The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

People have been after me to read this book for a while, so I finally buckled down and did it, despite the enormous red flag of a blurb from Stephanie Meyer on the back cover.

So, my thoughts.

THE PREMISE:

“Jersey Shore” meets “Gladiator.” Twenty-four children are rounded up and forced to fight each other to the death on live TV in a future dystopian United States.

THE GOOD:

An interesting premise – I suspect American society will be just as depraved as the Capitol in another few years. The characters are sharply drawn and compelling, and the idea of the Hunger Games infuses the plot with incredible tension – you know how the book must end, and to watch the characters struggle to escape their fate is good reading.

THE BAD:

Katniss’s increasing tendency to maunder over her feelings for Peeta and Gale in the last third of the book. I know the whole “Oh! I’m in love with two boys whatever shall I do” thing is like chocolate-scented crack for the ladies (just look at the sales figures of every romance publisher ever), but it’s just not for me.

Also, I don’t think the book fully explored the horror of the premise. The idea of the Hunger Games – impoverished children forced to fight each other to the death for the amusement of the idle mob – is pretty horrific. Especially since Katniss might have to kill people she loves or likes. But the book doesn’t quite go all the way. But I suppose if it did, there would be no sequel.

VERDICT:

I liked the book.

I’m not entirely sure I’d recommend it for kids, though. I know there was a big Internet outrage-fest over a recent WSJ article criticizing the dark tone of YA fiction, but “The Hunger Games” really is very dark. So I guess it depends on the individual kid and his or her parents.

-JM