The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

 

        The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was a book that I absolutely loved as a kid and, with the recent release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie, I decided to dive in and reread the books. I listened to the audiobooks since I have been driving for my job a lot lately and wow I forgot how incredible this story is. Suzanne Collins does a great job at world building throughout the first book and making me feel connected to each of the characters. It’s interesting reading it again over 10 years later because at the time, Katniss and Peeta seemed so much older than they really are. Now when I read it, I think about how much they’ve been through and they were only sixteen. 

I honestly didn’t remember a lot from the first time I read it, so it was nice not really knowing what was going to happen next. Suzanne Collins' writing is vivid and dramatic in a way that really just pulls you into the story. I felt emotional at multiple points in the book including the scenes where Katniss volunteers and all of Rue’s scenes. 

One of the things that I wish Suzanne Collins expanded on a little further was the career tributes, children who spend their whole lives training for a chance to compete in the Hunger Games. The idea that these kids are raised knowing there’s a chance they could die before they reach adulthood is horrific, as is the whole premise of the Hunger Games, but I wish we could have seen a little more of them. Although, Suzanne Collins did need a more immediate villain than just the government of Panem. Also, I wish she went into a little more detail about how the Hunger Games came about because the whole idea of sending children into a death match is insane. How did they come up with the idea? Why? What purpose does it serve? How can the citizens of the capital be totally fine with this? How are none of the citizens of the capital self aware? Why are they all so vapid? I have so many questions, but I feel like most will be answered within the next two books, or in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. 

Either way, the book is incredibly well written and mature enough for adults to read, despite being a YA book. I love being able to enjoy something as an adult that I also loved as a kid and would definitely recommend reading through the trilogy whether it’s your first time or your thousandth time. Overall, I’d rate it a 4/5.