The Hunger Games trailer

Reading these books was a very intense experience. I imagine the movie will be the same...

Catching Fire and Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages: 391
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
My rating: 4.8 stars
Goodreads rating: 4.36 stars
Published: September 1, 2009

Description for Catching Fire:

Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol-- a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages: 390
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
My rating: 4.3 stars
Goodreads rating:  4.07 stars
Published: August 24, 2010

Description for Mockingjay:

My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.

Okay, I'm going to try to make this as un-spoiler-like as possible.  Which means I might just be writing more about Suzanne Collins' writing style than the actual plots of either book.  However, if you have read my reviews {the whole two of you out there}, you notice that I tend to spoil some things.  So, please, bare with me as I review this with a head cold and at half past midnight... about a month or two after I read these books...

Catching Fire was very engrossing, as we follow Katniss after her and her fellow Tribute from District 12 won the Hunger Games.  This book follows her and Peeta home after, as they have to continue to play lovers, going as far as Katniss letting the people in the Districts pick her wedding dress. There are rumors about rebellions in various Districts against the Capitol, and Katniss finds that her, her family and friends are being held responsible for all of it.  Then the unexpected happens, something that will change Katniss and Peeta's lives forever.  And possibly end them.

Mockingjay was very engrossing, but as far as all of the books go, Hunger Games was the most attention grabbing, followed by Catching Fire, and ending it all with Mockingjay.  I guess the first should be the one that hooks you in, right?  Now that I have you going "oh... lame... thanks Kari, now I don't want to read any of them" let me just tell you they are worth reading.  They're YA, so they're quicker reads. The whole series took me under a couple weeks to read {about a few days per book}.  This is an interesting book, though, and it doesn't end quite how you might anticipate it.


PS - I started writing this in October of last year, and am just now getting around to publishing it... goodness...

The Hunger Games

Description:

In a futuristic society, the United States is divided into 12 districts, each based on their area's natural product. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, an area once known as Appalachia. District 12's product is coal. Almost everyone is a miner. It is not a wealthy area. Residents are forced to eat whatever they can find or pay with a chance on their child's life to obtain government surplus foods. Luckily Kat's father taught her how to hunt and gather before he was blown up in a mine explosion. After his death her family depends on her for survival, until the very worst thing happens to them: She is sent to the Hunger Games to represent District 12 in a fight to the death. If she wins, both her family and her district will be rewarded with all the food and wealth they need. Kat is ready to do battle with the wilderness and the other tributes, but she isn't ready to fall in love. What happens when she finds she has feelings for her partner and knows she must kill him to win the games?

This book was quite a surprise.  I've actually been waiting a long time to read this, just because, after reading the description, I wasn't so sure I actually wanted to!  But, after being told numerous times by tons of people to pick it up, I finally did.  I was asked after reading it how I would briefly describe it... Survivor (To the Death edition) meets Lord of the Flies meets the Romans' gladiators... with children ages 12-18 as those thrust into the arena.  I haven't read anything quite like it, and its something I would definitely suggest to others.  Its a really quick read, because, if you're like me, it'll suck you in.  Now on the the summary...

The story follows Katniss Everdeen (who, unlike in the description, is not referred to as Kat), a 16-year-old from District 12, the district farthest from the Capitol in the country of Panem, formerly known as North America.  (The book never specifies if it was the United States or not.)  The first part of the book you learn about Katniss, her life at the Seam (the outskirts of District 12, the coal-mining district), and her friends and family.  She's a hunter, which is forbidden by the Capitol (one way they keep everyone in line and under their control), and these skills help her out when she enters the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games themselves are something the Capitol devised to keep the people in all the districts under their thumb.  They take place every year, in "remembrance" of those who died during the uprising of the Districts (there were 13, but District 13 was annihilated to basically just prove the Capitol was really that powerful).  To choose the children who will participate in the Games, every year they hold a "reaping".  Most of those in the outer Districts have their names put in as many times as possible, because they get a meager allotment of food from the Capitol in return for more entries.  The child can enter their name one time for each family member.  So, by the time some of the kids reach their last Reaping, they could have their name in the drawing 50, 60, 100 times!  The children that are drawn from each District (one boy, one girl) are taken to the Capitol, where they receive star treatment and have short-lived celebrity lives.  Only one child (out of the 24 who enter the arena that the Games take place in) will survive.  The other children literally die off, one by one, either at the hands of the other children (hence the Lord of the Flies reference) or by the Gamemakers, the ones who design the arena. The arena itself can be anything from a poisonous meadow to an icy landscape, a jungle, anything that will give the viewers in the Capitol entertainment (hence the Roman arena reference).

The story itself if from Katniss' POV.  Her life before the Games, after taking the place of her 12-year-old sister who's name is the one drawn out of all the girls in District 12, into the Games...  I don't want to give too much away in case anyone reading this wants to read the book(s).  Its engrossing, without grossing you out (the thought of reading about all these kids killing each other was one of the things that held me back... its not like that).  I would pick it up if I were you.