Review Detail

Reader reviewed by darklightkid

Far into the future, the North American continent, after being ravaged by war and famine and who knows what else, has become the nation of Panem. Panem consists of a beautiful, modernistic Capitol somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by 13 districts, each one poorer and more pathetic than the last.

74 years ago, the districts, tired of the Capitol's oppressive ways, led a short-lived rebellion, but the Capitol's forces defeated them quickly and even annihilated District 13 completely. To punish the remaining 12 districts for their actions during these Dark Days, the Capitol set up an annual event called the Hunger Games, where each district is required to send two teenage tributes - a boy and a girl - to be shut into a massive arena and forced to fight to the death for food and other supplies, with the last one standing being declared the winner and winning their home district bragging rights for a year. Oh and did we mention the whole travesty is televised live to all of Panem?

This year, in District 12, the coal-mining district where everyone is either at or below the poverty line, sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps up to compete in the Games in the place of her sister Prim, four years younger. Her fellow tribute is Peeta Mellark, son of a baker, who has had a crush on her for years. (Incidentally, Katniss has her own love interest, named Gale Hawthorne, who often joins her on illegal hunting expeditions beyond the fence encircling the town that comprises all of District 12.) Together with their mentor, the eternally drunk Haymitch Abernathy, and their Capitol representative, Effie Trinket, Katniss and Peeta travel up to the Capitol and enter the Games.

The Games aren't exactly fair, of course. In Districts 1, 2 and 4, the tributes are trained beforehand (Katniss and others call them, derisively, Career Tributes), completely against the rules. The Games planners repeatedly throw in increased dangers, such as deliberate fires and/or tracker jackers (a created species of wasp with hallucinogenic venom and all the ferocity of a pack of rabid pitbulls) just to make more tributes die and thus make the Games more "interesting." And as for Katniss and Peeta, they are especially popular, partly due to the costumes created by their bright young designer, Cinna, and partly because they are pretending to be a couple...which sets them up for, shall we say, special treatment.

This book is one of those that should be on a list of "10 Action Stories You Must Read Before You Die." It is ragingly good and seriously insane. My only problem is the fact that so many guys in the novel have such female-sounding names (Peeta, Gale and Cinna come to mind here).

Can't wait for the movie either...March 23, 2012! The pics of Jen Lawrence as Katniss are amazing, hope the rest of the actors look just as good. And when the heck will they cast Cinna? He's indispensable, but the producers are making no sign of choosing anyone to play him...WHY?!?!?!?