Ever since the release of Suzanne Collin's dystopian novel "The Hunger Games", her work has garnered international acclaim from some of the world's most reputable critics. Adopted into a series of wildly popular films and having been printed more than 23 million times, the staggering success of her novel begs the question, "Does The Hunger Games truly live up to its notoriety?" Well in fact, after having read it multiple times, I can personally say that it far exceeded my expectations.
After the ruin of North America and the collapse of democracy, an authoritarian government arises. In order to maintain oversight of its people, the capitol divides its dominions into twelve districts, each specializing in a different pursuit. Every year, the capitol hosts "The Hunger Games", in which a boy and girl from each district are randomly pooled into a survival competition. Participants must fight to the death in a futuristic arena, all the while being broadcasted live on TV.
Enter Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old teenager from the impoverish District 12. In an effort to protect her sister, she volunteers as a tribute to the game, but as she heads to the capital, she realizes that her life will never be the same. Through the course of the story, Katniss struggles to balance her conflicting emotions, and comes to understand the harsh reality of life in Panem.
As Katniss makes these revelations, the reader has the chance to pick up on a number of powerful themes, examples of which include the dangers of reality shows, the ever-growing obsession with fashion trends, and the consequences of desensitization to violence. Not only is this novel an action-packed and engaging read, but it also leads readers to share meaningful conversations about changing ideologies in the 21st century.
I picked up this read after watching the book-inspired film, and have been pleasantly surprised with it. While the movie makes fair and accurate adaptions to the story, it misses out on many of the themes presented in the books. For this reason, I would certainty recommend continuing on to read the novel after watching the movie, as there is plenty of unique content from the book. If you have not watched the movie, I would advise even stronger to pick up this read. For the reasons previously mentioned and more, I honestly am so glad to have read this book.
One complaint I might bring up is that while a large majority of book readers are young, the novel has some extremely gruesome scenes. If you are to read this book, be forewarned of violence. Furthermore, I found some passages difficult to read, due to the choppy-sentence structure used by Collins. This may just be a personal preference, but I felt that it was of detriment to the story.
Overall, "The Hunger Games" will certainty appeal to teens 13 and up and leave readers with discussion points about government, free-speech, sacrifice, moral desensitization, and other thought-provoking themes. It mixes an enthralling plot with rich and powerful messages- a formula bound for literary success.
Reviewer Grade 10
What a fabulous beginning to a fabulous series. Todd, the 13-year-old main character, has lived in Prentisstown all his life, but he soon discovers he knows nothing about the city at all. In fact, his whole life has been a lie.
As Todd and his dog, Manchee, run from the dangerous truth, more and more of Todd's presumptions about the New World are busted. This book is gripping, enticing, and heartbreaking all at once. I adore all the characters, and after having read the entire trilogy, I feel as if I know the characters like siblings.
However, there is one problem for me with this book. One of the antagonists is extremely exaggerated, to a point that it almost seems goofy. This interrupts the heroic and innocent tone. Despite this, I would absolutely recommend this book; you will be immediately sucked in to Patrick Ness's world.
Reviewer Grade: 11
I first picked up this book expecting a lot. I was not disappointed. The Maze Runner is about a group of boys stuck at the middle of a dangerous and foreboding maze in a synthetic world. This has been the same for as long as the oldest ones can remember, but upon Thomas's arrival to the maze, strange things begin to happen. This book is full of twists and turns, and Dashner writes with an amazing aptitude for suspense and surprise. I have not read the following books yet, but I intend to, as this book was more than worth reading. I strongly recommend it, as it is powerful, suspenseful, and just downright intriguing. As of right now, it is one of my all-time favorite dystopians.
Reviewer Grade: 11
I have read this book a total of four times and cannot get enough. The story is of teens being forced into a maze and having to think of a creative way to get out. With grievers which are the monsters that haunt the maze and thrilling action on every page it leaves me wanting more every time I read this book. I picked this book since I have a love for action and adventure movies and after hearing that this movie was coming out I decided to read the book. I enjoyed the action of the story and how much I could relate to the story. The only thing I did not like about the book is that the story line was slow or stuck at certain points during the story. It was overall very exciting and kept me up for hours. The book was moderately predictable although I was not sure whether they would or would not make it out of the maze. It was definitely one of the best books I have ever read and would highly suggest it.
Reviewer: Grade 9
Joey Graceffa's book, Children of Eden, tells a beauty story of love and wonder. Eden, an artificial "paradise" created after the eco-fail, has a population control of only two kids. Unfortunately for Rowan, she is classified as a second child. She is not allowed outside of her cottage in one of the inner rings of Eden. One night, she is angry with her brother, Ash, for not remembering what Lark, Ash's crush who Rowan knows like a best friend although she's never met her, was wearing that day. In result, she climbs the stone wall isolating her from Eden, and into a world of fascination.
I honestly fell in complete love with this book and read it in 2 hours. You won't be able to put it down! For all the sci-fi readers out there, here's a good one for you!
Reviewer Grade: 8
I have read this book multiple times and it never gets old! There are plenty of Cinderella stories out there, but do they have Lunar cyborgs who can manipulate your thoughts at the drop of a hat? Do they have flying cars and a deadly virus set out on killing every human that contracted it? Cinder is a riveting and unique tale that Meyers wrote incredibly well! She managed to take an ordinary story and turn it into something so unique and amazing. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy!
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard reminds the reader that anyone can betray anyone. At the beginning of the book, Mare meets Farley, the leader of a group called the Scarlet Guard, a group that strives for equality between those with silver blood and those with red. Later, Mare, a red, gets a job at the royal palace because she talks to the prince, who decides to hire her. On her first day of the job, a freak accident causes her to get the power to create and control lightning. Because only silvers are supposed to have powers, the royal family decides to lie about her backstory and have her become the new princess. Mare and her new fiancé, Mavis, join the Scarlet Guard in order to give reds and silvers equal rights. In the end, Mavis reveals to Mare that he had been using her all along and attempts to kill her, but fails.
Red Queen was a total disappointment. I have heard so many people saying that it is a great book, and I know it was nominated for the Blue Spruce awards, but I don’t see why. It’s like the author combined the plots of Hunger Games, The Selection, and Divergent. I love all those books, but I was hoping for something more unique. It was the most like Hunger Games, with the people in the districts like the reds, and the people in the Capital are like the Silvers. Also, most of the main characters were annoying, unlikable, and impossible to grow attached to. I thought it was fine at the beginning, but it lost my interest as it went on. I thought that the parts with the Scarlet Guard were very boring. The book in my opinion would have been much better without the Scarlet Guard. Also, the book does not provide any information of how their society came to be that way, something that should be included in any dystopian novel. I want to know how the Silvers came to be, and how they got their powers. I didn’t like how they wanted to fight against the silvers because of inequality between reds and silvers, holding all the silvers responsible for what only a few government officials did. Red Queen was hugely overrated, and I will not be finishing the series.
Reviewer in Grade 8
Unwind, a novel written by Neal Shusterman, is a fiction book that is about the adventures of three teenagers that have been chosen to be unwound by their parents. Unwinding is basically the process of cutting apart an individual in order to have each parts of their body to be used to save others. In the book, it is something that parents may decide to do to their child. When a child is no longer such, and becomes an early teen or a teen, the parents may decide to have their children go through this process.
Overall, this book provides a great amount of entertainment, as it is full of thrills and excitement. While reading this novel, one gets to feel like they are going through the struggles and adventures with the main characters.
Despite the book being very adventurous and entertaining, it would not be a good novel for someone younger than middle school to read, as it has very graphic details and contains some gruesome scenes. Overall, this novel is one that I would highly recommend for someone looking to have a fun and fairly short read.
Reviewer Grade: 11
I was hesitant to read this book because of previous reviews I had read about it and I didn't think it was as bad as everyone said it was. It is a great book and very well written, but if you do plan on reading it then don't read the last 50 pages (They contribute next to nothing with the overall story and just cause lots of tears). The story itself is very, very good. Tris and Tobias have to escape the city and go past the fence. Only once they are out there they find that their whole city was just an experiment to try and fix a mistake made hundreds of years ago by people who didn't know any better.
Tris, and the group she came with, have to save the outside world before they can save their previous home. There is a lot of fighting and struggles because the world beyond the fence is vicious and cruel. Tobias is at odds with himself as he finds out secrets in his DNA, secrets he wasn't entirely ready to know.
Reviewer Grade: 8
This book is about Tris and Tobias trying to stop Erudite. There's a lot of tension between friends and family as the dauntless splits in half. Traitors side with Erudite and the rest take refuge at Candor headquarters. Jeanine Mathews results to murder as she starts to kill dauntless every two days that go by without a divergent turning themselves in. There is definitely a lot of internal struggles with Tris as she tries to overcome her grief with the death of her parents and Will. Her and Tobias have some conflict too as they try to come to an agreement with how to handle the Erudite situation.
Reviewer Grade: 8
I loved this book! It is way better than the movie. It is about Beatrice Prior, a 16 year old girl. In her world there are 5 factions in which most everyone belongs. She is apart of abnegation, the selfless faction, but doesn't feel that she is selfless enough so she decides to switch to dauntless, the brave faction. The book is about how she has to over come her inner cowardice and pass initiation. If she does not pass then she becomes factionless and will spend the rest of her life homeless and begging for food. The only thing that is holding her back is that Tris is divergent and if your divergent in this society then you are basically as good as dead. She has to keep her secret a secret while also managing to remain in a safe place in initiation. It also has some romance as her instructor, Four, tries to help her become better at fighting. The book has a lot of action and keeps you on the edge of your seat through the whole thing.
Reviewer Grade: 8
The One by Kiera Cass is the third book in the Selection series. In this book prince Maxon of Illea has to choose a princess and wife from the Elite. Will Maxon choose America or will he choose another?I would rate this book a four out of five because at some points it was a bit redundant, but the romance between America and Maxon was breathtaking and sucked me in. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romance and dystonia. I am in eighth grade and I am 14.
All Tally Youngblood ever wanted was to be a pretty. Now Tally is almost sixteen years old, and in just a few weeks, she will get the surgery that will make her beautiful. When she meets Shay, a girl with many new ideas, Tally is told about a reclusive group called the Smokies that keep their own faces. Shay, a few days before their birthday, runs away and joins them, leaving Tally to explain to everyone where her friend is. Because of Shay, Tally is forced into a world that she wanted no part of. To become pretty, Tally must betray Shay and all of her new friends. As she realizes the truth behind the operation, Tally starts to enjoy her new life. Uglies, the first book in the series, is a great dystopian book. With an amazing plot, and complex characters, I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoyed Divergent or any of Scott Westerfeld's other books.
Reviewer Grade: 9
What’s Left of Me, a dystopian novel by Kat Zhang, follows the life of Addie and Eva, two souls living in one body while trying to hide their secret from the totalitarian government. In their society, everyone is born with two souls. Eventually, they are supposed to settle by a young age, meaning that the weaker soul would fade away and die. In their world, every hybrid was arrested, never seen again. They (Addie and Eva) never settled, but the government didn’t know. Everyone thought that they had settled at the age of twelve, even their own parents. Eva just lost control of their body. She was still able to communicate with Addie through thoughts. Then, a girl from school told her that she knew their secret and offered to bring Eva back.
Riskily, they agreed. Will they succeed or get caught in the act?
This is a very interesting book. I think I enjoyed the beginning of the novel most, where it talks about what it means to be a hybrid in their society. It really made me think about what it would be like to have another soul in my body, to share everything with her. It made me so curious, I googled if everyone is born with two souls. However, I would not be compelled to pick up the sequel for the book. I did not enjoy it as much as I have other dystopian novels. While amazing and thought provoking at the beginning, it just had a downfall at the end, becoming more confusing and dull as the book went on. The romantic subplot didn’t make very much sense, because that would be very awkward for the other twos would who would have to be dragged into it. Also, it needs to be more descriptive. The setting and protagonist were barely described, leaving the reader with a fuzzy image. The negatives aside, this was a wonderful book. What’s Left of Me is a great book for teenagers, even though it is officially labeled as a young adult novel.
Review Grade: 8
America Singer has been forced to enter in a competition to win Prince Maxon's heart. There's only one problem: she's in love with someone else. Marked by a brutal social class system, America either has the option to marry within her class or above it. She cannot marry her boyfriend Aspen Ledger, who is a class below her. So, she must enter "The Selection" to compete with a number of other girls for Prince Maxon's hand. Although the characters and plot were complex, I felt this book was lacking something - perhaps the conflict wasn't quite strong enough? I still recommend it for its excellent world-building and characters. (I'd rate this PG-13 for minor language and some romance)
Reviewer Grade: 9
Allegiant by Veronica Roth was a disappointment to me. Honestly it was very poorly written. The book is in both Tris' and Four’s perspective, which I usually like, but it was very difficult to distinguish the two. Most books I read, when in different perspectives they think differently and have a different structure of thinking, but Four and Tris have the exact same thoughts all the time. The only difference is that Four tells Tris no, when she wants to do something. This was the worst book in the series, and was extremely slow.
Reviewers Grade: 7
Insurgent by Veronica Roth, the second in the Divergent series, was very well written. I feel the relationship between Beatrice (better known as Tris) and her instructor/boyfriend Four was very well thought out. This book made me yearn to read the last one quickly. The book’s main plot was amazing, and Insurgent was absolutely amazing when it came to the developments of its characters.
Reviewer Grade: 7
Divergent by Veronica Roth was a very interesting story. In her utopian society Beatrice Prior must make a decision that impacts her whole life. When sixteen everyone must choose a faction where they believe they belong, each with their own perspective of why the human race fell. This book is full of suspense and will leave you on the edge of your seat. It, in my opinion, is somewhat a copy of the Hunger Games and The Fault in Our Stars. Reviewer Grade: 7
In Ember, the only sources of light are lampposts. The whole city depends heavily on electricity, and it just so happens to be running out of it. The city is dying, and everyone knows it. When Linda finds a letter, she's sure it's the secret to saving Ember. Unfortunately, it had been chewed up by her baby sister before she saw it. Linda and her friend, Doon, are determined to find out what the letter means.
In the beginning, the novel doesn't say what, exactly, Ember is, except that it's a city, artificial light is the only light there is, and the only food to eat is canned. Because of that, the readers don't really know what the setting is, and that really makes the book mysterious as well as interesting.
There wasn't really anything special about the characters, but finding out what was really going on was fun. It really felt like I was there with the characters, trying to solve the mystery together; Something about the novel made me very emotionally invested in it.
Reading about the environment so familiar to the characters but so foreign to me was fascinating and enjoyable.
The City of Ember, to me, was one of a kind. The sense of adventure I felt when reading it, even though most of the story was in the same setting, was enchanting. I hope this review compels you to read it because it really is a great book.
Reviewer Grade: 8
Jonas lives in a perfect world, but when he becomes the Receiver and is transferred memories from the past, he soon realizes that there are some serious issues with the way his "perfect world" is being run.
It was cool to see Jonas, the main character, grow and develop as a person.
In the beginning, he was as ignorant and naive as the rest of his peers, but he eventually matures and becomes aware of the problems around him.
The way Lois Lowry described surroundings were very clever. For example, (this is a bit of a spoiler) Jonas's world was in only black and white and I didn't realize it for a very long time because the author didn't outright say it; that made me feel Jonas's confusion when he first sees color.
It was really interesting reading about how Jonas's city functioned and what its rules were- it was very different from ours.
The novel gave me a lot to think about; it made me wonder how much bad things we can eradicate until the eradication itself becomes a bad thing. The line between good and evil becomes more and more blurry the closer you get.
The Giver is a nice book to read and I recommend it!
Reviewer Grade: 8