 PUBLICATION YEAR: 2008
GENRE: Dystopian Fiction
PAGE COUNT: 374
FORMAT: Paperback
AVAILABLE AT : amazon
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Although I had not seen the movies , I knew a thing or two
about the story. Luckily there were no major
spoilers while going into this
book.
The story is about this girl Katniss who enters into a
reality show called “ The Hunger Games” . The format of this game is a bit like
“ Survival of the Fittest” or “ The Last Man Standing”. Two people – a boy
and a girl from each of the 12 districts
of this place called Panem are selected
randomly every year to participate . Contestants are supposed to kill each
other in order to win the coveted title. In addition to that, they are devoid
of food ,water and other necessary items needed for survival during these
games. They hunt, kill,catch and use any
other brute force to survive. The one person who manages to stay alive till the
end is the winner.
The main lead Katniss seemed like a head strong woman with
traits like courage, selflessness and determination. The story was narrated
from her perspective . The author did
not shy away from showing her vulnerable sides . She was shown as a woman with
a few flaws as well. She was not entirely perfect.This was refreshing because most
writers tend to show only the heroic sides of the main protagonist which seems
unrealistic and fake to me after a point.
The other characters included the two men- Gale and Peeta
who were alleged love interests to Katniss. Both are strong desirable men with
equal amounts of charming qualities. It is difficult to pick a favourite at
this point of the series. Apart from these three, there were a lot of other
interesting characters who carried the story forward. Some of the side
characters were my favourite in this book but if I give away the names it could
potentially SPOIL your reading experience.
The plot was interesting and relatable due to the entire
reality show angle. It very appropriately showed the drama and conspiracy that generally
happens in a TV reality show . It was
filled with varied emotions, struggles and fights for survival. You feel those
emotions just like those contestants. There were a few plot twists which I did
not see coming. Some of them were satisfying but some seemed forced .
As far as the romantic angle was concerned ,it seems like the love triangle angle between Katniss ,
Peeta and Gale is going to be a major sub plot in the upcoming books in the
series . This is a little bizarre considering we see very little to no
interaction between Gale and Katniss . The romantic tension between Katniss and
Peeta is thrown left , right and centre . I expect to see more of Gale in the
other books in order to be convinced that there actually exists a love triangle
situation. Moreover, Gale seems to be an interesting character to root for. 😉
The pacing of the book was pretty standard throughout. There
were no dull moments except for one towards the very end of the book. A lot of
unnecessary information were dumped after the major climax. The climax itself
was pretty average because this was exactly what I had predicted while I was halfway through the book.
Despite these minor flaws , the book was enjoyable and entertaining throughout.
It is like a reality show which we know
is of substandard level, and yet we cannot stop ourselves from watching and
enjoying – sort of like a Guilty Pleasure. 😉
I would definitely recommend this book and I am sure you will have a fun time reading
it.
RATING- 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 (4.5/5)
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