Back of the book:
"In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.
When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature."
While I'm sure most of you have seen the movie if nothing else, the books revolves around Katniss and her journey while trying to survive not only the harsh world she lives in, but the games she volunteered for in order to save her sister.
In this kind of post apocolyptic world, the United States is now ruled by one city called Panem and the rest of the population has been split up into 12 different districts, all of which are in charge of producing a different resource and is completely gated off so no one can leave or enter, unless they have been selected for the games.
The Hunger Games are a games to remind the districts of the war there was years ago in which the districts had rebelled against the capitol. Each year a male and female tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 are selected from each district (making 24 tributes in all) and are forced to fight to the death in the games.
While this book definitely revolves around survival as Katniss not only goes to the games, but comes from a very poor district (many districts are poor) where people have very little money and very little to live off of, but there is also a little bit of romance that drives the story between Katniss and the male tribute from her district Peeta.
I actually saw the movie long before I started reading the book, and was actually a little hesitant to start the book. I very much enjoyed the movie and really expected a lot from the book and didn't want to be let down. I actually happened to start this book while getting ready for a little bit of a road trip and it happened to be the only audiobook I had available at the moment, so I decided to give it a shot. Even after I was at my destination, I found the spot that I left off at in the audiobook, and then found it in my ebook version and kept reading.
The book itself is written beautifully. I could practically see the woods that were described and you really develop an understanding of where the main character Katniss is feeling and where she's coming from. The book gave the characters a lot more depth than the movie did. While in the movie I have more indifference towards Peeta, in the book he is far more likable because you hear so much more about him and you really see a lot more of his personality.
You also feel for the characters and their loved ones as tributes die in the games, especially ones that Katniss befriends. Though I knew the basic storyline of the book from the movie, there is definitely a lot more in the book that still keeps you on edge and interested about what might happen next. I finished the book in record time because I simply couldn't put it down. I definitely recommend the book to anyone.
Other Books in the series:
1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay
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