The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Spoiler Filled Review; slight spoilers for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a spoiler filled book review. This review is for The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. 

I was initially planning to do a different post near Fourth of July, but I decided on this one, for one reason that was mentioned in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel sequel that came out last year. Because of that reason, there will be a slight spoiler for one thing in that book, particularly a date.

Let's get into the review!

May the odds be ever in your favor this Fourth of July! 

Just kidding! 

As I mentioned in the intro, I was initially planning to do a different post. However, it was a post I didn't have the time to research for. I had just been thinking about book reviews I could do that could be fairly simple and short. The first thing that came to mind was The Hunger Games because I had already written a brief review of it on my Goodreads. Then, moments later, I realized how perfect this review was, and it was due to pure coincidence. 

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I have some memories associated with this series from when I was a child. My mother and older sister read this trilogy pretty much when they were released. I remember being with them when they checked out a copy, and I remember seeing the books around the house. I remember telling myself that when I was older, I wanted to read that series, primarily for two reasons: my sister had read it and both my mother and sister seemed to really enjoy it.

I ended up picking up this book for free, brand new at my local library. I can't remember what it was for, but it was an event of some kind, maybe a summer reading program or something, I don't remember. I've had this book in my collection for about 4-6 years now, so I've owned it a while. In 2018, upon finishing The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan, I picked up this. 

Nobody in my family knew I read it until my sister came home that night. I barely saw my mother the day I was reading it, and my sister had gone over to her boyfriend's house, so I was basically alone the entire day. I sat in my sister's room, reading The Hunger Games. 

When my sister came home, I told her. She told me that my mother had actually wanted me to read it the year after because she was afraid I wasn't ready for it due to my empathy levels (I completely understand why). The minute I finished reading it, I felt slightly guilty. I didn't tell my mother I had read it, and I told my sister to not tell her because I didn't want to. 

Looking back on it, it seems stupid. It's just a book. I guess I thought I was going to get in trouble for it, but that's not even a logical thought, because by that point, I would've already read it. After I finished the first book, I read the sequel, Catching Fire, in private, on my computer, my dad's computer, or on my dad's phone through my local library online. No one knew. 

Finally in about November or December of that year, my sister told my mother that I had already read The Hunger Games. I had started Mockingjay right after Catching Fire, but I hadn't finished it after a few months. Once my mother found out I was reading the series, we went to the library and picked up a physical copy of Mockingjay, which I was able to finish fairly quickly.

My mother didn't know if I was ready, because she thought I would get super upset and emotional about Rue's death, which I half-did, half-didn't, only because I was reading it so fast, I didn't fully have time to process everything. I understood everything I was reading, but I wasn't going slow enough for every plot point and character death to process. 

I did feel kind of emotional while reading this, but it was only because my sister had spoiled something that happens in Mockingjay about a year before. We were at Panda Express, and my dad had mentioned that he had watched all of The Hunger Games movies. 

My sister asked him questions and said, "Did 'blank' still die?" He said he didn't know, while I was sitting there, mentally sighing. I called her out for it saying that I had wanted to read those books. She said she didn't know that and that was the end of it. I still tease her about it occasionally. Not often, but sometimes. (By the way, I haven't spoiled anything for her since then because I'm too nice.)

I'd arguably say that it's better that I actually read what The Hunger Games was about instead of going by title and general plot instead. Honestly, as a child, I thought that a bunch of teens volunteered for these Games and killed each other for a prize of food, hence Hunger Games. After I read it, it made a lot more sense, and made me feel a bit less emotional, because none of these teenagers had actually signed up for it. It just...happened.

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I first read this book three years ago in 2018, but I reread it last year to prepare for the release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (which I also have a review for; linked here: Is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes a Villain Sympathizer Novel? (opens in new window)). 

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it is revealed that the day of the reaping is July 4th. In other words, Independence Day/Fourth of July. Now, The Hunger Games is a much more brutal Fourth of July, which includes the reaping of twenty-four tributes from the twelve districts (twelve boys and twelve girls) in order for them to fight to the death. I know. Very patriotic. (Naturally, this is sarcasm. The Games shouldn't be implemented into our society, nor anyone else's. It's a bad and cruel idea.) 

Because my mind doesn't think 'normally,' I figured this was the best idea for a Fourth of July post. Yes, my second-best idea is a review about teens fighting to the death, gladiator-style, complete with television programming. Let's now get into the review itself.

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From the moment I opened this book, I was hooked. Suzanne Collins has a really good writing style. This isn't my favorite first-person told story, (that, of course, goes to Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan) but it sure is up there. 

For my first dip into the dystopian genre, I really enjoyed it, as I was hoping I would. I'm really looking forward to watching the movie and comparing the book and the movie. I was so into this story that I finished it in roughly a few hours. It was a very quick novel, which surprised me. I was expecting it to be a bit longer, but it worked for me. In total, it probably took me about 4-6 hours to read.

The plot itself was very intriguing and sucked me in immediately. I wanted to read more about the characters. I wanted to read more about the Games. I wanted to find out more about this mysterious, dystopian society that thought it was okay to send kids into an arena and basically force them to kill each other to survive. 

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Katniss is one of my favorite female characters, especially in YA. I love reading about how protective she is of Prim. There are also some similarities between my sister and Katniss, which may be another reason I liked her so much. The main difference between my sister and Katniss is that Katniss plays with boys' feelings a lot more, even if unintentional. 

If the reaping existed nowadays, I know my sister would instantly volunteer as tribute if I were reaped. Luckily, the Games don't exist, and I'll age out of participation in a year anyway, even if they were real.

I also really liked Peeta. He was such an innocent, pure character whom I loved reading about. Gale was interesting, though he was barely there. 

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Overall, this is a story I really enjoy. I rated it a five out of five stars on Goodreads. I would definitely reread it (I already have). 

I hope it didn't seem as if this review went off-topic. I don't think it did, but it may have, and if it did, I apologize for that. 

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌