A review by turkeywithanf
House of Stairs by William Sleator

4.0

The OG Hunger Games. This is likely the book that catalyzed my interest in dystopian sci-fi literature way back in the 4th grade (and who knows, maybe planted a seed that would later become a degree in psychology). It was a pleasure to re-read after all these years. And while parts of it read as problematic these days (alright, dude, we get it, Blossom is fat, which is apparently so repugnant a character flaw that it needs to be mentioned even more than her actual repugnant character flaws), the story overall holds up. It is a pretty common type of story at this point, but there's enough unique qualities about it that it stands well enough on its own, As with one of my favorite books, Neuromancer, I wonder if we'll ever get a movie adaptation in the post-Hunger Games world. Not sure there's room for it but I'd still love to see someone try.