The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I know I'm a little late on this trend, but a copy of The Hunger Games was literally put into my hands, so it was hard to put off reading the series any longer.  I wish I hadn't put it off so long.  It's really, really good, and very haunting.
Quick list of favourite things in this book:

• All of Katniss's stylists have the names of either Roman emperors or well-known senate members.  (Also, the interviewer dude is Caesar, and I pictured him as Hamilton-ish [from Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility].)
• Katniss does not care about romance at all.  It's not even on her radar.  On one hand, her obliviousness about the fact that Peeta is really in love with her can be a little annoying, but on the other, she's not giving though to it because survival is most important.  I am totally behind that.  I feel bad for Peeta a little, but at the same time, I love Katniss for being--well, not so girly.  In other news, those of you wearing "Team Peeta" and "Team Gale" shirts are probably idiots.  It's pretty clear even from just this that romance isn't going to be a priority, thank goodness.  
• The Foxfaced girl.  There's something about her.  I want to know more about her, even though she's dead and only shows up like twice.

Runner-ups:

• The fact that Peeta is a bread baker... Like pita bread.  Hehe.
• The fact that even the characters in the book seem to be aware of what a stupid name Katniss is.  (Gale calling her "catnip" as her nickname.  That has to be Suzanne Collins mocking herself.)

So--onto the rest.  If you don't know what this is at all, you've been living under a rock for the past two weeks/probably don't have a Tumblr, and if that's true... How are you reading this?  But here's a basic summary: on the remains of the US, a new land has arisen, split into thirteen districts and the Capitol.  Each district is based off of something--Katniss's is the coal district, there's an agricultural district, fishing district, and so on.  Many years ago, the districts tried to rebel against the posh Capitol, and in the end, the thirteenth district was destroyed.  To punish the other districts and remind them of their pattern, every year the Capitol holds the hunger games.
A hunger game is set in a predetermined area, different every year.  Two teenagers from each district (except thirteen, obviously) is chosen to fight while surviving in this area.  They must forage for themselves, though sometimes their sponsors send food and medicine, and they do have a pick for weapons--though they must fight the other kids to have a pick at the weapons left in the beginning of the game.  Last man standing wins (though in this hunger game the rules are changed, since prior to the games Katniss and Peeta play up the idea that they are in love, Peeta of course being serious, and Katniss being like, whatever), so it's essentially a big old gladiator battle.  (And why it makes sense that all these Capitol folk have Roman names...)
So.  As you may have gathered, Katniss was drawn for the games (technically her younger sister was, but Katniss volunteered in Prim's place), as was Peeta.  Let's go:

Oh, yeah.  Gale is a friend of Katniss's.  In the beginning of the book they have snuck outside of the fence that contains their district and are hunting illegally.  This is how they feed themselves and their family, because District 12 is really, really poor, especially their families.  On the morning before "the reaping" (when they choose the candidates for the games) Gale suggests that they run away to live in the woods.  It doesn't appear to be romantically charged, at least as not as much as it may sound, but it could be.  There's not a lot of Gale in this volume.  Anyways, the point is, he doesn't exist as simply a romance object (and now you understand the "Team Gale" thing I said earlier).
I also love how down-to-earth Katniss is--Katniss goes a little to the extreme, and it could prove dangerous for her later, but still: "As I walk, I glance over at Gale's face, still smoldering underneath his stony expression.  His rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so.  It's not that I don't agree with him.  I do.  But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods?  It doesn't change anything.  It doesn't make things fair.  It doesn't fill our stomachs.  In fact, it scares off the nearby game.  I let him yell though.  Better he does it in the woods than in the district" (Collins 14).  I completely respect the attitude that she has.

Oh yeah, the stylists... Well, the competitors have to be spruced up.  Katniss is cleaned, shaved for the first time in her life, scars are fixed, etc.  And they are presented to an audience (it's basically a reality TV show) before the games in interviews and so on.  They are given fancy clothes and an "edge"--sexy, mysterious, tough, et cetera.  So.  The stylists' names: Venia, Octavia, Cinna and Flavius (at least the ones on the page I marked).  Octavia=Octavius=Augustus Caesar, Flavius is a lesser-known emperor, Cinna was on the consul, and although there are multiple Cinnas (obviously), the one I'm most familiar with is the poet that was murdered in a riot for having the same name as the consul member.  And... okay, fine.  I don't know of any famous Roman named Venia, but it is Latin.  Apparently people have been complaining about Lenny Kravitz being cast as one of the stylists (Cinna, I think), but as long as he's done a good job, what does it really matter?  Sorry that he's black...?
Oh, speaking of the stylists, one of the things I'm really excited to see in the film is the outfits.  Suzanne Collins is incredibly talented in writing descriptions (especially that of food!), and of the dresses Katniss wears during interviews and so on.  "...My dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design.  The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfed in tongue of fire.  I am not pretty.  I am not beautiful.  I am as radiant as the sun" (Collins 121).

Oh--and going along with the Stylist's names, there's Caesar, the interviewer.  I hope I don't need to explain the Roman importance of his name.  

One thing people have been up in arms about is the fact that Rue was black in the movie.  Well, duh.  She's described as being black.  Not only that, she's from the agricultural district--she picks from morning till night, if she stops she gets whipped, if she steals she gets whipped.  You'd have to be an idiot not to draw the obvious connection between that and a plantation.  Even if Collins hadn't described her as having dark skin, it very nearly would be an automatic to have her be black in the movie because there's no way you can't make that connection.  So... So yeah, calm down world.
And--Rue--well, here come the spoilers.  Her death was heartbreaking and beautiful.  And in a way, I'm glad it happened.  As they got closer and friendlier, I started getting scared--because at that point, the rules hadn't changed.  Only one person could win.  One of them would have to kill the other.  So once the fact was over... Well... In a sick way, I was a little relieved.  Because Katniss would have to kill Rue, and that just wouldn't be possible.  Katniss kills Rue's killer, however, covers Rue in flowers, and sings a lullaby to her to ease her into her death.  It's a beautiful scene.

Later, Katniss makes it back to Peeta, and they care for each other.  (Mostly Katniss caring for Peeta.)  This when they play up the fake relationship the most--Peeta kissing her for real, Katniss focusing on what was truly important--survival.  At one point Peeta asks Katniss to tell her a story, so she tells him about when she got her sister's goat--I only mention it because Collins has these clever ways of wording sentences every so often that I really enjoy... "It was an excellent deal if the goat lived; I'd been robbed if she died.  People took sides in the argument, but I took the goat" (Collins 272).

Also, fans of Skyward Sword: there are birds named grooslings.  I can't take any part of the book that mentions them seriously.

I really don't have much to say until the book's end.  I mean, Katniss lives--obviously--and I think I've already mentioned that Peeta does as well.  The rules changed, like I said--when it's just them left there's an announcement that the rules never really changed, so they decide to kill themselves with poisonous berries at the same time, but right before they can swallow they are stopped, it announces that they both win, and although all the people are happy, the Capitol higher-ups are pissed, because that along with what Katniss did for Rue are considered high acts of rebellion.  Certainly this is what sets the stage for the rebellious acts that begin to run rampant in the next two books--and the book ends with Katniss on the train back home realizing she's in potentially more danger than she ever was in the games now because she has made the Capitol mad.
She also considers Peeta's relationship with her and Gale's--who does she care for and whatnot.  She says she misses him already, she feels bad for offending him... But I don't believe this is grounds for saying she loves him as lover or cares for him more than anything else or anything like that.  She cares for him because they shared that danger, and they were the only ones that did--in a time of trauma, they came together. but it doesn't necessarily mean in a romantic way.  Well, I guess I'll have to see how this all pans out...

All in all, this is a really good book.  Yeah, for the age group, and even an adult could read it.  It's not "dumbed down" in its writing or content--how much the book affects you is more according to your own age rather than the book's level of writing.  (For example, a kid may not think twice about the "mutts", but that and its implications disturbed me.)  It's a neat action story, with more to it than being just that.  It's almost--it's almost like a younger adults version of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield (minus the fourth book in that series!  Ugh).  Or at least that's what it reminds me of, though to be fair I haven't read that series in four or five years, and maybe I'm just associating them because that was the last new series I read and enjoyed and because both were recommended to me (and lent to me) by the same person.  Well, whatever.  This is a good dystopian future series, and so is Westerfield's series.  Read them both, then let me know whether my connection between the two of them is unfounded or not.  Please.
Anyways, read the book, you'll be glad you did--it's worth the hype.  Collins is talented.  The books are well-written.  The ideas are intriguing.  The main character isn't a wet rag.  You'll read it in about two days.  Gooo doooo itttt.


MLA Citation Information: Collins, Suzanne.  The Hunger Games.  Scholastic Press: New York, 2008.