I just did crack.
And by “did” I mean “read”.
And by “crack” I mean “The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins”.
I’ve actually never done crack (or any drugs) and I am not just saying that because my parents subscribe to this blog. But reading this book sure felt like what I would imagine a crack hit to feel like. Do they even call it a hit? I really don’t know.
So, even though I am probably one of the last people to read The Hunger Games, I promise to not to spoil anything about the story that took the world by storm, resulted in a movie that appears to be as loved as the book and is now a multi-million dollar franchise deal for Collins. That lucky duck. But I am going to tell you that I really enjoyed this book. Even when I was so anti-Hunger Games, to the point I was proud I had not read it.
Well, I am here to let you in on something: being wrong really smarts.
But you know that, so let’s not dwell on that shall we? Let’s talk about why this book works!
- A Kick-ass Female Lead. There’s lots of girl power in this dystopian YA thriller. Katniss Everdeen is the young, powerful, stubborn, expert hunter at the heart of The Hunger Games who volunteers to take her younger sister’s place as a tribute in the Capitol city’s annual Hunger Games. The games, which pit a boy and girl from each of the Capitol’s 12 districts, is a death match designed to yield only one victor and offer a reminder that the citizens of the Capitol are not in charge of their lives. Nice, huh?
- Strong Sexual Tension. Upon taking her sister’s place as the District 12 female tribute, Katniss then learns that her male counterpart will be Peeta Mellark, a boy she hardly knows. After sizing him up, Katniss remembers that Peeta once saved her starving family with the simple act of giving her a loaf of bread. That memory must be erased as they are now bitter enemies. Despite this, Peeta is stealing glances and making passes at Katniss. Are his feelings true or just part of his strategy for the games? Regardless, I had a thing for loverboy and found Peeta to be quite a sweeta(heart), liar or not.
- Cracker Jackers. So there are these murderous wasps in part of the story… and I LOVE that they are called cracker jackers! I think it must have to do with the fact that I am actually allergic to wasp (and bee) stings and these cracker jackers, which cause intense swelling and pus to accumulate (and death!), reminded me of my own run-ins with these flying terrors. You can be assured “cracker jacker” will now be my term of choice for the little bastards.
- Creative-as-all-get-out Story. The story is crazy. And y’all should know by my reading choices that l don’t like to suspend my disbelief too far. Yes, I know, It’s hard to stomach a futuristic world where children must engage in combat style warfare, but once you put that aside it was the right mix of wild and interesting that it kept me turning the pages and devouring this book in about 8 hours. It’s addictive reading.
Now it doesn’t matter that I was on a deadline to get this book knocked out asap for the upcoming May Snotty Literati column and it doesn’t matter that I am on vacation this week. The Hunger Games was a delightful break from the heavier stuff I am reading (yes, heavier than kids killing each other) and I ate it up, all hungry like the wolf… yes I did.
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult
Great review, Lara! And I agree, it was a fun surprise. My book club read it, which thrilled Aidan because I finally agreed to let him read it—but only with me. And that was a joy, because we hadn’t read together in a long time.
I enjoyed it, and hoped the future books would explore the political implications more…but didn’t love it quite enough to dedicate time to reading them. Let me know if the rest of the trilogy is worth it.
I will also admit to reading it.
I start and abandon lots of books, but I was into this one enough to breeze all the way through.