In order to try and make myself read better quality books, I shall be doing a book review once a week. I was going to review Emma (oh, Jane Austen, you write so well), but I'm not quite finished it yet.
So I thought I would review some books I read on my holiday in Spain. I'd heard of The Hunger Games, what with the film coming out, but I'd not thought to read them. My cousin thrust the first book upon me on the second day of the holiday and told me to read them. I was a) ecstatic at the fact this boy who couldn't sit still as a child actually reads now and b) happy to oblige. It's one of the few times I comply when someone orders me to do something...
The book follows Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old girl. The only way I can describe her is hardcore. She is strong, and brave and does what she can to keep her family alive. She hunts, she makes traps, if she were real, I'd want to be her best friend. Because if we were ever stuck on a desert island, she'd know what to do.
When her sister is selected to compete in the Hunger Games (where 12 girls and 12 boys compete to be the last one alive), she puts herself forward, fully expecting to die. What did I say? Hardcore. The first book is based around the Hunger Games, and the second and third books...well...I'd rather not say as I'd hate to give out spoilers. You can read a better synopsis here:
And while you're at it...buy the books...
Brilliantly written, the storyline gripped me. I was pestering my cousin for the second and third installment before I'd finished the previous book. Just in case I finished it when he was sleeping and had no way of starting the next one...
It's darker than any teenage fiction I read when I was younger. The development of the characters, their reaction to what is going around them felt so believable. I sped through the books, desperate to see what the end was, to see what happens. The only thing that ruined the books a little for me was my cousin and his twin brothers repeatedly asking how much I'd read, where I had gotten to, and then exclaiming at the speed in which I read. I calmly answered their queries while internally screaming "LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M READING" and wishing I had somewhere to hide with my three books for a couple of days.
I passed the books onto Corey, who doesn't really have the same taste in books as I do. He too thoroughly enjoyed them. It's a series that appeals to the masses, without letting go of good writing and incredible story lines.
Not for those who don't like gory details depicted rather graphically. Personally, I liked how the book didn't "cut the scene" when things got messy. I also liked how the violence and gore added to the storyline and affected the characters. Quite often they're added, just to sell a book or a film. But not once while reading the books did I think "Was that part REALLY necessary?"
Oh, and the romancy bits? Not at all Hollywood. There's no love at first sight, or gushing etc. Katniss? Gushing? Falling in love with just a glance? If she had, I would have thrown the books down in disgust and refused to read the rest of it. I would be as disappointed with the entire series as I was by Trudi Canavan's Black Magician series. Which I loved until the final chapter...and now I can't ever again read a book she has written. Trust me...I've tried...
If you're late in the game (as I was) and wondering what all the fuss is about, go now and read these books. Chances are, you can borrow them from someone you know. If you're anything like me, though, and like to keep books you enjoy, you should probably go and buy them...*
*I borrowed the books from my cousin and, as he's unlikely to read them again, he gave them to me. I can't say that I complained about it...
**In case you're wondering...Gale's alright, but...Team Peeta, all the way.
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