The Hunger Games
My initial impressions of Suzanne Collins dystopian novel were good ones. The cover is aesthetically pleasing, and the book is attractive at first glance. The story begins with a brief introduction of the main character, where sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in the nation of Panem ( a post-apocalyptic North America ) with her mother and her sister Prim. The country of Panem is comprised of 12 districts. Ruled by the capitol, district 12, where Katniss and her family live in the most impoverished district. Each of the districts is assigned an area of industry; district 12 is the district of coal mining.
As punishment for the districts rebellion attempts in early years of the capitols development, and as means of population control, one male and one female must be sacrificed from each district every year. Prim, Katniss's sister, is chosen and Katniss volunteers to take her place, putting Katniss in a rather strange position. Volunteering may have saved her sister's life, but she is risking her own, A boy was selected named Peta, at an earlier time he had given bread to Katniss when she was starving. The games consist of 24 Tributes all competing, and the only one can survive to be the victor of their district.
As the story progresses the level of suspense grows dramatically leading up to the games, in preparation, all tributes are assigned a previous victor from their district, Haymitch is assigned to Katniss and Peta. Haymitch seems to be a drunken, depressed man, however, has exceedingly useful advice as preparation for the games, and the games progress. Once the games begin Katniss finds her self yet again in a tricky situation. She is outnumbered and outgunned; she is forced to climb a tree full of wasp-like insects, after a small fight Katniss managed to get away mostly unharmed except for the tens of stings she received in her effort to survive. She finds her self unconscious in the forest. She wakes up three days later covered in leaves as bandaged and 12-year-old Rue at her side, aiding her back to life. Rue is a loving character and was Katniss sidekick for a seemingly short time until she is killed with a spear meant for Katniss. Later Katniss and Peta must go against the capitols wishes to both survive, they threatened suicide, Live together or die together.
Overall I enjoyed the book, and I would rate it 9/10, the plot is suspenseful and enticing, I would recommend it to my friends and fellow readers. I believe the intended audience would be boys or girls from ages 8-18. When I find the time, I plan to continue reading the rest of the series as I thoroughly enjoyed this initial installment.