Book Review: The Hunger Games

The boyfriend saw the film, I received instructions to either watch the film or read the book. I obeyed.

Now, I realise this is YA fiction, and I’m apparently a grown up, but that is no reason not to read this book. I already knew the premise for it, but I found the narrative style and plot completely compelling. I wanted to find out exactly what was going to happen, immediately, and just couldn’t put it down.

I’ve seen some complaints in reviews that say that this book is too ‘adult’ for its intended audience. Pfft. What kind of over-protective parent writes something like that? You do realise that your children are reading books like Lord of the Flies in school? I only read that recently and it was genuinely terrifying. The Hunger Games is closer to a rom com with a bit of action than a novel that will terrify your children. I suspect they’ve seen much worse.

What should terrify you about The Hunger Games is the world in which it is created. Like all dystopian futures, the world is not so different from our own. As well as being an exciting read, the book is like a Black Mirror for a younger audience. (And if you haven’t seen Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, why not?!).

I’m a little sad the characters didn’t fight back but, how were they supposed to do that anyway?

Looking forward to finishing work and getting on with the next two in the series 🙂

More reviews can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767052-the-hunger-games

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