sentence level problems here than usual though. Go back and read it starting with the last sentence and working up and I'm sure you'll catch most of them.
This is a very descriptive article. Although I Agree with Charlotte about the lack of a paragraph telling what exactly what the hunger games where. Also when you said "Gale is her only real friend at district 12" I'm not sure if you meant really or real but something didn't sound right. Over all I enjoyed reading this article and want to buy the book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a powerful novel. You provided enough plot summary to show what makes the story so interesting and original, but still left out enough that we all want to go out and buy this book right now, to see how the Hunger Games play out. I also like how you argue for the story's depth: by contrast with the more shallow popular culture ("coughTwilightcough").
ReplyDeleteThe only other thing I can add to the above comments is that it appears you left out the author's name. (With these comments, I usually only point out problems on a larger scale, so if you see me nitpicking like this, you know I liked your post overall.)
Well, you've now made me want to go out and procure this novel, mainly because I want to know what the Games actually are!
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed this review. You've written everything in such a way so I want to keep reading. Good job!
(again, i've somehow wound up behind Sporadic Blogger... maybe because i'm commenting at the last second?)