Double Review: The Hunger Games & Catching Fire

The Hunger Games Review (September 6th, 2009):

Warning: The following may contain small spoilers.

In the future North America has vanished and a new nation called Panem has risen. Twelve districts are ruled by the Capitol, a tyrant ruling council that uses a yearly competition to keep order among its despondent citizens. Every year one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to compete in the Hunger Games where they must fight to the death. The location is always different, and every year the nation watches with bated breath to see who will be the last one standing.

In District 12, Katniss Everdeen looks on in horror as her younger sister is chosen to compete in this year's games. Before she knows it she finds herself volunteering in her sister's place. Also chosen is the mysterious baker's son, Peeta, who Katniss has always known from a distance. As the competition nears Katniss and Peeta grow closer making the imminent battle for survival all the more complicated. This year Katniss and Peeta will capture the hearts of a hopeless nation as they turn the tables on The Hunger Games and the evil Capitol that controls them.

I am always on the lookout for that one story. You know what I mean. The one that gets in your head and won't go away. The kind of book you want to put in everyone's hands. A story that has the power to completely mesmerize and capture your imagination. The Hunger Games has done all of that for me and more.

Collins hooks us from line one with the engaging first person narrative of Katniss Everdeen. Through her eyes we learn about this world in the distant future and the turmoil within. This is the kind of character that most novelists only dream of creating. Every turn of the page reveals just a little more about what drives her unquenchable spirit. Katniss may be low on the social ladder, but her compassion and fight for justice lend a majestic quality to this lowly peasant.

If Katniss herself doesn't hook you, no doubt the relentless pacing will. Once the Games begin it is almost impossible to put this story down. Suzanne Collins perfectly balances action, suspense, and violence throughout the second half of this story. As I was reading I felt like I, too, was watching these Games unfold along with the citizens of Panem and several times I wanted to stand and cheer for Katniss and Peeta and their heroic actions. In the end we are given the perfect amount of closure with a promise of more to come.

The Hunger Games might just be the best novel I've read this year and I am simply blown away by the storytelling prowess of Suzanne Collins. The sequel, Catching Fire, is out now and if early reviews are any indication, round two is even better. I can't wait to disappear once more into this fascinating world that has captured my imagination in a way I never anticipated.

Book two of the Hunger Games; Catching Fire Review (September 8th, 2009):

This book, like it's predecessor, is chock full of twists and turns, and I would be very remiss in giving away any of the secrets. Second, I am going to try and avoid assuming that you have read the first book, Hunger Games, but if you have not yet, then you might want to avoid reading my review first. I highly recommend the first offering in the Hunger Games trilogy, though, and I highly encourage you to pick that one up immediately!

Catching Fire is an amazing follow-up to Suzanne Collins' breakthrough work, Hunger Games. We are greeted with the same familiar characters who survived the first games and go on about their lives in Panem in the times that follow. Katniss still does not realize the impact she has made, until a rather high-ranking visitor comes by to inform her of the consequences her actions have left. If you felt that we needed to hear more about the other districts and their interplay with the Capitol, then fear not; this book takes over where the last one left off, and then takes flight further into this world Collins has created.

The classic struggle of good versus evil is omnipresent, though perhaps it is better stated as the battle between the haves and the have-nots, or the rich pampered elite and the slaves who provide for them. What I like most about this dystopia is the vision of a possible future and the hyperbole (if only slight) of present class struggles throughout the globe today. Moreover, this is also a coming-of-age series for one young girl who is discovering herself and her deeper emotions in the backdrop of near-slavery conditions and the oppressive opulence of the Capitol. Still, there are friends to be found, and loyalties to question, including the steadfast inner nature of Katniss herself, which she must come to terms with.

The symbolism is vivid and rich, the intrigue is tremendous, and the plot is most engrossing. If you enjoyed the first book, then you should already have ordered this sequel. If you are new to the Hunger Games, start with book one (by the same title) and buy this one at the same time. Believe me, you will be glad you don't have to wait many months between books, though the wait is already gnawing at me for the third installment!