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A review by iamnotacentipede
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4.5
I really enjoyed reading this book, though I will admit that when I first started I was not in the best emotional state (which I guess kinda added to the themes of the read) so things were a little rocky at first. The concept of this world are very interesting and I feel like it allows the author to really express so much while making lots of political commentary while also getting lots of diversity to where the story can go.
I think for me the things that fell short was that we don't get too much information on the political play and how this world ended up this way. We get this kinda brief overview of major plot points but it seems very hard for me to accept a world where people just willingly allow their children to participate in this death match without some type of push back all while under the guise that it's to remember this long ago fought conflict. I understand that because this is a YA novel there isn't going to be too much focus on these aspects and instead shift more towards the personal struggles of our main character, but for my own personal reading enjoyment I would have liked a little more lore.
I will applaud the author for writing a character that is flawed, I feel like so many recent novels has a character that is either one extreme or the other: they either can not handle adversary and instead need to totally depend on (most often) a male character, or they are assumed to be such a badass that they can handle everything and it leads to pompous attitudes. Katniss is 100% aware that she's not the best, and several times in the book she makes mistakes and gets hurt but she also relies on herself often which I feel like a very great representation.
The way Katniss goes about her struggles reminds me very much of females in Studio Ghibli films, they are independent but also makes mistakes that they have to find a way out of.
My biggest issue with this book was that I hated the ending. There seems to be this constant flip-flop of romance and it seems like the author couldn't quite commit to if Katniss should have romantic feelings or not. I know that alot of the romance was tied to survival in the games and I know we as a reader are seeing her feelings develop over time but for me it seemed there was this disconnect. Moments while reading it seemed like things were flowing more consistently than other times and for me it felt very uneven in the progression of what to expect.
I'm sure this was the intended purpose since several times we are reminded that Katniss is not really looking for romance but then she leans into it as well, plus the setup for a possible conflict because of Gale kinda just added to the messiness of it all.
I will say that I did end up really liking the book and will continue on with the series, and I can see why so many books have followed the formula of this story because it really was a good outline of how pacing and structure of a world should be done.
I think for me the things that fell short was that we don't get too much information on the political play and how this world ended up this way. We get this kinda brief overview of major plot points but it seems very hard for me to accept a world where people just willingly allow their children to participate in this death match without some type of push back all while under the guise that it's to remember this long ago fought conflict. I understand that because this is a YA novel there isn't going to be too much focus on these aspects and instead shift more towards the personal struggles of our main character, but for my own personal reading enjoyment I would have liked a little more lore.
I will applaud the author for writing a character that is flawed, I feel like so many recent novels has a character that is either one extreme or the other: they either can not handle adversary and instead need to totally depend on (most often) a male character, or they are assumed to be such a badass that they can handle everything and it leads to pompous attitudes. Katniss is 100% aware that she's not the best, and several times in the book she makes mistakes and gets hurt but she also relies on herself often which I feel like a very great representation.
The way Katniss goes about her struggles reminds me very much of females in Studio Ghibli films, they are independent but also makes mistakes that they have to find a way out of.
My biggest issue with this book was that I hated the ending. There seems to be this constant flip-flop of romance and it seems like the author couldn't quite commit to if Katniss should have romantic feelings or not. I know that alot of the romance was tied to survival in the games and I know we as a reader are seeing her feelings develop over time but for me it seemed there was this disconnect. Moments while reading it seemed like things were flowing more consistently than other times and for me it felt very uneven in the progression of what to expect.
I'm sure this was the intended purpose since several times we are reminded that Katniss is not really looking for romance but then she leans into it as well, plus the setup for a possible conflict because of Gale kinda just added to the messiness of it all.
I will say that I did end up really liking the book and will continue on with the series, and I can see why so many books have followed the formula of this story because it really was a good outline of how pacing and structure of a world should be done.