Since I never blogged about the Hunger Games when I first read it last year, I figured I would go ahead and do it now along with it’s sequel, Catching Fire.

The Hunger Games From School Library Journal:

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districs, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing.

 
When I picked up The Hunger Games, I could not put it down for anything. Probably from the very beginning of the book, it had me captured. Seeing all the things that Katniss and her family have to deal with on a daily basis, and then the feeling what she feels when she has to leave everyone she loves to go compete in sick, sadistic games that the government force them to participate in. Suzanne Collins knows how to get you into the story. There were times where I actually felt scared when she was having to fight for her life or triumphant when things went her way.

I absolutely love the Hunger Games and suggest it to everyone I know!

I’m not going to post the summary for Catching Fire here because it would have major spoilers in it but I wanted to make sure and post that there is a sequel to the Hunger Games. And I know once you read HG, you will want to turn right back around to the store and pick up Catching Fire.

I had a whole year between reading Hunger Games and Catching Fire and luckily, these are the type of books that you don’t have to reread to remember what happened. As soon as I started reading CF, the first book came right back to me and I was raptured into this book nearly as fast as I was in Hunger Games. In all actuality, I probably enjoyed Catching Fire better than Hunger Games but they are so close it’s hard to tell.