THE HUNGER GAMES: A KINDLE REVIEW

I've been catching up on my reading which include Steven King's 11/23/63 and Full Dark, No Stars; Bill Clinton's Back To Work, Ricky Martin's Me (still in progress) and surprisingly Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Trilogy. Yes, all three books.

I decided to read The Hunger Games, mostly on a whim (damn you Kindle! {shakes fist at sky}), to see what all the hype was about both the book and the coming movie. For those of you living under a rock, the movie starts this Friday, 3/23.

I knew three things about The Hunger Games before reading it:

1. It is/was a wildly popular book series.
2. Most importantly, it was written for the young teen market.
3. There was a lot of excitement about the coming movie.

What won't hurt you to know:

1. It takes place in the near future, 150 years or so, after some sort of war or apocalypse.
2. The government is everywhere and knows everything. Hello big brother.
3. The government controls everything - food, knowledge and your perception.
4. Make sure you have time to read it because you won't want to put it down.

My spoiler free thoughts:

1. It is a real page turner! I couldn't put it down and read the 378 page book in 1.5 days.
2. Although it is sold as three books, it really should have been one. Unlike the Harry Potter books, the quality of the story and the reading level both decline. 
3. The books are written much more like an action/adventure movie script - heavy on the action and light on the character development. This is fine for the first book but wears thin by the third. Maybe I read too much Steven King.
4. Katniss is the heroine and becomes quite annoying but I had to keep reminding my self that she is just 14 and this book is written for young teens. I think most teens will identify with her self doubts, fears and loneliness. I think it will trigger many memories for adults.
5. Katniss doesn't really grow or learn from her experiences, which is really frustrating even when you remember her age and that the books span less than two years.
6. Josh Hutcherson perfectly matches the image I had of Peeta. We'll have to wait to see if he can portray Peeta's spirit and strength.
7. The trilogy makes for quick, light reading and despite it's faults, I recommend it.