The Hunger Games (2008)

Despite all the amazing new stuff that’s been coming out the last few months, Sunrise on the Reaping hasn’t loosened its hold on my brain. In my Hunger Games reread, I’m currently in the last third of Catching Fire, and all the old feels are still going strong. I was revisiting some of my old posts about the franchise and realized that, while I reviewed the Mockingjay films as they were coming out and later circled back to write about the first two movies during a rewatch, I actually never wrote about the original book trilogy. So, since I’ve been tearing through them again, I thought I’d better remedy that.

Every year, the authoritarian government of Panem instigates the Hunger Games: a brutal, televised battle royale in which two children from each of the country’s twelve districts are chosen at random, dropped into a specially-designed arena, and forced to fight to the death, both for the entertainment of those in the Capitol and as a reminder to the districts of the government’s absolute control. When 16-year-old Katniss hears her younger sister’s name drawn as the female tribute from District 12, she volunteers to go in her place. Years of poverty and hunger have taught her survival skills, but she’ll need more than that to make it through the world’s harshest, cruelest reality show.

Pound for pound, I still think this is the best book of the trilogy. By the time I’m done, I’m guessing Sunrise on the Reaping will remain my pick for best of the franchise, and I’ll have all kinds of things to say about Catching Fire soon, but The Hunger Games is great. It lays out the intriguing society of Panem, with the widespread deprivation in the Districts, the glitzy excess in the Capitol, and of course, the brutal spectacle of the Games. I love that it’s not just about violence and oppression but also media and imagery. It’s so interesting to me that Katniss doesn’t just have to worry about surviving the dangers of the arena. She also constantly needs to be aware of the fact that she’s on camera and how her actions will play to the audience. She has plenty of wilderness skills and can shoot a bow with deadly accuracy, but it’s really hard for her to present herself as a packageable “type” for viewers and let them see her private moments. Meanwhile, her tribute partner Peeta doesn’t have her skills for keeping himself alive, but he’s a natural when it comes to playing the media side of the Games, giving the Capitol audience a story they can really root for.

This book introduces us to so many terrific characters. I was all about Katniss, Cinna, and Rue from day one, but others have grown on me a lot over the course of the franchise and subsequent rewatches/rereads. Obviously, I’ve been living for all the Haymitch tidbits on this reread—when I get more used to the movie version of the character, I forget how gross and mean he can be at times in this book, but that just makes it better when he does step up as Katniss and Peeta’s mentor. I’ll forever love the unspoken way he and Katniss communicate via the sponsored gifts he arranges to send her in the arena, and I really wish the movies could’ve found a better way to show that. I’m also appreciating Peeta a lot more, who’s allowed to be soft and romantic while also being smart and tough, and Effie is an icon. Also not to be counted out? Caesar Flickerman. I really like the detail that, while the gaudy host of the Games is primarily focused on putting on a good show, he also uses his own skills to make each tribute as memorable as possible, helping them find an “in” to connect with the audience.

This was also my introduction to Suzanne Collins, the queen of cliffhangers. My first time reading the trilogy, I learned that I had to stop reading just before the end of a chapter—if I got to the end, chances are I wouldn’t be able to stop reading because I’d be screaming, “Whaaaat?!?” Hit after hit. This is a hard-hitting, emotional book with lots of mature themes for teens, but it’s also just a cracker of an exciting, suspenseful story.

I can’t remember the last time I read the trilogy, but it was definitely pre-The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s wild how much stuff leapt out at me on this read, either references to things that become important later in the trilogy—Johanna Mason reference!—or get flushed out in the prequels—she goes to the lake to harvest Katniss! I could easily fill a whole post with that stuff, so I probably will. I’ve been jotting things down as I go, and once I’m finished rereading all the books, I’ll write up one, or several, posts of the “Suzanne Collins, the writer you are” variety.

Warnings

Violence (especially against children and teens,) strong thematic elements, sexualization of teenagers, disturbing images, and drinking.