A review by vertellerpaul
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4.0

There is a lot wrong with this book. The plot could be summarized in five lines. The characters are mostly flat without much development. The lead character, whose perspective we follow, is often sullenly doing what the situation asks of her. Much of what happens is predictable, although there are some nice (and nasty) surprises. Many sentences are stunted, images badly chosen, dialogue halting. The entire book seems to be a rather simple front end for a complicated and interesting, dystopian backstory. And the plot holes in both front- and backstory are big enough to fly a hovercraft through. But maybe we shouldn't look for logic in a book such as this.
So, why four stars? Because I couldn't put it down. Because I enjoyed this weird, dystopian future world. The contrast between the coal black from District 12 and the flamboyant colors of the Capitol. The cliffhangers, sudden changes of fortune, highly original storyline, weird situations, lovely details, black humor. And mainly the whole atmosphere of this book.