The story is about Katniss, a sixteen year old girl. She lives in Panem, a big country that replaces North America in the future. After a rebellion against the government, the country was divided into the capitol and 12 districts, to be able to control it better. To remind the people of Panem that the government is in charge, every year they organize these so called hunger games, where a girl and a boy from each district enter a big natural arena where they hide, fight and survive. It’s basically “Kill, or get killed”.
I found this book extremely interesting and suspense building. There were hidden cameras everywhere inside of the arena so the whole country of Panem could watch the hunger games all the time. Whenever the audience would get bored because there wasn’t enough killing action going on, the game makers would draw the contestants together. Sometimes they would do that by setting fires in the woods, where the boys and girls had to run out of the fire and would end up facing each other. Other times, the game makers would invite all the contestants to a ‘feast’ in a certain place in the arena, where they would give the contestants something they desperately needed.
I like how the author came up with these ideas, how she explained that the game makers did all these cruel things, for the sanguinary capitol people, who enjoyed watching these boys and girls kill each other. Collins made Katniss look like a very thoughtful, warm-hearted and intelligent girl with a special talent for hunting. During the hunger games Katniss never meant to directly kill people or hunt them down. She only hid and ran and defended herself when she had to. This makes the whole horrible game seem better since we see it through Katniss’ eyes.
This novel was one of the most interesting and suspense building novels I have read. It made everything seem more real, more dangerous, more exciting as it was written in present