Hunger Games Review

A Romantic, Action-Packed Science Fictional Story of two “star-crossed lovers”

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins

Hard Cover, 374 pages

Scholastic Press

In the science fictional book, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collin, the author’s work is a romantic, action-packed story that takes place in the country of Panem, located in North America. The two main characters, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are both sixteen years of age and are described as the “star-crossed lovers from District 12” (135), who are forced to participate in the hunger games. Each year, the Capitol hosts a game in which twenty-four tributes are forced to fight for their lives. This is one of the Capitol’s ways of reminding the people of Panem that they are supreme over the Districts and also to remind them of the tragedy of the former District 13, which was destroyed due to a rebellion. The site is now supposedly uninhabitable.

In the first few chapters of the book, the author writes about Katniss and Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’ best friend who constantly sneak off into the woods to hunt down game. There is a barbed wire fence which is “supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day,… [However, District 12 is] lucky [enough] to get [at most] two or three hours of electricity” (4-5) per day, which makes it easy for them to sneak out. Even though everyone understands that trespassing in the woods is illegal, Katniss does it anyway to place food on her family’s table. During this year's reaping, the time when tributes for the Games are selected, Katniss' sister Primrose, also known as Prim, is selected as tribute for the games. Katniss, who only wanted what is best for her family, volunteers to take her sisters’ place. Katniss’ weapon of choice is the bow and arrow. Her father was a master at crafting them before he died in a mining accident. She has superior ability to wield it as a weapon and kill anything that comes across her. During her first appearance in front of a crowd, her...