review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I finally read Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I wasn’t intending to read it, mind you. I had the first chapter that Barnes and Nobles gives you for free and I wasn’t overwhelmingly thrilled. I had said that I wouldn’t pay full price for the book. It hadn’t read as bad as some books I’ve had to read for school, that after that crucial first chapter, I picked up and threw across the room. (The Hobbit, what can I say I just didn’t like the writing) I said that I would not go out of my way to read it but if it came to me for free… I would read it. I can’t argue with a free book.




After reading the free sample, I realized that part of the problem was that the entire story was written in present tense. That is just sloppy writing. The editor should have remedied that problem. It wasn’t a thrilling first sixty six pages. The plot was set out in a normal fashion and there were no immediate catches to the reader’s eye. Afterwards, I was not further inspired to read the rest of the book.




Then, I was presented with a free copy of the full book. I decided to give it a second try. The first part was about the same as I remembered. The story and plot was a basic one. A post apocalyptic wasteland ruled by a minority “aristocracy”. There was a plot device was the more common fish out of water and trying to survive. There was some brief intrigue thrown in, in the way of a mild love interest and almost a love triangle but not quite. The book felt incomplete and unfinished. There are sequels available but cliffhangers are for TV and movies , not for books.




All in all, I don’t think I would reread this book. That is my judgment of a books worthiness, it’s re-read-ability. I have books I have read 20 times or more because I love the characters so much and their stories seems so real. This story just seems so out of sync with real life. Not with reality, I understand it’s a fiction book, but real emotion and how people relate to one another. I couldn’t put myself in one of the character’s shoes and say, “YES!, that’s EXACTALLY what I would do!”.