A review by anneklein
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4.5

Yep, finally! This was my first time reading this book, as I didn't feel particularly interested in its concept as a kid (and the nuances of political dissent and all that would have escaped me back then, unfortunately). When I was younger I wasn't drawn to books or stories that are violent for the sake of it, and I'm still not, to be honest; but I wanted to read The Hunger Games at some point because I knew that there was a point to "kids killing each other" beyond the voyeurism and action of it all. And I think it was good to wait because there were so many nuances and themes that I picked up on as a 25-year-old that I maybe wouldn't have noticed as a kid.

For example:

• The beauty culture and standards in the Capitol vs. in Katniss's District 12: in the Capitol, body modification, plastic surgery and thinness are promoted, and the goal is to have a pristine untouched body with no evidence of life on it, whereas in District 12 plumpness is seen as a status symbol since very few people there get enough to eat
• Relatedly: the fascist dichotomy of cleanliness vs. dirtiness and the way the Capitol weaponises that, in and outside the Games (olfactory ethics, anyone?)
• The Capitol's need to eliminate any visible disability: when they heal Katniss after the Games, they reconstruct her left ear, which she had gone deaf in during the Games. They also eliminate all her scars, not just the ones from her time in the Games but the scars and marks she has had all her life.
• People's different ways of expressing dissent with their oppressors: District 12 uses their silence as a way to express dissent, not cheering at the TV recaps of the Games, because they are made to feel like they don't have any other power to resist the Capitol. Cinna quietly expresses his disagreement with the Games through the outfits he creates for Katniss, more so towards the end of the book than at the beginning; the outfit he makes for her winner ceremony tries to amplify the fact that she's but a kid, trying to provoke guilt in the Capitol for organising such a brutal yearly occasion. District 11 sends Katniss bread during the Games even though she is not their tribute and this is a very unlikely thing for a district to do, all because she helped Rue, District 11's girl tribute.

There's just so many cool things to dissect, and of course, it helps that the writing is propulsive and the actual pace and unfolding of the plot are very readable and addictive. The romance arc is also so classic, with Peeta being into Katniss for real but she doesn't realise and keeps thinking he is making it up as a strategy to win audiences over. The whole time there is this dramatic irony in you as a reader seeing through it all so clearly, and Katniss as our protagonist not being able to notice what seems fairly obvious to us. It's a part of the story that added some much-needed levity to balance out the heavy themes.

I also enjoyed the writing style, surprisingly; it was direct and to the point but it didn't shy away from using complex sentence structures or poetic language every so often, whenever the story needed it. It was not mind-blowing stylistically, don't get me wrong, but it did not treat the reader like they were stupid which is more than can be said for a lot of children's and young adult books.

The characters were well-developed as people, they did not feel flat at all (with a couple of exceptions), and if anything, I'd say one of the strengths of the book is that it shows us how everybody is complex beyond our first impression of them: Madge, Cinna, Haymitch, Thresh, even Effie, are all characters that Katniss judges at first glance but who are later revealed to have more layers to their persona. And it's really skilled of Suzanne Collins to do this even when some of these characters appear really briefly, such as Madge or Peeta's father.

I really appreciated this book and while I think it might have impacted me more had I read it as a young adult, I also feel like I love the view that reading it as an adult has given me, the perspective and critical analysis skills I can bring to my reading experience, which made it a very satisfying read. It probably won't shoot up to the top of my list of life-changing books or my all-time favourites, but it was a very rewarding experience and I can't wait to continue the series.