The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Posted on by Heather
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
September 14, 2008
Scholastic Press
384 pages
Young Adult Fiction, Suspense

I’m not sure that there’s anyone left in the blogosphere who hasn’t read The Hunger Games yet.  In fact, I am 99% sure that I’m the LAST blogger to have read this book.  Why did I read it?  Well, because of all of you, of course!  I haven’t heard ONE bad thing about this novel.  Not a one. So I finally decided that it was time to for me to see what all the hype is about.

And let me tell you, this book is one example of when hype is well-deserved.  I’m not going to bother with a summary because even I knew way too many details about this book before I started reading it, so I’d rather spare the last soul on earth to read The Hunger Games a plot summary with the assumption that you probably already have an idea of what this one is about.

I closed the book and thought, “wow”.  I really did.  I started The Hunger Games one afternoon, read all through the day until dinnertime, and went right back to reading it before bed until I finished it.  I could NOT not know what would happen.  It was simply impossible for me to fall asleep that night without finishing the book.  It was just that suspenseful, just that entertaining.  Like I said, the hype was well deserved.

Let me also tell you that I didn’t like this book just for the suspense and the story.  While the story was pretty awesome and I caught myself holding my breath during parts of the action, I was captivated by Katniss.  Everything about her (besides her name – ugh) was awesome.  I do have a soft spot in my heart for strong female characters in books, especially main characters, because let’s face it, there’s simply not enough fantastic female characters in books.  But Katniss was everything I want every teen girl in every book to be – she was intelligent, independent but still attached to her family, strong physically and emotionally, yet with moments of weakness that make her very realistic.  I really, really loved her and had no problem rooting for her throughout the book – I needed her to succeed.  That’s how much I felt for her; I knew she had no choice but to win.

All I have to say about this one is, you guys were all right.  Every one of you who gushed about The Hunger Games – I get it now.  This book is fantabulous.  And I’m hoping that my library will get Catching Fire to me sometime in the near future so I don’t have to wait too long to find out what else will happen with Katniss.

Like I said, a ton of bloggers have reviewed this one, so I’ll just give you a small sample of the other reviews out there:


Published by Heather

30 thoughts on “The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins”

  4. Not the last blogger. I still haven’t read it 😛

    I’m glad you enjoyed it! I bet you’ve already bought your copy of Catching Fire 🙂

  6. Ahhh! ! ! ! ! ! 🙂 🙂 🙂 😀 😀 is how I felt about this book. I’m glad you had a good experience with it too!

  8. Here’s another blooger who has only read the outstanding reviews. I really need to get to it ot I will be the last one!

  9. Good luck with the library wait list…although the longer you wait for Catching Fire, the shorter your wait for the last book!

    1. See…. I think I need to read Catching Fire to adequately answer that question. Because I don’t think Hunger Games gave me enough insight into Gale, whereas I feel like I really know Peeta. I’m hoping that CF will tell more about the two and then I can decide. 🙂

    1. she is a great role model, isn’t she? If I knew any teen girls I would definitely encourage them to read it. (besides my sister in law who is 18 and does not read, lol)

  14. OMG!!! I just finished reading The Hunger Games, and it’s got to be right up there on the ‘My Favorite Books’ list! I don’t think I have a favorite yet as far as Peeta and Gale go. I’ll definately have to read CF first. I’m on the waiting list…

  15. You know, I am probably the last person left on this planet who has still not read The Hunger Games.

    Somehow, in spite of all the fab reviews, I just have been having other reading priorities right now…will definitely get to it one day though!

  16. […] RIP Challenge wrap-up Posted October 31, 2009 Filed under: books | R.I.P. IV was every bit as awesome as I was expecting it to be.  I surprised myself by reading six books instead of the two I had planned on reading.  Here’s my completed list: 1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins review […]

  19. When I read the Hunger Games, I read it straight through the night, from 1AM til 5AM. Couldn’t stop reading even though I had to pee badly. After I finished it, I was dying for the sequel. DYING!!!! When I found out the ARC would be available in the spring, I bribed everyone I could think of to get me one. And yes, I got it. The day I got it, I couldn’t look at it until 1AM again. This time, I promised myself, I would only look at the first chapter and then put it down. Riiiiight. It was 4:30AM when I finished reading and immediately began plotting to find out when the next book ARC would be available.

    I thought the first one was fantastic. In the back of my mind I felt that the sequel just couldn’t be as good. How could it? Boy was I wrong! It was even better! My heart was racing the whole time I was reading it and I simply couldn’t put it down. I believe Ms. Collins is the MASTER of the pageturner. Every chapter ends with almost a cliffhanger feeling. It compels you to keep reading. It physically traps you into the book so that you just can’t put it down. If you can’t read this book in one sitting, then I urge you not to even look at it until you can. Like the first one, you will not be able to put it down. The house could have been on fire and I doubt I would have noticed.

    Since we got to know Peeta and Katniss so well from the first one, what the sequel does is invest us even more deeply into their emotional well being. I won’t give any other spoilers than what has already been said. So the book starts with Katniss as the face of the rebellion because of her act of defiance in the first book. As rebellion grows, the President sets up his revenge – and when I found out what it was, I literally sat up in bed and shouted “Oh NO! I can’t believe they are doing this to them!!!” Yes I was talking to my book. That’s how deeply this book sucks you into this amazing and disturbing dystopian world. It makes you want to grab up a weapon and join the rebellion.

    One thing I have to say, I was deeply satisfied with the ending of this book. The first book ended in such a way that I was bothered by it and itchy for the next book. With the end of Catching Fire, I felt it was absolutely right and thrilled with the conclusion. But I’m still DYING for the third and final book of this amazing book series.

  20. So I finally read this one, and I’m kind of sad that I’m not with the majority on this one–I didn’t LOVE it. I also didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t have that itch to get the next one right away! I felt similarly about the Twilight series… I read the first one, thought it was alright, but didn’t feel like I’d be incomplete if I didn’t continue the series… So, not sure that I’ll read the others:(

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