When I first started reading the Hunger Games, I was struck with the dystopian world in which Katniss lives. The description of her father dying and leaving the burden of her distant mother and younger sister made me sympathize for Katniss. I also really liked the relationship between Katniss and Gale because even though they were brought together through necessity, their friendship is so easy and comfortable. It was heart wrenching that they had such a serious duty to their families, hunting illegally and putting their names tens of times into the Hunger Games raffle.
I felt that the raffle was ridiculously barbaric, and reminded me of a short story that we read in English last year, called “the Lottery”. Anyway, reading the part when Katniss took Primrose’s place in the Games, I had a small sense that Katniss would have a fighting chance. I was unsure about her partner Peeta because he was less accustomed to the difficult lifestyle of hunting and living off scraps that Katniss was. I did think that they would make a good team, however.
Leaving off at the part when Katniss is saying goodbye to her family, the harshness she shows her mother just proves my hunch that she is brave and tough enough for the Games. After finishing the Hunger Games, I am definitely excited to finish the series. I want to learn more about the relationship triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta, because I feel like Suzanne Collins could really build that up to be an important plot point. The ending of the book had the most impact on me, with the descriptions of the battle at the cornucopia really resonating with me.
I was also taken aback at the gamesmasters’ decision to make only one team member survive. I also fully believed that Katniss and Peeta were going to commit suicide to outsmart the gamesmasters, so the quick, turnaround ruling that both Katniss and Peeta could live was a huge relief for me. I think that in the next book, Collins will make the fact that Katniss outsmarted the gamesmasters a driving force in the next two books. The entire book was riveting and held my attention without pause, a feat that most books can’t accomplish.
I loved the sensible mix of battle scenes and heart wrenching scenes, and sensible scenes thrown in because it kept the dialogue lively and unpredictable. Honestly, the Hunger Games is one of my favorite books, and definitely one of the top three books I’ve ever read for school. When I started reading the Hunger Games, I was immediately interested by Katniss’s way of life. Although the plot seems to be set in the future, Katniss has to hunt and scrounge to provide for her family.
When I read that she and her friend Gale put their lives in danger by adding their names to the Hunger Games lottery just to get more supplies, I realized how bad their situation was. However, the most interesting part of the book so far has been the scene where Katniss put herself in her sister’s place in the Hunger Games, making a huge sacrifice. It seemed startling to Katniss the difference between her regular lifestyle and her treatment on the train towards the Capitol.
Another interesting aspect of the book so far is the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, which is probably only going to get more complicated because it seems like Peeta really does have feelings for Katniss (which she doesn’t realize). I hope the rest of the book will have much more action than the first half. After finishing the Hunger Games, I don’t think I want to read the rest of the series. Even though the action was at times riveting, I feel like it became centered on the relationship between Peeta and Katniss. Although it was interesting, it was only a good book, not the best I’ve ever read.
Nevertheless, the one scene that stood out to me was the last scene at the cornucopia. The descriptions of the dogs that had previously been people competing in the games was actually pretty freaky, and when the last contestant was dragged away, I actually enjoyed reading (not to be morbid). Again though, the ending seemed very intense to me, with Peeta and Katniss almost committing suicide and the descriptions of Katniss going crazy for Peeta. Anyway, if I had enjoyed the book more, I’m sure the author would have followed and elaborated on the growing storyline.
