Book Review: The Hunger Games

Dystopian stories have existed for many decades; George Orwell arguably is the king of the genre. Dystopia as a concept is intriguing for many reasons, mainly because it serves to portray a dark society that can often be grounded in some kind of reality.  Orwell’s work especially is touted for how much it serves to commentate on real-world politics or ideologies that if left unchecked would lead to the depressing settings that serve as the foundation of his stories. Dystopian stories are often geared towards older audiences mainly because of their mature content and complex ideas, but I think it’s important to give younger readers an opportunity to dive into the genre too.  That’s why it’s appreciated Suzanne Collins did just that by releasing a dystopian thriller with a younger audience in mind; that book is titled The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games takes place in the nation of Panem, a governing society which rules over what remains of North America after an apocalyptic event ravaged the continent. Panem is governed from the Capitol with the remaining clusters of society distributed between 12 separate districts which are all ruled over by the Capitol through a cold, tyrannical hand.  Every year the Capitol hosts an annual event called The Hunger Games, in which two tributes from each district are forced into a fight to the death for the nations entertainment. Katniss Everdeen is a 16 year old girl from District 12 who spends her days hunting wildlife to try and keep her mother and sister fed and secure.  When her sister Prim is selected for the latest Hunger Game, Katniss volunteers to save her sisters life by taking her place.  Whisked away to the Capitol along with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark, Katniss must hone in on her existing skill set as well as develop new ones in order to prepare herself to face the Hunger Games and survive against the other 23 tributes who will be out to kill her.

The world of this book is really well-defined. Many dystopian worlds can risk falling into the same categories and end up sharing a lot of similarities, but you can tell Suzanne Collins put a lot of thought into defining the scope of the world of Panem and its unique society.  I’m not usually a fan of 1^st person storytelling in books, but I genuinely feel it works in this books case as Katniss’ serves as an uncompromised lens into this world.  Her personal struggle coming from District 12 is detailed excellently and her relationship with her mother and sister makes the fact she’s forced to partake in the games much more personal.  Her perspective on the wider world and her efforts to survive the Hunger Games is easily the narrative most compelling hook. There’s just enough exposition layered throughout the story to give you enough context to understand a lot of the sequences going on but always leave you wanting to see how things develop. It’s a really impressive narrative on the whole, mainly on the fact it’s able to juggle so many themes and ideas so cohesively without ever toppling.

On the tone and pacing front, this is also an incredible book.  It’s clear that this is inherently a young-adult focused book but Suzanne Collins doesn’t compromise on any of the book’s tone despite that.  There’s a lot of dark and gritty moments in this book that play out with a great sense of weight to them.  The fact that the majority of the books cast are young doesn’t strip away the fact what they’re going through is horrifically cruel.  I love how much of this book is devoted to the actual Hunger Games too, a fair bit of time is given to flesh out the world and politics leading up to it, but you spend a good proportion of the book following the dramatic events which unfold in the arena and it’s paced wonderfully.

The Hunger Games is a fantastic book on a lot of fronts. It’s refreshing to see a book that doesn’t sacrifice any sense of itself despite being inherently geared towards a younger audience. Its cruel world is well-realized and it’s given all the necessary definition by having its story play out through the lens of one of its unfortunate citizens.  I look forward to reading the remaining books in the trilogy.