The Hunger Games
Ratings3,701
Average rating4.1
i didn't really like the depression and all but i continued the series anyways
I always try to read a book before I see the movie. However, I swore off all young adult fiction after reading the Twilight series. I actually had no desire to even see the Hunger Games movie until my husband watched it and told me it was pretty good. He was right!! So then I decided to read the entire series before I see any other movies.
The book didn't disappoint. I wouldn't say it was the most exciting book ever, but it did add a little more detail to what I've already seen in the movie and sets up an all around great idea for a series.
I really hate my head though, because of course as I was reading I pictured everything the way it was in the movie. District 12 looked like the gray rainy streets in the movie. Katniss was Jennifer Lawrence. Gale was Liam Hemsworth. Peeta was what's-his-name. I guess that's just the way it goes.
Some differences from the movie that I like in the book were:
1. Katniss's relationship with Cinna, her stylist. He really becomes one of the only people in training in the Capitol that she sees as a friend.
2. The expanding on Katniss faking her relationship with Peeta, especially at the end, after they have won. It turns her into less of a badass (I feel like the movie just focuses on her being a badass) and into a girl with a problem that she is going to have to face sooner or later.... can't wait to see how that's expanded on in Catching Fire.
3. The descriptions of the way the Capitol looks. I can't help but picturing it as the “Emerald City” in Wicked:The Musical. It's described as a place full of color and vibrace, a stark contrast from the Districts that all of the tributes come from.
4. Katniss's relationship with Rue is described in more detail and you feel the fierce protection that Katniss has for her after she comes to see her as the sister that she left behind.
If you have resorted to seeing the movies instead of reading the books, I say give it a shot! Take it from a YA hater... this first one was not disappointing. Suzanne Collins is a great writer... the plot never stops moving. She sometimes lacks description, but I maybe that will get better in the next books of the series.
I'm starting to figure out that there are some YA books out there worth reading.
Read more reviews at Great Minds Read Alike blog.
I totally skipped the hype around The Hunger Games at that time. I heard about it and signed it off as a bad copy of Battle Royale with a Twilight style love story. Oh how wrong I was.
I recently saw the trailer for the second movie in the theater, and I thought hey this doesn't look so bad. It looked pretty new and fresh, in the middle of all those standard action trailers. So I gave the first book a shot.
And here I am. Finished it in a couple of days, and what a thrilling ride that was. It's full of remarkable and interesting characters. It has a perfect pacing and tense. There's even no snobby love story. What love there is, is perfect blended into the world and totally understandable.
This would even work as a stand alone book. If there wasn't more books I would be totally happy with the ending. But there are two more and I already got them ready. Lets find out what happens next.
Not a 3 star. Not a 4 star, but I will round up. :)
Well written. The dialog is a bit too... “juvenile” even though it is aimed at a more juvenile market. The themes are mature, and a nice scathing criticism of society. Anyway... good book, tight storyline, but could use a bit more maturing of the dialog to complement the mature themes.
This was good. I saw the movie first and resisted reading the book. It refreshed my memory on the storyline from the movie but it had a few differences or should I say clarifcations of the characters basic natures.
Listened to this audiobook from the library while walking home from work and crocheting. It was fun and kept me interested but not engaged to the same level as say Harry Potter. I was excited to see the movie, but it turned out to be pretty underwhelming. There are never enough girl heroes, and yet. I wonder if I would have liked this book more or less or the same if I had read it instead of listened to it. Not planning to continue the series for now, but maybe later.
Resenha do blog Sincerando, escrita por Sarah Sindorf
Bom, o filme foi lançado faz um tempo, meu namorado já leu a trilogia, e aproveitando uma promoção na Submarino, comprei os três livros.
O livro me chamou a atenção. Só por isso já ganhou pontos. Eu tinha começado a ler antes, mas estava com outros no começo da lista, e acabei não continuando. Curiosamente desta vez, eu não estou conseguindo parar. Li o primeiro em dois dias, já estou lendo o segundo, e doida para ver o final da história.
O livro se passa numa época futurística, em que a América do Norte acabou e se formou uma grande nação no seu lugar chamada Panem, formada por 13 distritos e a Capital, que comanda todos eles. Em uma revolução o 13° foi esmagado, e uma regra foi criada. Todo ano, cada distrito deveria enviar dois jovens, entre 12 e 18 anos, escolhidos por sorteio, para participar dos Jogos Vorazes, onde esses 24 jovens seriam confinados em uma arena, onde eles devem se matar até sobrar um vitorioso, para relembrar que eles não deveriam se rebelar novamente.
A personagem principal, Katniss, mora com a mãe e a irmã Prim, de 12 anos, no distrito 12, o mais pobre. Elas sobrevivem muito parcamente, mas conseguem se manter. No sorteio, sua irmã mais nova é escolhida, e Katniss resolve se voluntariar no seu lugar. Assim ela é mandada à Capital junto com Peeta, um rapaz que no passado ajudou sua família. Ela ganhando, traz fama, fortuna, e dinheiro para viver confortavelmente o resto da vida. Perdendo, ela morre e prejudica mais ainda a vida de sua família.
Achei a personagem principal Katniss, um pouco chata e confusa, e suas reações são muito exageradas. Isso dá um tom um tanto raivoso na hora da leitura, pois o livro é narrado por seus pensamentos, então muitas vezes me vi tendo raiva dela.
A história é cativante, e dá para sentir que tem algo mais por trás de todo aquele mundo rico e desmiolado da Capital e daquele jogo cruel, o que faz com que queiramos ler os próximos para descobrir. A leitura é fácil, então passa voando e é uma boa pedida para quem gosta de entreterimento e uma pontada de mistério.
O filme ficou muito parecido e achei bem fiel ao livro, com poucas modificações. Mas recomendo que seja visto depois da leitura, porque pessoalmente, gosto de imaginar os personagens e muitos imaginei totalmente diferentes.
Link da Resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/02/jogos-vorazes.html
Hunger Games è un romanzo per ragazzi scritto da Suzanne Collins, ed è il primo libro di una trilogia che contiene anche “La ragazza di fuoco” e “Il canto della rivolta”. Il romanzo è ambientato in una Nord America post apocalittica, non ci è dato sapere il perchè. Protagonista è la sedicenne Katniss Everdeen, che vive nella terra di Panem', divisa in Distretti e governata da un regime totalitario con sede a Capitol City. In seguito ad un passato tentativo di rivolta, ogni anno da ciascun distretto, ce ne sono dodici, vengono scelti, tramite la “mietitura”, un ragazzo e una ragazza per partecipare agli Hunger Games, un combattimento mortale trasmesso in televisione. Una sorta di reality show portato alle estreme conseguenze.
L'autrice in un'intervista ha dichiarato che l'idea per Hunger Games è stata conseguenza di un momento di zapping televisivo e che il servizio di suo padre nella guerra del Vietnam l'ha aiutata a comprendere le emozioni derivanti dalla paura di perdere una persona amata. Decisamente un mix molto strano, ma che in questo caso ha prodotto una storia ad alto potenziale e decisamente esplosivo. La storia fa parte del filone letterario delle distopie, ma è stato adattato per renderlo fruibile e interessante anche ai lettori più giovani.
Il libro è stato tradotto in 26 diverse lingue e i diritti di pubblicazione del medesimo sono stati venduti in più di 40 nazioni.
Il libro è stato ben accolto da vari critici e autori; complice anche la pellicola cinematografica che è nata e che ha fatto da cassa da risonanza. In effetti possiamo apprezzare o l'azione e l'avventura, e l'unica pecca può essere l'inespresso potenziale allegorico del romanzo e il mancato approfondimento del mondo di Panem, ma soprattuto di Capitol City.
Quando si parla di romanzi “Young Adult” è sempre più difficile stabilire quali di essi siano dei buoni prodotti e quali, magari inaspettatamente, si rivelino delle delusioni da parte di pubblico e critica. Anzi, possiamo ben dire che un buon settanta per cento di tali lavori, rasentino la banalità estrema. Hunger Games fortunatamente non è una delusione, ma è capace di tenere con il fiato sospeso fino all'ultima pagina e di voler proseguire con la trilogia; complice un'ottima scrittura, scorrevole fino all'eccesso. La storia offre molti spunti di riflessione, primo fra tutti quello legato alla libertà e alla ribellione, poi vengono i temi dell'amicizia e dell'amore, ma malgrado il target di lettura, non risultano mai stupidi.
Dunque decisamente un prodotto di qualità, un romanzo Young Adult serio e mai banale, con dei bei protagonisti, dalla principale a quelli di contorno; una storia che riesce a tenere incollati alle pagine, senza mai annoiare e anzi a divertire in più occasioni.
Che dire ancora? Che mi appresto a leggere subito il secondo e che, beh:
Felici Hunger Games! E possa la buona sorte essere sempre a vostro favore!
[3rd re-read]
AHHHHHHJHAGJHHGAJHGHHHHHHHAHJSGHJAGSUYGJHHHAHHHHHHH i missed this series so much. I missed my man haymitch the most, i've been fighting for his prequel novel like my life depends on it and i won't give up. He is an icon.
we all have our favourite books and yeah we do get upset if others don't like them but we accept it but..... i can literally not think of a reason why someone could rate this book any less than 5 stars. I can't even wrap my head around the fact that there are people out there that have rated this book 4 stars.. this is how i know we live in a horrid and evil world.
I can't wait to re-read catching Fire. THAT BOOK IS THE BLUEPRINT. YA wouldn't be what it is today without Catching Fire. it INVENTED literature. Catching fire is THE BEST novel out there and i won't accept any other opinion. fight with ur mum about it idc
anyways the hunger games remains on the throne of YA and it will NEVER been dethroned, trust me.
I finally got around to reading it to see what all the fuss was about. I had seen the movie before reading the book, so I had a pretty good feel for what was going to happen.In fact, it seemed like the movie was pretty true to the book with very few changes that I can remember.The largest differences were increasing the size of the roles of some of the supporting and minor characters over the book since the book offers everything pretty much from Katriss's perspective. She does have some rather “impressive” insights into the thinking of some of the others that I think are better portrayed by showing the other characters doing those things instead.Unsurprisingly though, the book was better than the movie, but both were just so-so to me. The book offers much better insight to the thought process and motivation of some of the characters that I just didn't find apparent in the movie.You especially get to know a lot more about Rue, who was relegated to few little screen time in the movie with no real sense of why she and Kat had affection for one another.My biggest issue is that for a book dealing with a battle to the death, the violence level is fairly low. I guess that should be expected since it's considered a YA book though.It also felt pretty derivative of [b:Battle Royale 57891 Battle Royale Koushun Takami http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331235272s/57891.jpg 2786327]. I'm certainly not the first to say so. It's a book I haven't read, but I've seen the movie a few times. When I first saw the trailer for Hunger Games, I thought it was maybe an American remake of Battle Royale.I'll likely get around to reading the next two books at some point, though I've had a few tell me neither is as good. Since I was only so-so on this one, I'm not in much of a rush so they will fall somewhere behind my fairly long to read list.
I'm only through the first book so far but even knowing the ending (there are two more books after all...) it was a gripping read.
Let me start by saying I have actively resisted reading this book due to its popularity. But I was getting ready for a roadtrip with the kids so I wanted an audiobook that would keep my attention. The Hunger Games did just that. It was a great listen; engaging story and characters. I look forward to the next roadtrip to listen to the next book.
Truly an incredible book and I am eager to finish the trilogy. The best part is the first half, before the games begin. The whole thing is an emotional and fantastic commentary on society, especially reality television and the roles that people assume, explicitly or not.
I read much of this out loud to Jacob while he was driving us from Zion National Park back to SLC. Credit to Collins where it's due for coming up with a pretty gripping plot, we then took turns polishing off the rest of the book over the next two days so we could find out what happened to Katniss. My one gripe is that the book is so clearly part of a series. I think movie franchises have ruined me for serial novels. I mean, yes, I did go see Johnny Depp's second turn as the delightful Captain Jack Sparrow, but then I felt exceptionally annoyed when the end of the movie unashamedly prepped audiences for a third, and have avoided subsequent installments. That said, novels aren't movies, and I like both Katniss and the idea of supporting entertainment of any variety that features kick-ass girls. So I'll be buying the second book soon.
Very good read, quick too. I loved all the descriptors, and I felt like I was a part of it. My only complaint was that at some times I got TOO into the book and was getting mad or even angry at the situation these people were in and wanting them to fight back!
Well written and tense. “Romance” part was mostly unforced and the very amount I am ok with, more would be awkward given the setting. Felt a bit short although more pages would probably stretch the story unnaturally.
Yes, I am really reading this. Surprising, eh?
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720,000 ratings + 87,000 reviews = No chance anyone will ever see this review. Therefore, I must resort to drastic measures. Interspersed in this review are pictures of cute kittens. Like them, like my review. Meow.
I'm not one for trendy things, especially trendy reads. I've done my best to avoid the whole Harry Potter thing; I figure if people are still talking about him in another forty years, I may give in then. Twilight, no chance. But it would be priggish of me to deny any book simply because it is “the thing.” Enter The Hunger Games. It came out of nowhere and became a sensation. From the beginning however, I was open to the idea of reading it. It didn't sound “that bad.”
And it's not. When The Hunger Games is at its best, it excels. As expected with an action-based novel for young adults, the novel is story-centric. The characters are wonderful, but they don't grow much. There's not much rumination between events. Things just kind of happen, but it works. I was pulled in. For the first two hundred pages, I kept asking “what happens next?”
Then it all became a little too predictable and repetitive to me. Really it was mostly predictable all along, but I went along with it because the story was really, really compelling. But it lacked the strings that could have pulled it all in together and made it such a tight piece. I think Katniss and company really could've spent so much more time having to make tough decisions and then living with them. It would've made all the difference. Alas, it would've slowed down the action.
The Hunger Games works well as a YA novel. I think it's probably better as a film, however (note, I have not seen the film, but the trailers for the movie point to a much more persuasive piece). There's just so much you can do in film while showing action that you cannot do in a book without slowing down the pace.
I'll definitely read the second book in the series, and I'll probably be drawn into the third. Really, I just want an excuse to make more posts about kittens.
Meow.
I prefer my Peacekeepers as Sebations with body heat regulation issues. And the teenage romance made me more uncomfortable than the teenagers killing each other, but that may be my own personal issue. Katniss, though a bit too perfect at times, is an interesting character and the story is greatly improved by learning what's going on inside her head. Peeta creeped me out a bit.
Similar to JK Rowling Collins grabs the attention with a story in a slightly but not too different a world then we know. The story is quick and the narrative lean. An exciting plot with some nice surprises. The writing however is clearly not British and comes with some extra cheese. But not too much.
I liked it. Will surely read the other two.
Good stuff, although obviously not aimed at someone my age (or sex probably) I still enjoyed it, just felt I should read it before I see the film.
Much of this is pedestrian YA, but the part that really struck me was the reality TV aspect. Collins excels in this area - exploring what it is like for her characters to be in life or death situations, but have to focus on how the TV audience will react and how that affects the situation. The concept is novel and really has room for exploring private vs. public self. I'm definitely going to finish off the series