The Hunger Games

Minor spoilers ahead but fewer than you will find on the front cover flap of the book itself so…

I stopped watching most movie trailers about ten years ago when the one for Cast Away showed him (Tom Hanks) lost on a desert island and all that but then also proceeded to show him back in civilization being reunited with everyone. I couldn’t believe it. If we already know he gets back safe and sound then what is the point? It was then that I finally realized that movie studios are in the business of making money and don’t really care at all if they spoil movies in their previews. They just show anything and everything they think will sell the most tickets.

The last book I read convinced me to avoid reading blurbs on book covers as well. The protagonist gets married at one point in the book and even starts a family but thanks to a spoiler on the book’s own cover I already knew that she is really going to end up with someone else and this whole relationship with her first husband isn’t going to last so I could barely be bothered to care about it at all.

Thankfully Krissy (just as she has before) recommended The Hunger Games without giving any information about it other than the title. This allowed me to discover EVERYTHING about it on my own and in the order that the author intended. Thanks for that Krissy. Much appreciated! It was touch and go for a bit in the bookstore though. When the saleslady found out I knew absolutely nothing about the book and was going to buy it blind I suddenly saw this tiny gossipy sparkle ignite in her eyes and knew that a thorough synopsis was imminent. I desperately tried to think of a nice way to tell her that I would really really really prefer NOT to “know all about it.” Sure that I only had milliseconds left I just blurted out DON’T TELL ME! This did indeed shut her up after she had only managed the words “Well basically it’s…” I will always remember the look of total bewilderment in her eyes. How could I possibly not have wanted her to give me all the juicy details? I guess I’m just weird that way.

The Hunger Games grabs onto you nearly immediately and does not let go. Thanks to my fully intact no prior knowledge status I was not immediately sure where and more importantly when this story was unfolding. (That's right, I didn't even read the cover flaps until I had finished the book.) It seemed like it may have been in the past but the font of the page numbers also hinted of a time yet to come. I soon discovered that I was reading about the future of North America and that things had changed a bit.

To me it seems a premise like this one arises when an author tries to think of the absolute extreme scenario; the one which will induce the maximum amount of gut wrenching and or heart rending in its readers. (What about heart wrenching? I’m just not quite sure what that means.)

Yes, this book is about children dying. Not just dying, being killed, being murdered, by other children in fact. Of course cute little innocent children would never do such things voluntarily so they must be forced somehow, hence the need for a futuristic setting where society has become unrecognizable and unimaginable.

This premise, although repugnant and sticky, does indeed provide ample opportunities for acts of selflessness and bravery, for recollections of precious memories, for cherishing life that could end any moment and of course desperately hoping for our protagonist in a way that we seldom do in other stories. There are a few places where you may find the need to pause and actually put the book down for a few moments while you pull yourself together. While always keeping you on the edge of your seat it does hit mercilessly hard now and then.

I made sure I stopped reading during my penultimate sitting with about 100 pages left to go. I hate having to stop just before the very end because it’s getting way too late and I have to get up early the next morning. I like to leave plenty of room to be sure I am well back into the story to enjoy the ending fully. Besides, an extra day of anticipation is nice too.

My only disappointment in this book involves the ending, far from being the best of the book it is easily the weakest part. You finally realize that you have just being reading a segue (yeah I thought it was just spelled segway too) into the next book. In fact immediately following the last line of the book you will see this: END OF BOOK ONE. I’m quite positive the publisher insisted on inserting this line to prevent the inevitable disaster of millions of people returning their books claiming the final chapters were missing. I’m also smelling yet another love triangle coming on. Nooooo… not again. Will she choose Mr. Darcy or Mr. Wickham, Mr. Churchill or Mr. Knightly, Colonel Brandon or Mr. Willoughby, Colin Firth or Hugh Grant, Edward or Jcub. Why is it that female writers seem to love having their heroines being pursued by or at least having to choose between multiple suitors all the bloody time? Maybe I’m totally wrong in this case. Let’s hope so… but, I doubt it.

Thankfully the next book in the series, Catching Fire, is already out and the third and apparently final one comes out on August 24 this year. Maybe I’ll wait until then to read the next two together in order to avoid any further “to be continued” frustration.

The Hunger Games is a truly gripping story that will definitely leave you wanting more. Thankfully there is more available now with the real ending arriving in August. I’m so there!