Paperback, 396 pages
Spanish language
Published May 4, 2009 by Oceano Travesía.
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.
"Es la hora. Ya no hay vuelta atrás. Los juegos van a comenzar. Los tributos deben salir a la Arena y ... luchar por sobrevivir. Ganar significa fama y riqueza. Perder significa la muerte segura. Que empiecen los septuagésimo cuartos juegos del hambre!"--Page 4 of cover.
Incredibly well written and suspenseful from beginning to end. Looking forward to the rest of the trilogy
Difficult suspending disbelief about the character's political situation, but overall thoroughly entertaining.
Amy is the one who requested this one. She'd read it with her granddaughters, and been deeply disturbed by the premise, of children being force to kill each other, and wanted to hear what other adults thought of the book. Collins has stated that she was writing about war, trying to view it through a child's eyes, but it could just as well be an allegory about adolescence, and the seemingly life and death decisions that are made in middle school. We wandered from this book to other recent YA novels, like the Harry Potter and Twilight books. There had been a line out the door when each shipment of Harry Potter books came in, and the library had had to set up a separate staging area to hand out the holds.
This is a good, riveting story, very hard to put down. When I first starting reading, I expected the premise to remind me of Shirley Jackson's tale The Lottery, but this story is different; The Reaping is a type of lottery, but only those aged twelve to eighteen are in danger of being its victims, and also everyone knows that the playing field is not even; some of these children have had their names entered more than others, in exchange for more food for their families. All of this abuse is punishment for earlier revolts, meant to remind the downtrodden that one group of people have absolute power over them.
This series features some strong female characters, mainly sixteen year old Katniss, who the reader knows from the beginning is a real survivor. Actually, most of the characters are interesting. I don't feel that there's anything very special about Collins's …
This is a good, riveting story, very hard to put down. When I first starting reading, I expected the premise to remind me of Shirley Jackson's tale The Lottery, but this story is different; The Reaping is a type of lottery, but only those aged twelve to eighteen are in danger of being its victims, and also everyone knows that the playing field is not even; some of these children have had their names entered more than others, in exchange for more food for their families. All of this abuse is punishment for earlier revolts, meant to remind the downtrodden that one group of people have absolute power over them.
This series features some strong female characters, mainly sixteen year old Katniss, who the reader knows from the beginning is a real survivor. Actually, most of the characters are interesting. I don't feel that there's anything very special about Collins's writing style, but it flows well, it's well-paced, and the storyline is intriguing.
It's catching fire:)
Amazingly compelling dystopian tale in which a very tough young woman is forced to fight for her life in a violent form of future reality TV. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down.
I’ve seen the movie; Death Race and Gamer so it was interesting to read a book where last man standing/fight to the death for entertainment was the central theme. I have to admit that I was worried about reading this; I thought it was be sappy teenage romance junk – since it shows up as a favourite book, with people that like Twilight – but this was dark and a well-paced dystopian adventure. I decided to read this at the guarantee that it was nothing like Twilight and at the recommendation of fans of dark YA fiction (following the whole YA is too dark article in the WSJ).
The Hunger Games is the story of a 16 year old girl that takes the place of her younger sister to compete in the annual televised event ‘The Hunger Games’. This is an even were a young boy and girl are called …
I’ve seen the movie; Death Race and Gamer so it was interesting to read a book where last man standing/fight to the death for entertainment was the central theme. I have to admit that I was worried about reading this; I thought it was be sappy teenage romance junk – since it shows up as a favourite book, with people that like Twilight – but this was dark and a well-paced dystopian adventure. I decided to read this at the guarantee that it was nothing like Twilight and at the recommendation of fans of dark YA fiction (following the whole YA is too dark article in the WSJ).
The Hunger Games is the story of a 16 year old girl that takes the place of her younger sister to compete in the annual televised event ‘The Hunger Games’. This is an even were a young boy and girl are called up randomly to participate in a fight to the death for survival for the entertainment of the rich and powerful. While this has been done in movies a few times; I think the book was written well enough to combine that sense of action found in those movies with the required storytelling of a decent novel. Katniss; while a weird name; she is a strongly written character, with all the normal awkwardness you would expect from a teenager, having to deal with love, death and loneliness in this dystopian world that she lives in.
For a dark, violent and fast paced Young Adult book, I would definitely recommend The Hunger Games. While I would have liked a darker book, I think this book would be enjoyed but readers of all ages. I try not to use cliques like ‘Page Turner’ or ‘captivation’ but I think that would sum up just how good this book is. I really don’t think I want to continue on with the trilogy, I think as a stand-alone book, it’s fantastic; but if I try to predict the rest of the series and all I can see is love-triangles, fighting authority and a lot more romance. If this isn’t the case, I might read the other books, I just think it works better as a single story.
Expert pacing and a clever premise make this young adult dystopia an incredible read for teen and adult alike.
The Hunger Games had me gripped. It might be marketed as young adult, but its content is certainly not just for teens. The world is violent and uncertain, where teenagers from each district must kill each other or be killed on live television. If you don't want to get invested in the whole trilogy, I think this works as a standalone novel and is definitely the high point.
Literally had me running out the door to get the rest of the trilogy!
Fast-paced and enjoyable read, but didn't get me thinking enough to give it 5 stars. Great concept: The Running Man meets Lord of the Flies meets 1984!
Read?/Ignore?
Read.
Read?/Ignore?
Read.
Not amazing literature, but very engaging. Surprisingly violent. They let kids read this?
Very engaging; a fun and quick read.
As a huge fan of Battle Royale, I was wary about this book, as it seemed to have a very similar plot and I'd read some reviews to that effect.
Really, the two books are only similar in that teenagers are forced to kill each other. The similarities end there.
While not exceptionally-written, Collins has a very effective way of buliding the suspense and holding your attention very firmly.
The characters are likable enough, though I would have liked some more emotion from Katniss and Peeta, especially when the most horrific killing is happening beneath them.
Overall, however, an enjoyable book and I've ordered the second one.
A dystopian future in which teenagers fight to the death for the amusement of a nation enslaved by a totalitarian government. Yeah, there's not a lot of originality here, but the author makes up for it in plot and pacing. This is one hell of a gripping novel.
