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A review by jtone
The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset by Suzanne Collins
4.0
I finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy to the kids last night. I'm still not sure what I think about it.
I would not have read this to the kids if Callie hadn't already listened to it in audiobook format. This is a quite dark series. Even more than the author's Gregor the Overlander series, survival of extreme trauma is the key theme.
Quick non-spoilery background. In a post-apocalyptic world the Districts rebelled against the Capitol seventy-five years ago. The rebellion was crushed and since then the Districts have been forced to send two teenagers each year to play in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a reality show where the teens are forced to fight to the death in an elaborate arena. The viewpoint character is Katniss Everdeen from District 12 and the story follows her as she's pulled into this year's Hunger Games.
There is a LOT of violence. Even more than the violence there are aftereffects. This is not a story where the hero tosses off a one-liner, out-guns the bad guy, then rides off into the sunset. Violence has a lasting effect on everyone: one who commits the act, the one who suffers from it, and the people around them. This is not action movie violence.
SPOILER WARNING
Katniss does not have clean hands. She is a sympathetic character, but she is not a pure and unsullied heroine. The author does not cheat and keep Katniss constantly on a moral high ground. Some of her decisions are disturbing. There are a lot of politics. Katniss finds herself as the figurehead of the rebellion and has to deal with consequences of being given that status. Throughout all the books she is pressured to act certain ways. She's not so noble and strong that she never gives in, but she suffers the consequences when she does not.
The romantic elements are interestingly handled as well. There's no "Our eyes met across a crowded room." What there is a lot of confusion. What's real? What isn't? Is this love? Is it just a reaction to the current situation? One review seemed to feel that there was a character assassination to force the choice, but to me it seemed that it was a natural outflow of who her suitors are.
The ending seemed a little bit abrupt to me. Why did Katniss vote the way she did in the victors' final vote? Would what happened to Coin really have had much of an effect on the type of leader the system brought up? Snow just seemed to be pure evil, which didn't seem to match how ambiguous the rest of the characters are.
I'm glad to have read these books. I really hope that my kids think about these when they hear about wars. In a lot of stories, the sheer violence of war and its effects are swept under the rug. The story does have a moderately happy ending, but it's definitely not "happily ever after."
I would not have read this to the kids if Callie hadn't already listened to it in audiobook format. This is a quite dark series. Even more than the author's Gregor the Overlander series, survival of extreme trauma is the key theme.
Quick non-spoilery background. In a post-apocalyptic world the Districts rebelled against the Capitol seventy-five years ago. The rebellion was crushed and since then the Districts have been forced to send two teenagers each year to play in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a reality show where the teens are forced to fight to the death in an elaborate arena. The viewpoint character is Katniss Everdeen from District 12 and the story follows her as she's pulled into this year's Hunger Games.
There is a LOT of violence. Even more than the violence there are aftereffects. This is not a story where the hero tosses off a one-liner, out-guns the bad guy, then rides off into the sunset. Violence has a lasting effect on everyone: one who commits the act, the one who suffers from it, and the people around them. This is not action movie violence.
SPOILER WARNING
Katniss does not have clean hands. She is a sympathetic character, but she is not a pure and unsullied heroine. The author does not cheat and keep Katniss constantly on a moral high ground. Some of her decisions are disturbing. There are a lot of politics. Katniss finds herself as the figurehead of the rebellion and has to deal with consequences of being given that status. Throughout all the books she is pressured to act certain ways. She's not so noble and strong that she never gives in, but she suffers the consequences when she does not.
The romantic elements are interestingly handled as well. There's no "Our eyes met across a crowded room." What there is a lot of confusion. What's real? What isn't? Is this love? Is it just a reaction to the current situation? One review seemed to feel that there was a character assassination to force the choice, but to me it seemed that it was a natural outflow of who her suitors are.
The ending seemed a little bit abrupt to me. Why did Katniss vote the way she did in the victors' final vote? Would what happened to Coin really have had much of an effect on the type of leader the system brought up? Snow just seemed to be pure evil, which didn't seem to match how ambiguous the rest of the characters are.
I'm glad to have read these books. I really hope that my kids think about these when they hear about wars. In a lot of stories, the sheer violence of war and its effects are swept under the rug. The story does have a moderately happy ending, but it's definitely not "happily ever after."