Synopsis:
Katniss Everdeen takes her sister’s place in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death between teenagers, televised for the whole world.

Review:
I asked my YA librarian friend if The Hunger Games was any good, and her report was that it wasn’t the best book she’d ever read but she couldn’t keep it on the shelves and the kids in her school were passing it around like crazy. Being a fan of YA literature and of Rollerball-type stories, I had to check it out.

I devoured The Hunger Games, even staying up late to finish it–trust me, when you have a toddler, this is not a wise choice. But I couldn’t help myself, because I had to know how Collins would resolve Katniss’s story. It’s pretty obvious she’ll win, because this is only the first book in a series, so this book could’ve been quite tedious. Collins manages to build suspense into the “how” keeping me riveted–yes, Katniss will live, but there’s a lot more to survival than just making it out alive.

Collins does everything right here, reminding me of no less than Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, one of my favorites in this genre. The Hunger Games is its equal. I’m so thrilled to be a part of the litblogging world because otherwise I may not have even heard of this book, let alone find a new favorite.