Tags
book, book review, catching fire, hunger game series, hunger games, mockingjay, NaBloPoMo, review
So did you come here thinking I will be doing Thursday challenge unfortunately I don’t have that luxury as I do it on the project 365 blog, so TC is here for those interested
And all those who are (includes me) excited on so many people doing the marathon together I have a good news for you. Some more people have joined the fun please see the updated list here, also I have added the link to the updated list in my sidebar for those who wanna check at anytime who all are participating So now to the main post, Lets talk about Hunger Games
Some days back when I asked around in twitter for a book reco to buy my first book in Kindle lot of people suggested Hunger Games till that time I had heard of the name sometimes too but I wasn’t fully aware of what the book is about. Couple of tweets exchanged with some people and within 15 minutes I was convinced that it is a book that must be read. And I connected by Kindle to the wifi, went to the amazon store and there bought the book, within seconds I had the book in my hands (that’s one of the things I am loving about Kindle, instant gratification, we are a generation which doesn’t like to wait for anything, always in hurry the instant generation as my mom calls us)
Hunger games is a 3 book series based in Post apocalyptic world based in Panem (the former United States). Panem is divided into 12 districts and ruled by The Capitol to whom all the twelve districts supply essentials like clothes, electronics, coal, agriculture etc in return for the food Capitol gives them the rationed food. The main protagonist of the story Katniss, a 16 year old girl who lives in the coal mining district 12 were everything is less, whether its food, clothes or fun. Everyday survival is a huge issue and to top it all there are hunger games – the games started by The Capitol to remind all districts of the revolt they did against the capitol about 75 years back. 2 kids from each district are chosen every year to fight against each other to kill each other until one remains and the district from where the child is doesn’t remain hungry for that year. They get abundant food and clothing as a prize for killing the other 23 children. The whole event is televised for the people in The Capitol to enjoy for whom this the highlight sport of the year and for the districts to watch their children die in front of them and refresh the reminder that what one revolt did to them, to make them realise that who is the true ruler.
The book plays with the human sentiments of love, hate and passion. Makes us realise that
in the end we are all animals living for the sake of entertainment along with the basic needs. It shocks you by the way people can create on the things people can take joy from. While reading we all know its a make believe fictional world but its not at all difficult to get lost into it and feel for it.
Now to the protagonist Katniss the very fact that she is female is enough to make me love her the regular readers of the blog will now but apart from that there is something about her that makes one admire her if not anything. She started hunting in the forbidden woods after her father died and made her best friend Gale, how she takes upto supporting her family at the age of 12, how she stands upto to prevent her sister from the hunger games. The best thing is that through the novel Collins has not tried to create pity on her as was the case with the shaking Bella of Twilight. She has a mind of her own, a conviction and intuition that is hard to beat and yet a weakness somewhere that is easy to catch. All in all her character seems very real.
The first book in the series Hunger games deal with what happens when Katniss and Peeta (the other child from District 12) enter the Hunger Game arena, will one of them come out alive?
The book is pacy, gory and makes you hate the world at time but is unputdownable. When I started reading the book for an two hours or so I couldn’t put the book down for anything, not even for a bio break. Initially I thought its the new kindle effect but it was soon clear its the effect of the book as I finished the whole series in 4 days flat. Everynight reminding myself dude its 1am in the night sleep and 1 would change to 2 and 2 to 3 when I would finally force myself to keep it down knowing very well that I have to get up at 7am.
And its not just the first book, all three books maintain the pace and keep up gripped to them. Read them that will Katniss be able to raise her voice against The Capitol? Will people realise its high time they did something to save their own children and most important Will the Hunger Games ever get over or just take another ugly turn?
Final Word : A fast pacy series, but a series which is more than mere fiction. According to me its the story of a brutal society, a society which we can become if we don’t keep things in check. Its the ode to democracy and a book which makes one realise yet again how important freedom and meeting basic needs is.
Book : Hunger Game Series (Hunger Game, Catching Fire, MockingJay)
Author : Suzanne Collins
Rating : 4/5
Monika's World 
This certainly is interesting….but that hunger games seems so monstrous, isnt it ??? But dont we do things, when pushed to the extremes of hunger ???
I suddenly remember “In the Life of Pi” – how he ate all those yeww things on the boat, just for survival !!!
Since u have rated it a 4/5, I think it’ll go into my list of must reads. 🙂
Hey !!! FIRST !!! We need to celebrate – u coming first in my blog and me coming first here…. 🙂 🙂
yeah bring on the cake and wine
yes very heartbreaking but its a great read uma do pick it up
and yeah survival makes one do lots of stuff we never imagined we wld can do… life of a pi was a great book too
very interesting! lemme see if the library has it and pick it up! 🙂
yeah check it out now a days N is hooked to it. was reading it day before till 2:30 and finished the first book yesterday till 1
I jsut dont get time to read anymore.. wish i do , i oculd do with reading a few books ..
sigh I hate when I dont get time to read for me I have to read
Nice review.
Don’t u miss having a hard bound book ? That is one reason i am not buying the kindle.
oh I have been putting off buying a kindle for the exact same reason abhinav but there is just no space in the house so have to resort to it. I guess I will be creating a balance, the book from library will still be hardbound paper so my wish will get fulfilled
Shall read! and will then come back and read the review 🙂
are but I thought u shld read the review before the book and it doesnt contain spoilers
Ha ha Instant gen we def. are 🙂
Oh ya Monu! U hv more work on ur hands, with dng the TC on the other blog 🙂
Being able to maintain the pace in 3 books is like Wow!
no only TC darling project 365 a picture everyday sigh and u dont comment at all there these days 😦 I am sad 😦 😦
I meant u hv more work on this NaBloPoMo, bcoz u cnt even do the TCs here 😛 Wed and Thu are like weekly-off for me lol 😆
Will pick them up at the library. Thanks for the review. 🙂
anytime dear
That was a wonderful review… Generates that Instant urge to pick this up after all we are instant gen. ( as u said so rightly)
But why do i have a feeling that i have seen some movie exactly same theme and story line! Does anyone else feel the same?
Unfortunately i dont remember name at all.
is it? I didnt get that feeling when I was reading it to me the plot seemed fresh may be I missed the movie…
wow. this was the first book i read on my kindle when i bought in feb. and i really really loved the series. it’s one of the best i’ve ever read. and the way it remains in your head long after you’ve read it is just amazing. i get goosebumps every time i think about it. specially loved the ending. the best part was how the tone of the story was maintained throughout the 3 books. and i love love love my kindle. currently reading the song of ice and fire series by george r. r. martin. if you like fantasy it’s a must read. very dark but good.
Wow..that certainly does sound like an interesting book. Hope to get my hands on it soon.
Never heard of the book(s) until now, Mon. Looks like a really engrossing read. Will try to lay hands on it.
Btw, Mon, will mesg u abt Kindle shortly.
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When I read the Hunger Games, I read it straight through the night, from 1AM til 5AM. Couldn’t stop reading even though I had to pee badly. After I finished it, I was dying for the sequel. DYING!!!! When I found out the ARC would be available in the spring, I bribed everyone I could think of to get me one. And yes, I got it. The day I got it, I couldn’t look at it until 1AM again. This time, I promised myself, I would only look at the first chapter and then put it down. Riiiiight. It was 4:30AM when I finished reading and immediately began plotting to find out when the next book ARC would be available.
I thought the first one was fantastic. In the back of my mind I felt that the sequel just couldn’t be as good. How could it? Boy was I wrong! It was even better! My heart was racing the whole time I was reading it and I simply couldn’t put it down. I believe Ms. Collins is the MASTER of the pageturner. Every chapter ends with almost a cliffhanger feeling. It compels you to keep reading. It physically traps you into the book so that you just can’t put it down. If you can’t read this book in one sitting, then I urge you not to even look at it until you can. Like the first one, you will not be able to put it down. The house could have been on fire and I doubt I would have noticed.
Since we got to know Peeta and Katniss so well from the first one, what the sequel does is invest us even more deeply into their emotional well being. I won’t give any other spoilers than what has already been said. So the book starts with Katniss as the face of the rebellion because of her act of defiance in the first book. As rebellion grows, the President sets up his revenge – and when I found out what it was, I literally sat up in bed and shouted “Oh NO! I can’t believe they are doing this to them!!!” Yes I was talking to my book. That’s how deeply this book sucks you into this amazing and disturbing dystopian world. It makes you want to grab up a weapon and join the rebellion.
One thing I have to say, I was deeply satisfied with the ending of this book. The first book ended in such a way that I was bothered by it and itchy for the next book. With the end of Catching Fire, I felt it was absolutely right and thrilled with the conclusion. But I’m still DYING for the third and final book of this amazing book series.