This incredible book by the author Suzanne Collins is an action, science-fiction, thriller and drama novel mixed with love. It got published in September 2008 and made a huge success. And as many other successful books, they made a film adaptation of it which had world premiere in March 2012, with the actor Jennifer Lawrence as the main character in the story, Katniss Everdeen. The story is played in the far future in Panem, which is a fictional nation that is supposed to be the remains of the western side of North America. Panem is ruled by a dictatorship that is led by President Snow. It is divided in 12 districts and one city that is superior and is called The Capitol.
The story is about a girl, Katniss Everdeen, and the world she is forced to live in. She lives in District 12 with her mother and her sister, her father was blown up in a coal mine explosion. They live very poorly and she is the one who brings the food to the table by illegally hunting animals in the woods with her bow and arrow.
Every year, a girl and a boy between the ages 12 and 18 from each district are chosen and forced to compete in a game called The Hunger Game. The person that wins gets a lot of money and food and gets to live in comfort in their home district. But to win you have to kill the other players in an arena full of danger. Also the game is televised live so that the whole Panem is able to see you while you try to survive and kill the other players, or as they are called in the story, tributes. The game was invented by The Capitol after the districts rebelled against it which led to a war that almost exterminated the human race. But The Capitol won and invented The Hunger Games as a punishment and to show the districts the power they have.
Suzanne Collins said in an interview that the thing that inspired her to write the story was that one night she was channel surfing and she saw on one channel a group of young people competing, and on the next one a group of young people fighting in an actual war. So she put these two together and came up with Katniss Story. She was also inspired from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaurher and from her dad whom fought in a war in Vietnam when she was a kid.
This story is breathtaking. When you start reading it you will not be able to stop because almost the whole story throughout is intense and exciting. And the best part of it is that the story does not really end here. Suzanne Collins wrote two other books in The Hunger games series called Catching fire and Mockingjay. So what are you waiting for? Go grab one from the nearest book shop or library, I promise you will not be disappointed!
Elev SA13