Ok since I really haven't had much time this week to catch up on shows I thought why not share the one thing I have done after homework and such. Read...in fact for the last 3 weeks I have done nothing but be addicted to this new series The Hunger Games. Yes I know it is a young adult series and I am what you call an old adult...ok well I like to believe 29 is not really that OLD! I will admit yes I love reading all kinds of books, but for some reason YA books grab my interest more than those made for older adults. Maybe it is due to the fact that I still like to dream and believe that fairy tales can come true.
I started this series after my sister Cassie and I discussed that a movie was coming out about it in March of 2012, I figured I would do the right thing this time unlike what I did with Harry Potter and read the books first. See when I read I like to start coming up with details for each person and in the end I end up pinpointing them to what actor or actress should play them if a movie was ever made. Now I started reading the first book and never once researched the movie on the Internet until I was into the second book, so that I wouldn't hinder my thoughts on what I believed each character looked like. I was pretty dang close I might say!
Since I am into the third book already I don't want to spoil a whole lot for everyone so I will just recap the first and maybe in a week or so come back for the second then the third, well once I finish that one.
The Hunger Games: Book 1
By Suzanne Collins
The story is being told from the point of view of sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen who lives in a post apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. This is where the government, working in a central city called the Capitol, holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual event where one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected to compete.
As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year, pulls names out of a lottery and forced to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised event in which the participants, or "tributes," must fight to the death in a dangerous, outdoor arena, controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains. Katniss, her mother and younger sister Primrose live in District 12. Her best friend is Gale Hawthorne, and she breaks the law with him regularly to go hunting in the woods surrounding their district, which is a forbidden act, yet they never get caught as because many important people buy their kills. She volunteers to be a tribute in the Games in order to save her sister, Primrose Everdeen, who was originally chosen..
Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, a former Hunger Games victor, instructs them to learn about the other tributes. They are then publicly displayed to the Capitol audience. During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his long-time unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain audience support for the Games, which can be crucial for survival, as audience members are encouraged to send gifts like food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games. The Games begin and Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and outdoor skills to survive. As the games continue, the tribute death toll increases. Days later, Katniss develops a short alliance with a twelve year-old girl from District 11, Rue, who reminds Katniss of her sister Prim. When Rue is killed by another tribute, Katniss shoots him through the side of the neck with one of her arrows and comforts dying Rue. She sings to her, and then spreads flowers all over her body as a sign of disgust towards the Capitol.
Supposedly due to Katniss and Peeta's beloved image in the minds of the audience as "star-crossed lovers," a rule change is announced midway through the games, stating that two tributes from the same district can win the Hunger Games as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and finds him wounded. She nurses him back to health and acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors. When the couple are finally the last two tributes, the Gamemakers suddenly reverse the rule change and try to force them into a dramatic finale, where one must kill the other to win. Katniss, in the hopes that the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, retrieves the poison berries called “nightlock” from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Upon realising that Katniss and Peeta mean to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
Though she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero's welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society's authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken to learn that their relationship was at least partially a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience, although Katniss remains unsure of her own feelings.
Now let me tell you I have never been one to get hooked on any kind of Sci-Fi readings, I can however get into movies or television shows that are Sci-Fi based. Something within this series just captivates you and pulls you in, maybe it's the character Katniss or maybe it could even be Peeta. I don't know what it is about this story but I have not been able to put it down. In a week or so I will give you book two, and believe me if you decide to go for it and start the series you won't be disappointed, by the end of book one you are begging for more.
Happy Reading!
Tarah
