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Saturday, January 9th, 2010 02:13 pm
The Hunger Games, ohmygod.

Once I finally sat down to read this book I just bombed through it. While I was reading I wanted to shove it at everyone I know going "read it, read it" so that other people would know how awesome it was. To everyone who recced it to my: you guys know my tastes well, and have mad book-picking skillz.

The Hunger Games "introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless and evil Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains" (wiki).

Now I don't usually like post-apocalyptic worlds; they get really depressing, fast. But Katniss is a very matter-of-fact narrator and that, plus Katniss' success at keeping her family fed and safe, plus the gentle doses of humor, keep this from being a downer book.

Also, it has an excellent, excellent romance. Honestly, I'm not sure if I want her to end up with Gabe or Peeta. I was really pleased that both potential love interests were good guys and that Katniss understandable doesn't know what she wants or what she feels. The question of what she really feels for Peeta versus what she was playing for the audience is a rich one, that I can't wait to see explored more in the sequel (which I already have, no spoilers please).

I have mixed feelings about the way the Games turned out; specifically, having the young girl get killed seemed, in some ways, an easy way out. However, I don't blame the author for avoiding the conflict that any reader would expect, and instead going in new directions. Both Katniss and Peeta surviving seemed like a realistic outcome of the choices that they both made, so I'm quite cool with that.

All in all, everyone should read this book so I can squee about it with people.

Finally, I'm really pysched about the fact that the movie rights have been picked up. I remember thinking it would be an excellent movie but a hard one to adapt to screen, considering that it's first person and has a lot of flashbacks.  I think that having the author herself adapt it is both a good and a bad thing; good because she'll know what the most important things are to preserve in a film and bad because I don't think she has much experience writing scripts, and it really is a different medium.

Also, they need to make The Hunger Games into a movie so that someone can make a Katniss vid to Dog Days Are Over.

Monday, January 11th, 2010 07:03 pm (UTC)
I did just read it! I'm currently looking for a real-life friend to push it on-to so I can squee in person.

I loved the book so much that I'm afraid to read the sequel for fear I won't love it as much. I'm not thrilled to hear that your friend didn't think it was as good. But you should totally read it so we can discuss.

But I do know that while I love Peeta, I feel like Gabe has a lot of potential so I find myself unable to fully back either one.

I know! It's just so hard to choose!
Monday, January 11th, 2010 11:49 pm (UTC)
Yeah, my friend not liking it as much is one of the reasons that I keep putting it off even though it's sitting on my bookshelf, staring at me. I should probably keep in mind though that my friend and I actually have very different tastes and expectations in books, despite the fact that we do like to share them.

Gah. I really need to reread Hunger Games so I'll have it fresh before getting into Catching Fure. (Lol my mom is actually borrowing my copy currently.)
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 02:36 am (UTC)
I don't want to say much for fear of spoilers, but the first half of catching fire is quite gripping.