6. THE HUNGER GAMES
BY SUZANNE COLLINS
I’ve watched the first HUNGER GAMES film a couple times, and the sequels at least once each. However, it’s been a few years at this point since I’ve watched any of them. I’ve also never read a middle grade book, other than TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD which I read back in middle school. Otherwise, I really don’t have any experience with the middle grade category. So color me surprised when neither my experience with the films, nor my inexperience with middle grade, had any negative impact on my enjoyment of this novel.
MY EXPERIENCE:
I loved this book. It was not too short, not too long. It had zero fat on it; I felt every scene was important. Its quality overcame my distaste for the first-person narrative structure. I was surprised by how faithful the film adaptation was. I was able to visualize nearly every scene in this book due to my familiarity with the first movie. And yet, it was just long enough ago that I was able to separate Jennifer Lawrence’s performance from the book version of the character.
For the most part, the audiobook narrator was good. I did speed her up to 1.10x speed. 1x speed was a tad too robotic for my taste. She enunciates well but pauses just a skoach too long between words. 1.10x was just enough to make her sound completely normal.
The pacing was excellent, as the plot was always moving forward in big, significant ways. Every little decision or action the character made had immediate consequences. I was particularly fond of how Katniss kept doing stuff when feeling impulsive or panicked that she’d regret, assuming the worst, only to find out it was badass and cool, and now everyone loves her more. It was endearing. The accidental hero. She was only being herself.
There weren’t many surprises since I’d seen the film, but my memory was fuzzy on the details. So I knew the big character's death was coming, but I couldn’t remember when or how. It made for a very interesting read-through.
What I’m most excited for now is the sequels, as having only seen each of those films once, I can’t honestly remember much about them. I’ve already jumped into book two, and I was shocked by the concept of a Quarter-Quell and flabbergasted when the big twist of this year’s game was announced. So, I honestly don’t remember anything about what happened. This will make for an entirely fresh read for those books, and I’m very much looking forward to it.
Outstanding first novel in a series. 24 out of 24 Tributes!
