The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Categories Growing Up & Facts of Life
Author Suzanne Collins
Publisher Scholastic Press; Reprint edition (July 3, 2010)
Language English
Paperback 384 pages
Item Weight 12 ounces
Dimensions
5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches

I. Book introduction

The Hunger Games is a 2008 dystopian young adult novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the perspective of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the future, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle royale to the death.

The book received critical acclaim from major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its plot and character development. In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content. The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly’s “Best Books of the Year” in 2008.

The Hunger Games was first published in hardcover on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic, featuring a cover designed by Tim O’Brien. It has since been released in paperback and also as an audiobook and ebook. After an initial print of 200,000, the book had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. Since its release, The Hunger Games has been translated into 26 languages, and publishing rights have been sold in 38 territories. The novel is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy, followed by Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). A film adaptation, directed by Gary Ross and co-written and co-produced by Collins herself, was released in 2012.

Plot

In the nation of Panem, established in the remains of North America after an apocalyptic event, the wealthy Capitol exploits the twelve surrounding districts for their natural resources and labor. As punishment for a past failed rebellion against the Capitol, which resulted in the obliteration of District 13, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the remaining districts are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, a contest in which the “tributes” must fight to the death in an outdoor arena until only one remains.

16-year-old Katniss Everdeen from District 12, a coal-rich region, volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her 12-year-old sister, Primrose. The male tribute is Peeta Mellark, a former schoolmate of Katniss who once gave her bread from his family’s bakery when her family was starving. In the days leading up to the Games in the Capitol, they are advised by their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, the sole living District 12 victor of the Games; chaperone Effie Trinket; and various stylists to enhance their public perception to get potential sponsors, who might later send potentially life-saving gifts. Katniss’s stylist, Cinna, designs costumes for Katniss and Peeta that set them apart from the tributes when introduced to the public. During their evaluation by the Gamemakers, Katniss gets the highest score among the tributes. Meanwhile, Rue, the petite 12-year-old girl tribute from District 11, follows Katniss and Peeta around during the training sessions. On the day before the games, in a televised interview, Peeta reveals his long-unrequited love for Katniss. Shocked, Katniss believes this is a ploy to gain sponsors, but later accepts this as sincere. Haymitch promotes their image as “star-crossed lovers”.

The Games begin, and nearly half the tributes are killed at the start whilst fighting over weapons and supplies in an area in the center of the arena known as the Cornucopia. Katniss disregards Haymitch’s earlier advice to flee immediately and nearly dies but uses her well-practiced hunting and survival skills to hide in the woods. Days later, an artificial fire drives Katniss toward the others. She is spotted and chased up a tree by the “Career tributes”, tributes who are trained from childhood to compete in the Games, from Districts 1, 2, and 4, and Peeta, who seems to have allied with them. Rue, hiding in a nearby tree, alerts Katniss to a “tracker jacker” nest. Katniss cuts it down, releasing the flying insects, which are genetically modified to track whoever disturbs their nest and have venom that targets the section of their victims’ minds that houses fear. Their venom kills two of the Careers and drives the others away, but Katniss is stung and begins hallucinating. Peeta returns, but instead of killing her, tells her to run away. Katniss later allies with Rue, who is fatally wounded by a tribute from District 1 while Katniss destroys the careers’ supplies. Katniss murders Rue’s killer with an arrow and accompanies Rue as she dies. She spreads flowers over Rue’s body to show her defiance against the Capitol. In gratitude, Rue’s district sends Katniss a loaf of bread.

A rule change is announced, allowing the tributes from the same district to win as a pair. Katniss finds Peeta (who only allied with the Careers to protect Katniss) camouflaged into a riverbank, having been injured by Cato, one of the Careers. She nurses Peeta back to health as best she can, but he is still gravely injured. Katniss pretends to be madly in love with Peeta in an attempt to gain gifts from sponsors. When the Gamemakers send a delivery of what each contestant needs most, Katniss risks her life to obtain medicine for Peeta. She is intercepted by Career Tribute Clove, who gloats over Rue’s death and tries to kill Katniss, but is killed by Thresh, the male District 11 tribute, who spares Katniss for Rue’s sake. The medicine saves Peeta’s life.

Thresh is later killed by Cato and another tribute, nicknamed Foxface, dies after consuming toxic berries. Genetically modified wolves are then released into the arena that kill Cato. Once Katniss and Peeta become the last two survivors, the Gamemakers revoke the rule change to force one to kill the other for a dramatic finale. In defiance, Katniss prepares to consume poisonous “nightlock” berries with Peeta. Realizing that they intend to commit suicide so that there will not be a victor for the Games, the Gamemakers declare Katniss and Peeta the victors. Although both of them receive a hero’s welcome as a couple, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that the Capitol may take action against her for her defiance. Along the way back to District 12, Peeta is heartbroken to learn that Katniss’s actions were part of a calculated ploy to gain sympathy. Katniss, however, is unsure of her own feelings and her future.

About the Author (Suzanne Collins)

Author Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer. She is best known as the author of the young adult dystopian book series The Hunger Games. She is also the author of the children’s fantasy series The Underland Chronicles.

Suzanne Collins graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham in 1980 as a Theater Arts major. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 1985 with a double major in theater and telecommunications. In 1989, Collins earned her Master of Fine Arts in dramatic writing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Suzanne Collins began her career in 1991 as a writer for children’s television shows. She worked on several shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear, Oswald and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!. She was also the head writer for the PBS spin-off Clifford’s Puppy Days. She received a Writers Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed 2001 Christmas special, Santa, Baby! After meeting children’s author James Proimos while working on the Kids’ WB show Generation O!, Collins felt inspired to write children’s books herself.

Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The New York Times best-selling series The Underland Chronicles, came from Alice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party. Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw. During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester.

II. Reviewer: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Reviewer The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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1. KHANH reviews The Hunger Games

I was forced into watching Mockingjay: Part II this weekend. To clarify, I watched the second part of the last Hunger Games movie without having read any of the books, without having watched any of the movies.

Needless to say, I was confused as fuck.

So many questions and thoughts ran through my mind as I watched the movie. Why is Peeta so thin? Did that huge-ass bruise really disappear from her neck the next day? Is Katniss supposed to look like she’s about to burst into tears at any given moment, or is that just Jennifer Lawrence? Woody Harrelson is in this movie? Hey, it’s Margaery from Game of Thrones! Who’s President Snow? What’s a Mockingjay? Lesser Hemsworth is pretty hot.

Well, you get the point. I know how the book ended and I still have no idea who anyone is, and neither do I know their names, with the exception of Peeta, Gale, President Snow, that Coin woman, and Katniss. Of course, knowing how the book ended means I probably should read the first book, so here I am, the last person on earth to read The Hunger Games.

And it was good. It was really good. My sister was right (she usually is).

What else can I say that hasn’t already been said? I loved it. The world building was interesting (although it helps that I’ve seen what it looks like on the big screen), and Katniss is awesome. One of the things my sister didn’t like about the first movie is that the on-screen Katniss was different from her portrayal in the first book. I haven’t watched that movie, but I kind of see how the screen portrayal of Katniss might have bothered her. Book-Katniss is strong, kick-ass without being a Mary Sue. She has a fierce love for her sister, and she is manipulative and cunning. She uses the prospect of romance to protect herself, she has no qualms about using people, and I love that about her.

Time to watch Movie #1!

2. MEREDITH HOLLEY reviews The Hunger Games

For a long time now, I’ve wanted to rewrite my review of The Hunger Games so that I could tell you why I don’t just love this series, but why I also think it’s important. It is beautiful for the unflinching way it shows you, as a reader, your own willingness to disregard people who are different from you – how you are the Capitol audience. But, it is important as a story about girls. I had not initially thought about articulating that point because it seemed so obvious to me, and I am bad at recognizing my own assumptions. Lately, though, I have seen so many people, both men and women, acting as though this remarkable book is a piece of fluff that I realized maybe what I love most about The Hunger Games is not as obvious as it seems. To me, this series is important because it is a landmark departure from the traditional story about girls.

Too often, stories objectify women. But the word “objectify,” I’ve realized, has almost no meaning for someone who has either not experienced objectification or who hasn’t really recognized it in her own life, so I’m going to be more descriptive here. When I say stories objectify girls, I mean they talk about girls as though they are fleshlights that sometimes have handy dandy extra gadgets such as an all-purpose cleaning mechanism and food dispensing function.

Sidebar: if you are inclined to now google the word “fleshlight,” I encourage you to consult the urban dictionary definition here before doing that, as the google results will probably be NSFW and also NSF those of you whose parents might check your browsing history. Do parents know how to do that? Sorry for the sidebar, I am just intending to make an explicit point, and now I am feeling uncomfortable about what that explicit point might mean to the target audience of this book. Girls, you are probably badass like Katniss, and you are definitely not a fleshlight.

Back to my rant about typical objectification in storytelling: often the girls fleshlights have fancy outer designs because it makes the fleshlights happy to be fancy. Sometimes they have skeeeeeery castration functions, and other times they work as helpful databases for music or video games or whatever UR into. A lot of times, I will hear people refer to this type of objectification as treating women like they are just a vagina, or a pair of boobs, but I think there is something to the stories that is less human and more sexbot machine than that complaint covers.

So, in all of those links, I have tried to include books written by men and by women because I think that women think of ourselves this way almost as often as men think of us this way. The link from The Ugly Truth, for example, shows both a man and a woman treating women like fleshlights. I have also included both books I love and books I hate because, ultimately, I do think girls adopt this story about themselves, and I also think we can pretty easily identify with a male protagonist and disregard female characters who look nothing like humans. For example, The Sun Also Rises is one of my favorite books in the whole world, even though it does not contain any women who resonate with my experience of humans. And I don’t think it’s necessarily bad that I can enjoy stories where women are only fleshlights, as long as I can still be whoever I want to be without a positive role model. I think it’s good to enjoy stories and take what we can get from them, and so I don’t regret that I love The Sun Also Rises.

In seeing some male reactions to The Hunger Games, I am reminded that most men do not identify with female protagonists the way women have been trained to identify with male protagonists. This seems like a huge disadvantage for men to be in, to me, and if you are a man reading this review, I would ask you to check out your bookshelves. How many female authors are on your shelves? How many of the books those authors wrote have no central male character? If you have a minute after that, check the shelves of a woman you are friends with and see how many of her books were written by men or have no central female character. Odds are the results will be pretty different.

The Hunger Games is such a groundbreaking and deliberate example of a woman’s perspective on war and family and even men that it floors me. I think it partly floors me because, other than Buffy, I can’t think of another example of a female character who really fights for herself in such an obvious and hopeful way. Katniss is strong and broken, and powerful in her brokenness. Collins’s image of a woman’s perspective is not, admittedly, as effortless as Moira Young’s in Blood Red Road, but its deliberateness has its own value.

It is not an accident that the story shows Katniss’s emotional growth and that Peeta, as a more emotionally whole person, facilitates her emotional growth. It is not an accident that the story does not discuss the effect Katniss has on the erectness of Peeta’s and Gale’s penises. The first is not an accident because in reality, men do not have to be the emotional cowards that the stories I’ve linked to above make them out to be. Masculinity does not have to mean emotional cowardice. The second is not an accident because the story is not from Peeta and Gale’s perspectives. Despite widespread rumors to the contrary, it is my experience that women pretty seldom think about their effect on men’s penises. Hopefully, we never think of our primary purpose in life, in the way so many stories think of it, as making penises erect. Hopefully, we never think of ourselves as gadgets that are super fun for other people.

There are so many reasons I love The Hunger Games series, and all of this is one I wouldn’t have initially even thought to say. I saw this Eleanor Roosevelt quote earlier this month, and it said, “It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.” I think The Hunger Games is a candle in the overall dark narrative of girls’ perspective on life. Yes, it is also a poignant critique of reality TV and Western callousness about the catastrophes caused by industrialization in the developing world, but that, too, resonates with me in many ways because of its remarkably feminine voice. It absolutely makes sense to me that this book is not for everyone because of its violence, but I still think that it is objectively important because it shows a perspective that seems authentically feminine to me – that talks like a girl, not like a sexy, fancy gadget. I’m not saying that in my opinion girls don’t or shouldn’t ever think about being sexy or erect penises, I’m just saying that it is my experience that we think and care about many, many more things than penises, clean houses, and food, and very, very few stories are willing to tell you about that. The Hunger Games is one that does, and it does so in way that is beautiful and important.

3. EMILY MAY reviews The Hunger Games

It seems weird that I never reviewed The Hunger Games . I don’t know why I didn’t when it was a series that completely took over my life for a short while. But recently I’ve been thinking about posting something in this review space and after just watching the second film (which I think was amazing and better than the first), now seems like as good a time as any to talk about why I love Katniss and nearly everything about this series.

I gave this book four stars back in 2011 and I’m going to leave that rating as it is because it’s an indicator of my thoughts at the time (though they slightly differ now) – thoughts which were influenced by having just finished the fantastic, horrifying, brutal and unforgettable Battle Royale manga series. I don’t think it was the best time for myself and Katniss to find one another when I had so much beautiful insanity to compare the book to, but it still managed to have such an effect on me that I instantly told every friend and family member to read it. Coming back to this now after having spent the last couple of years being bombarded with dystopian YA, I appreciate what Collins has achieved a whole lot more.

I appreciate the strength of Katniss as a heroine who commands our attention and holds our love whilst still being what some would consider unlikable; I appreciate the balance of beauty and horror that Collins delivers on every page, treating us constantly to both the darkest despair and rays of hope; and I also – amazingly – appreciate the love triangle. Love triangles seem to have chased me and hunted me down with every YA read I picked up over the last two or three years – my dislike for romance instantly becoming doubled by the introduction of yet another boy with beautiful eyes. But Katniss, Peeta and Gale worked for me. They convinced me, held my interest and made me cry. The love triangle worked because it’s outcome wasn’t obvious, because we all wondered and hoped and worried. Because, either way, I was always going to be half happy and half sad.

Katniss still remains for me everything that a female protagonist should be. Or a female hero, at least. She fights for the ones she loves, she’s brave and doesn’t need to be saved. But neither is she a one-dimensional smiling poster-version of a heroine. She falls, she fails, people get hurt because of her and she has to live with that. We love her and yet she’s antisocial, awkward and moody. She loves other people with all her heart but she’s not much of a team player. In short: she’s a complex portrait of a young woman that doesn’t fall into any neatly defined boxes or categories. Now, perhaps, authors have since tried to recreate her. But she’s still one of the first and best.

I know another review of this book isn’t needed. I know you’ve all probably read it anyway. Or never will. But this isn’t really for anyone else; it’s a reminder to myself of why this book deserves its hype and why I need to remember to come back to it again and again between the new (and hopefully amazing) YA books I’ll be reading in the future.

4. JESSICA reviews The Hunger Games

personal anecdote – the first time i heard of this book was when i was 17. i was at work (i was a hostess at a restaurant in a mall) and my manager came up to me, gave me $20 and asked me to run to B&N to buy her a copy before they closed. she wanted me to do it because she said it ‘would look better if a teenager bought it.’

i havent really thought about that day since but, since my time on goodreads, i cant believe how much shaming i see for adults who read books that are targeted for YA or children. what a shame it is that adults feel embarrassed to buy a book simply because its promoted as a story for teenagers!

as i reread this, 10 years later, i am even more convinced that people should read whatever they want to read and not feel bad for enjoying what they enjoy!

also, gale totally deserves better. i thought it then and i still think it now. my boy is the true hero of this story.

and that has been your PSA for the day!

↠ 5 stars

5. L reviews The Hunger Games

PERFECT FOR LOW-VISION READERS!!!

i just received my replacement order (the first book arrived damaged) and it is in PERFECT condition, the font is LARGE, the pages are made of thick paper, and the book feels solid. i haven’t started reading it yet but it’s already a perfect book just based on how well made it is and how nicely it arrived.

i cannot wait to start reading this FINALLY!

6. JMC reviews The Hunger Games

Perhaps one of the most powerful ideas in this book is the idea of defiance, of standing up to those who mean you harm. That is the spirit that Katniss Everdeen embodies. She is the big sister that puts her own life on the line so that her sister, Primrose, does not need to fight in the dreaded Hunger Games.

There are many out there who lambaste Collins for seemingly copy-and-pasting “Battle Royale” word for word, but there are enough differences between the two for this book not to be blatant copy, perhaps merely another author’s rendition of a similar source work. Of course, the purpose of this review is not to compare two books side-by-side, but to review Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” as a standalone novel.

The premise is simple. Every year twelve districts all around the totalitarian country of Panem must send one boy and one girl as “Tributes” into the Hunger Games, a contest between the districts that awards the winning district with fame and glory and lots and lots of resources from the government. What an excellent concept this is, from a political standpoint. It keeps the upper class citizens of Panem, who reside at the capital, happy and entertained, while the bottom of the pyramid, the Districts, fight against each other, making a full-blown rebellion all but impossible. Of course, this year’s Games is not like any of the other games. There can be only one victor, but it is Katniss’s defiant spirit that causes the greatest upset to the games Panem has ever seen.

As a first-person limited novel, much of the history of Collins’s world is left to conjecture. Katniss is a strong observer, but not an omniscient one, not by a long shot. She can only provide her own guesses, which we adopt and add to, as to what is happening outside of the Games that she is currently participating in. However, the strength of this perspective lies in giving us, the readers, unlimited access to the deepest recesses of Katniss’s mind. We effectively become Katniss Everdeen, the defiant girl who started a spark of revolution throughout the nation.

The character development is good. We get to know not only Katniss, but also the characters she comes across. But perhaps it is Haymitch’s character that steals the show. His attitude toward life, teetering between sarcastic scorn and PTSD, reflects the attitudes of some soldiers who return from combat. According to Collins, such is actually her source material for the characters and plot, the exploration of combat and its effects on young soldiers. As this is the first novel in the series, we still have yet to see any significant development of Gale and Peeta, both of whom remain rather static throughout the novel. Peeta starts off weak, he ends off weak, getting wounded and hiding in the mud as opposed to Katniss, who becomes a huntress of people.

The plot and pacing are good, though it’s a little slow for the first third of the book. Collins uses this first part to develop the main backstory of Panem, dedicating the latter half to the actual Games itself. Once we step into the arena, however, it’s no holds barred and everything you’ve ever known just flies out the window.

This is by no means a thorough review of the novel. I have only read it once and that was over a year ago, so I’m going on very shallow memory right now. Overall, it is an enjoyable novel, the start of something that could have been, but failed to launch with Mockingjay.

7. NICK reviews The Hunger Games

Leaves you wanting more…

There is something infectious about the short, declaratory sentences that open the Hunger Games. Perhaps it is the indication made so early on and so tacitly that Panem is not a place for deep reflection, a land where long-winded soliloquies are wholly inapproriate and out of place. Whatever the attraction, this is one of those rare books that snags you at the beginning and doesn’t let go until the very end. It may be impossible to say anything different from what hundreds have already said. Quite simply put, this is a great book and deserves to be read.

The author, Suzanne Collins, does a phenomenal job in crafting a world that is at once engaging, brutal, and terrifyingly possible. It isn’t that the book is so fresh and original that one cannot help but be spellbound, indeed much of what the Hunger Games brings to the table can be found, bit by bit, in other literary works or in films. That these various elements don’t feel trite, however, is a great credit to how wonderfully put together they are. If the narrative is interesting, I don’t particularly care that there may be another book that is somewhat like this one, the book stands on its own two feet and in my estimation is more than original and creative enough. Arguably one of the author’s best decisions was to maintain a fairly rapid pace throughout the novel which kept moments or bits of plot from becoming old too quickly with perhaps a few stumbles here and there (the part where Katniss and Peeta are sitting in a cave comes to mind).

Katniss is a good main character and I found it hard not to like her as the protagonist, though at times she seems a little dense which is at odds with 98% of what the book reveals about her. She’s a smart and savvy hunter and can discern the intent behind a sponsor’s gift but can’t figure out that Peeta isn’t lying about his feelings for her. It makes no sense and is perhaps the only example where the author missed a great opportunity to make her, and that part of the narrative, more three-dimensional and gripping.

Of course, the book is “brutal” insofar as it goes. I didn’t find it to be overly graphic and unlike some others I don’t believe in the slightest that the book glorifies or romanticizes violence as there are several instances where characters decry what’s going on and express indignation about what they’re being forced to do. The thing to villify is not the PG-13 violence, but the hypothetical governmental forces that not only allow the killing, but compel it to happen. Those who would see in the book an endorsement of meaningless violence are those that I don’t think have really read the book. You won’t receive anything on the order of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, but it will force you to ask a meaningful question here and there. While the book purports to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age, it seems that the planned trilogy took precedence and so, maybe, that exploration will be truly started with the second book which might be appropriate since the first one needed to introduce the world and, as I said, it isn’t yet one that invites much reflection or philosophizing.

Overall, The Hunger Games is a dynamic book that, with a few notable missteps, does a great job in whisking the reader away. It can be forgiven for being somewhat derivative, if you choose to look at it that way, but it stands as an excellent achievement. It might not be a true classic but it does leave you hungry for more.

8. MARTY reviews The Hunger Games

Extremely Thought Provoking, Excellent Writing, Haunting Story

This is one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve ever read. It involves excellent writing, plot and characters. The movie based upon this book is also well done but easier to understand if you first read the book. Katniss Everdeen is a teenage girl in a post-Apocalyptic country of Panem–a land once called North America. She hunts and struggles to find food for her widowed mother, younger sister and herself. People are literally starving to death.

Each year the oppressive government selects two tributes in a reaping (one boy and one girl between 12-18 years of age) from each of twelve districts to compete in the Hunger Games. Katniss lives in District 12, the poorest of poor. Most people with jobs work in Coal mines. Her father died in a mining accident.

Much like the arena games of ancient Rome, the Hunger Game contestants must survive, fight and die until only one of them remains…the Victor of that year’s games. Although most people live without any modern conveniences the government and people in the Capital city have excessive riches and the Hunger Games are broadcast live across the country on television where residents are “required” to watch them. In 74 years, District 12 has had a winner only twice and the only surviving victor is Haymitch Abernathy who will serve as coach for the current contestants from his district. He is an embittered man who spends much of his time drunk…not being able to cope with the guilt about his own Hunger Games, the grief of what happened to the people he loved and the fact he must coach and watch new tributes from his district die in the games every year.

Katniss’ sister Prim is 12 and it’s her first year to have her name entered in the Tribute reaping. As a first year entry, her name is only entered once so odds are against her being chosen. Nonetheless, she is chosen as the female tribute from District 12. Prim is innocent and fragile. Katniss loves her very much and is extremely protective of Prim, so she volunteers to take her place.

Katniss finds herself preparing for and participating in the Hunger Games along with Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son from her district who once took pity upon her by tossing her some cast-off bread. Peeta has secretly had a crush on Katniss for years. He’s very kind and likeable but Katniss mustn’t allow herself to like him. To survive, she must be the last of 24 tributes left alive. Tragically, either Peeta or Katniss must die, if either tribute from District 12 is to survive.

In addition to toughness, survival and fighting skills, the victor must also cultivate charmisma because the contestants are show-cased on live television before and during the games. Tributes who elicite sympathy from viewers may be sent “gifts” during the games such as food, water or medicine. Katniss doesn’t feel comfortable in the role but she has the help of people who cast her and Peeta as “star-crossed lovers” forced to compete against one another in the Hunger Games and also portray her as the Girl-On-Fire. She becomes very popular among the crowds…a fate which may help her survive this year’s Hunger Games but also make her a threat to the very government. But that’s a story for the sequels. For the rest of the story, also read: Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

9. MAGGIE STIEFVATER reviews The Hunger Games

“The Most Dangerous Game” meets Survivor. I loved it: deft characterization wrapped tightly around this lean, brutal plot that absolutely grabbed me and hung on. This was one that I started reading in the morning and snarled at all comers until I had finished it in the evening. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I’m only reviewing my favorite books — not every book I read. Consider a novel’s presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can’t believe I just said “hearty.” It sounds like a stew.****

10. NILUFER OZMEKIK reviews The Hunger Games

I tried to read the prologue but discovering the early times of President Snow which was not the best experience I’d dreamed of. Eventually I gave up!!

So I decided to reread the real beginning of the story ( I think starting the legendary trilogy with Katniss Everdeen story is my kind of epic beginning.) Yes! Let the games begin. It was one of the best adapted book but I always prefer reading jaw dropping, exciting, action packed chapters and enjoying the dark, depressing, dystopian world building because the words are always more powerful than images.

I already got lost in Katniss and Peeta’s adventures and I the parts about President Snow started to get erased from my mind! (It’s like defense mechanism of my brain to protect me from bad reading experiences 😂)

III. The Hunger Games Quotes by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games Quotes by Suzanne Collins

The best book quotes from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

“It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.”

“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”

“Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you.”

“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”

“Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

“Destroying things is much easier than making them.”

“Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when it’s morning again, they’ll wash away
Here it’s safe, here it’s warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.”

“Stupid people are dangerous.”

“I don’t want to lose the boy with the bread.”

“I can feel Peeta press his forehead into my temple and he asks, ‘So now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?’ I turn into him. ‘Put you somewhere you can’t get hurt.”

“You’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug.”

“You here to finish me off, Sweetheart?”

“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.”

“Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying.”

“May the odds be ever in your favor!”

“District 12: Where you can starve to death in safety.”

“It crosses my mind that Cinna’s calm and normal demeanor masks a complete madman.”

“If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were….My fingers fumble with the pouch on my belt, freeing it. Peeta sees it and his hand clamps on my wrist. “No, I won’t let you.” “Trust me,” I whisper. He holds my gaze for a long moment then lets go. I loosen the top of the pouch and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm. Then I fill my own. “On the count of three?” Peeta leans down and kisses me once, very gently. “The count of three,” he says. We stand, our backs pressed together, our empty hands locked tight. “Hold them out. I want everyone to see,” he says. I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. “One.” Maybe I’m wrong. “Two.” Maybe they don’t care if we both die. “Three!” It’s too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District 12!”

“Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there.”

“One more time? For the audience?” he says. His voice isn’t angry. It’s hollow, which is worse. Already the boy with the bread is slipping away from me.
I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.”

“Katniss, the girl who was on fire!”

“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

“Here’s some advice. Stay alive.”

“Yes, and I’m sure the arena will be full of bags of flour for me to chuck at people.”

“Rue, who when you ask her what she loves most in the world, replies, of all things, “Music.”

“Because when he sings…even the birds stop to listen.”

“You’re not leaving me here alone,” I say. Because if he dies, I’ll never go home, not really. I’ll spend the rest of my life in this arena, trying to think my way out.”

“And while I was talking, the idea of actually losing Peeta hit me again and I realized how much I don’t want him to die. And it’s not about the sponsors. And it’s not about what will happen when we get home. And it’s not just that I don’t want to be alone. It’s him. I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.”

“We could do it, you know.”
“What?”
“Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it.”

“You have a… remarkable memory.”
“I remember everything about you. You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.”

“Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.
Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.”

“They’re already taking my future! They can’t have the things that mattered to me in the past!”

“But because two can play at this game, I stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. Right on his bruise.”

“The cat that Prim got hates me, I think partly because I tried to drown it.”

“Well, I don’t have much competition here.”
“You don’t have much competition anywhere.”

The best book quotes from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Excerpted from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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Mockingjay is a 2010 dystopian young adult fiction novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is chronologically the last installment of The Hunger Games series, following 2008's The Hunger Games and 2009's Catching Fire. The book continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, who agrees to unify the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the tyrannical Capitol.

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