Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I am the kind of person that does not like jumping on the bandwagon of popular books. For example, I think Harry Potter started coming out when I was in middle school, and I refused to read them until I was a Junior in college - and Scott talked me into it.

That being said - I have joined the masses in reading The Hunger Games. I hadn't heard a lot about the books, except that they were fantastic, and decided that maybe just this once I should see what all the hype was about...and boy am I glad that I did! So, without further ado, here are my (breif) thoughts about the first Book.

Cover Design:  Can someone say 80's Sci Fi? Upon first glance, the cover art really reminded me of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Not overly complicated so as to confuse you, but not complicated enough in my opinion! The cover art does nothing to speak for the book until you have actually read it - and even then it isn't that inspiring. 

Writing Style: Not bad. I am in no way a professional critic, so these are just my personal observations. In my opinion, Collins' writing style is well suited to a diverse age range - in fact, her style is simple enough that I have no doubts that my 8 year old nephew could both read and understand what she's writing about. But within that simplicity, there is still enough detail to really draw the reader in. In my opinion, this takes a lot of talent - to write something simple enough for an 8 year old, but detailed enough for an adult. Kudos to Collins for this.

Plot: I am loving it. As the first book in the series, The Hunger Games hooks you in, and you just can't stop. The idea is a brilliant one, and the author does a fantastic job drawing your emotions out with the characters. While I am sure there may be other novels out there with a similar plot (again, Ender's Game coming to anyone's mind?), Collins has executed this well. There is no way anyone can escape the feelings and thoughts of a young girl who fights to the death in a Game put on by the Capitol - doing it all to save her sister. Of course, from the beginning, you're also drawn into the love story between Katniss and Peeta - even though Katniss doesn't see it herself. I wish that it weren't so predictable (from the beginning of the Games, I knew that Peeta and Katniss would both survive), but even with the predictablilty, the plot is a great one.

Favorite Character (s): I would have to say Katniss and Peeta - the book tries to make you sympathize with others like Prim, Gale, Haymitch, etc...but Collins wanted these two to be the Star's - and they are!

*That's my review of book one - come back for more!