The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well… I stayed up to read this book last night and since it was an easy read I pretty much did it in one sitting (though I do admit for a while there Pinterest had my attention and I had forgotten about the book…) What do I have to say? I don’t know really…

I have this friend who refuses to read anything that everyone else is reading. So much so that she has never read Harry Potter! Today I’m feeling a little bit like that’s not the most insane reading practice I’ve ever heard of…

When I read Twilight I thought it was ok-ish but really just couldn’t escape the giant cloud of disappointment. THIS is what people have been raving about? A badly-written B-grade love story? Between an arrogant idiot and a chick who makes me want to beat things with a woman’s lib paddle? (Ok maybe the first book didn’t make me feel that way – it was sweet and romatic-ish – but the first third of the second book made me question the point of existence in general. I felt much better after refusing to read the rest of it!)

This is kind of how I feel about The Hunger Games. All hype and no delivery. Ok not NO delivery. And I guess it says something that I read it in one sitting (although I also read Written on the Body in one sitting and I hated that book…so often reading something in one sitting has more to do with getting it over with than anything else…)but really? THIS is what all the fuss was about? I dunno….maybe the characters evolve a little in the next book but I must admit I did find this one mildly shallow – which is the problem I have with YA fiction in general.

Maybe I just don’t find it relatable. I kind of wanna shake the characters and go “THAT is what you’re thinking about??!!!!” and then smack them upside the head with a fish. Do I need a therapist?

Anyway – the book is fine even though I did have weird dreams after reading it. I just didn’t love it like everyone else seems to.

When I read a book I like to hear my subconscious whispering “yes yes yes” as my eyes follow the words. Apart from Harry Potter I really just haven’t found a YA book that has ever made me feel that way and this one is no exception… Which is kind of a pity because if I hadn’t been expecting something brilliant I might have thought the book was quite cool…

I don’t say it often but in this case I think the movie might just be better. I seem to be getting that impression from quite a few books lately…

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