Book Review: The Hunger Games

I tend to fall in love with books a lot.  Maybe it's the characterizations, or the author's ability to world-build, or maybe it's the really good banter and wit the characters display, but when that's all said and done, it's not uncommon for me to find a book I LOVE fairly frequently.  And though I reread quite a bit, there aren't that many books where I feel the need to reread it right after finishing it.  However, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is definitely one of those books.

After my second reread, I'm not not entirely sure what it is about the book that draws me to it.  The protagonist isn't particularly likeable.  And honestly, overall, the characters really aren't very fleshed out.  Katniss, the main character is, cynical.  Peeta, the male protagonist, is nice and likeable, but despite Collins' efforts to make you want to see Peeta as the good likeable cop, he comes off a bit dopey.  Actually, the most likeable character is Haymitch, the gruff, drunk mentor.  I feel like there's a lot more to the story there, and far more potential for deeper characterization. 

So it's not the characters.  Maybe it's the world-building?  Collins definitely paints an interesting picture here.  She sets her story in Panem, a dystopian post-America country, ruled by the Capitol, with twelve subject Districts.  After a disastrous rebellion in the past, the Districts were all defeated, with District 13 being annihilated, and each year each District must send two of its children to compete (and usually die) in the Hunger Games.  There is a lot of promise to this setting.  Since it's set in the indeterminate future, there's the ever-present possibility of "what if?"  What if this type of future comes to pass?  Calling to mind novels such as Brave New World or 1984, the dystopian world of The Hunger Games certainly draws you in as the reader. 

However, as interesting as the premise is, I do have some quibbles about how little Collins has expanded her world.  For one thing, I'm a little weird in that I love maps.  I mean, I really love maps.  If a book, especially a book that encompasses a fairly large world, has a map, I'm all over that.  Collins' Panem is basically North America.  There are twelve existing districts, the Capitol, and a destroyed district.  But where are the maps??  She gives us a few clues.  The Capitol is in the Rockies, District 12, home of the protagonists, is somewhere in Appalachia, District 4 is primarily a fishing district, but in a large landmass like North America, a map would be nice.  Additionally, I wouldn't have minded having a list of the Districts, who the heck the tributes were from each, and what the primary contribution of each District is.  Sure, greater detail runs the risk of excessively bogging down the narrative.  However, details really make the world (I mean, look at Tolkien's work - Lord of the Rings may bore me to tears, but the world he creates is truly extraordinary).  

I do cut Collins some slack in that 1) she's writing for a young adult audience; and 2) it's obvious the first book is intended to be an action-filled kick-off to her trilogy.  And she does fill in some of the gaps and does a bit of a better job on characterization in her second book, Catching Fire.  But what really perplexes me is that, I still really like this book.  Sure the characters aren't that developed, and the world is still frustratingly vague.  However, there really is something about it that hooked me, and made me want to read, and then reread it.  

I'm hoping that Mockingjay, the last book of the trilogy which will be released on August 24, will fill in more of the gaps.

However this trilogy ends, I do know one thing for certain.  I will never see Survivor the same way. 

Stars: 4