After reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I was inspired to reread the Hunger Games trilogy. I was amazed by how much I forgot or misremembered. Then again, my last exposure to this world was probably the movies. :)

 

I still love these books so much!!

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

#1 The Hunger Games - ★★★★★



I am probably the last person posting a book review for The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

When the book came out, the movie followed shortly after. In that time, I decided to watch the movie rather than reading the book. The movie was amazing and I loved it. But a few years later, when this book found its way to me again, I needed to read it and solve the ultimate battle – movie versus books. As it usually happens in my case – the book version won – without any doubts.

The Hunger Games is a story about Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12, who lives with her mum and little sister in the poorest district of them all. She hunts in the woods with her friend/crush Gale in order to provide food for her family.

Surrounded by all twelve districts, there is the Capitol, the shiny city where all the rich and popular people live. A long time ago, the districts tried to go into war and lost. As part of the surrender, each year the Capitol organises a live TV show, called The Hunger Games. Every year, a boy and a girl from each district are randomly chosen to battle in an arena until the last man standing.

When Katniss’s little sister is chosen as the girl tribute from district 12, Katniss volunteers to take her place without even thinking. Both her and Peeta (the male tribute) are then headed over to the Capitol and the preparations for the games can begin.
In a world where people like watching children kill each other, it can be pretty upsetting to see this as a reality. I can’t help but think that unfortunately, people have some instinct left in them and are unconsciously enjoying watching other people suffer. Think of the gladiator fights, ultimate fighting matches and other events similar to these.

Putting that aside, what I love about this book was the attention to details. From the descriptions of the districts, to the preparations for the games. And the game itself was so well written that I kept turning page after page, desperate to see what will happen next.

I love Katniss, her bravery, her love for her little sister, all the sacrifices that she has made. Starting with her volunteering instead of her sister, to her love with Gale. Her spirit to make things right can be felt throughout the whole book. Her rebellion and her stance with all the people that are not treated fairly by the Capitol.

Even though presented as a Young-Adult, I am convinced this is a book every adult should read as well, and have a few thoughts about their surroundings. I loved the first book, and I can’t wait to start reading the second book of the series as well.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

There's not much to say about a book that has been reviewed, probably many here on BookLikes, that hasn't already been said. I'm mostly reading them and comparing the movies to the books and Suzanne Collins must have worked hard to get the movie really close to the book. It's been years since I've read the book and a week since I've watched the movie.

 

The Hunger Games is not my favorite YA series, that belongs to the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer.  The Hunger Games is probably 3rd after Artemis Fowl and then Harry Potter.  As for book series with movies, I think this will be 2nd behind the Harry Potter movies.  As for the Hunger Games as a whole, the only thing I didn't care for was Katniss's inner struggle of her love between Gale and Peeta.  But what's a YA without some first love interests.

 

As for the comparison, I've just cut and pasted what I have here and then added a little more about some of the differences.  Click here if you want to see the comparison.  Like I said reviews for all three Hunger Games books have been done many times and in many languages.  The Hunger Games book sold 4.3 million books in 2010 and jumped to 9.3 million in 2011.  In 2012 the sales tripled and now it's listed as 29 million in the U.S. alone.  The first movie in the series mad $694 million dollars, 2nd in the franchise.

 

All in all, I enjoyed both the movie and the book, Rating the book 4 stars  So now I move forward to the 2nd book, Catching Fire.

When I started here at BookLikes, I started doing my blog again, LQLarry Reads, and on the books, I just probably do what a lot of people do, which is cut and paste what I post here.  I also like to compare books to movies and make some other observations.

 

The reason I'm choosing to read The Hunger Games series is that I walked into the room my wife watches TV and The Hunger Games was on so I lingered and watched about five minutes of it and left it behind.  I enjoyed all the movies and enjoyed the books by Suzanne Collins with this probably the first YA book series that I've read (make it second after Harry Potter).  So on my blog, I'll do just small comparisons and not really reviews since they're old and most everybody has read and watched both sets.

 

This will be my 3rd read of the 1st book, and last Sunday I watched the 1st 3 movies and last night I watched the 4th.  I enjoyed the movies and I'm enjoying the book, and the audiobook as well.

Audience: Young Adult

Format: Audiobook

Library Copy

 

 

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

- first sentence

 

This is a re-read for me. I watched the movies during a marathon over the holiday break and was inspired to read the books again. This time I decided to go with the audiobook.

 

I chose the new "Special Edition" and am so glad I did. The narrator is Tatiana Maslany and she did a fantastic job.

 

There isn't much I can say that hasn't been said about this book except I loved it. I will mention that this series, Harry Potter, and Twilight are the books that got me back into reading after a very long slump approximately 10 years ago. To say these books changed my life is not an understatement. :)