#3: The Hunger Games

Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastica, 2008. Print. 374 pages.
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SETTING: The country of Panem (a post-apocalyptic world where North America once existed), sometime in the future.
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SUMMARY: To remind the citizens of Panem of the consequences of rebelling against the governing bodies, an annual survival contest, called the Hunger Games, is held that sets 24 young people, ages 12-18 years-old, against each other to fight to the death.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "In our world, I rank music somewhere between hair ribbons and rainbows in terms of usefulness.  At least a rainbow gives you a tip about the weather." - Chapter 16, page 211.
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I began this book thinking it has definitely been over-hyped (in the same way the movie Napoleon Dynamite was, which I did not enjoy at all), and finished it feeling slightly overwhelmed and depressed.  I don't like buying new books, because old, borrowed, and used books have so much more character which contributes to the overall enjoyment of the story.  Because of this book's popularity, it's taken me a while to find someone to borrow from, but I was finally able to get my hands on it!  The structure of this review will be slightly different, mainly because I don't have any points of dislike, and was surprised by my reaction and thoughts while reading and after finishing the story.  
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Things I liked about this book:

1. Katniss + Peeta! (I have to start with this- I'm a professed romantic, and there are parts of their story that made my heart smile...).
2. Quick and easy read, as it should be considering it's a young adult novel.
3. Didn't skirt around descriptions of blood, gore, and overall nastiness.
4. It's a dystopia!  Dystopias provide a constructive, and somewhat protective, avenue through which the reader can reevaluate the evils that we see, hear, and read about in our everyday lives.  It's also fun to think about the "what if's" that accompany picturing the future.
5. Katniss. is. kick. ass.  And I hope I'm as kick-ass as her when I fearlessly come face-to-face with the most lethal of infectious diseases in my pursuit of being the best in infectious disease epidemiologist North America has to offer (if you're thinking epidemiology has something to do with the skin, you're wrong!  Please wikipedia it and learn about this awesomest of health subjects.).

Things that surprised me about this book:

1. I didn't mind the first person narration.  I usually avoid novels and short stories written in first person because I become quickly annoyed with the narrator.  Definitely wasn't the case here.
2. How quickly I was able to read it while still retaining all the little details.  I can read fairly quickly, but that doesn't mean I always remember every little thing I've read.  I can't explain why, but the author's descriptions of events and surroundings were definitely not lost along the way.

Main thought that was running through my head while reading this book:

• Psychological trauma, anyone???  Of course, I then thought about how there are children, teenagers and adults, in this realest of worlds, who have to face horrors such as death and killing another human being to ensure their own survival.  And how about poverty, starvation, racism, dehumanization, oppression, and on and on and on and HOW DO WE FIX IT ALL?  This is why I can't enjoy life sometimes; I'm overwhelmed by these thoughts and feel helpless.  Another reason I'm completely willing to uproot my life and move all the way across the country: hopefully acquiring medical skills to add onto my public health and epidemiology background will make a small dent in the health realm of the disastrous parts of the world?

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I'm glad I was finally able to read this book, and I undoubtedly enjoyed it, but I don't find myself as enthusiastic about the book as my family, friends, and acquaintances are.  I'm definitely reading the next two books in the series, because I'm not satisfied with where the story is after book 1, similar to the way I felt after watching the first Lord of the Rings movie (LOTR is the one book series I have yet to finish; the books were ruined because I watched the movies first.  Since then, I usually take care to read the book before watching the movie).  Continually thinking about how the horrors in this book can be found in real life left me feeling depressed and with the dangerous thought of "what can one person possibly do to change this?"  But soon enough I found myself feeling all awesome about the plethora of things I'll hopefully be able to do sometime very soon in life.  Anyway, perhaps my opinion of the book will change once I've finished the entire series.  Quite exciting that I already have two more books lined up to read!

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Recommend?  Yes!  It was a quick and enjoyable read.