The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the first book in The Hunger Games Trilogy. The story takes place in a dystopian society called Panem. There are twelve districts and the Capitol (where the president lives and rules over the districts). Each year, all of the districts must select one young girl and boy to compete in the annual Hunger Games where they will have to fight to the death until only one victor is left. The Hunger Games are held as punishment for a failed revolt against the capitol about 74 years prior to the events in this book. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is a poor16-year-old girl living in district 12 who volunteers in place of her younger sister, Prim. The baker’s son, Peeta Mellark, is also selected as a tribute in the Games. The rest of the novel follows as Katniss and Peeta train for the Games with their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, in the Capitol. Katniss then enters the games and is forced to fight for her life and face challenges in order to get home.

This has been one of my favorite books I have read all year. Of course, The Hunger Games is a well-known series but there’s no harm in re-reading/re-watching. This first book was so action-packed, there was never a dull moment (but I found that dull moments don’t exist within this series). I also thought that Suzanne Collins did an amazing job at setting up the rest of her series within this first book. It gives enough information for readers to know what’s going on but not enough for them to piece together the ending. The world-building is also impeccable, and you can tell it is a well-developed series.

The only relatively bad thing I could say about this book is that it might be too gory and violent for some readers. I personally had no problem with it, but this is a book about children being forced to kill each other so I would recommend looking up the trigger warnings if you are interested in reading this series.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins can be found in the young adult section in bookstores and is in the dystopian/science fiction genre. For more reviews and information, go to Goodreads.com!