The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games (Hunger Games series book 1)
by Suzanne Collins

Other Novels in Series:
Catching Fire
Mockingjay

Rating: Recommended to all those who don't mind emotional distress.

What I Liked:
-the writing style. I usually don't really care for first person, but I think it worked well for this novel.
-the setting. I found it well developed and quite interesting.
-the connection with Roman history. Having been home-schooled, I ended up mistakenly learning about Rome for three and a half years of history, and I basically love it. I loved seeing the similarities in the Hunger Games to Ancient Rome and to modern-day America, and now it seems that more people are willing to talk with me about the connections between the things. Hallelujah.
-the plot. especially in the first book, the plot is very straight forward and easy to follow, which isn't always common in literature.

What I Did Not Like:
-Prim. Everything the main character does is for Prim, but I don't see why. Prim never did anything that wold make me like her. She seems like a flat little cardboard child.
-the romance. Actually, I did like the Katniss/Peeta thing, and let's be frank, the novel wouldn't really go on without that whole subplot. But I felt the whole love triangle thing was contrived and confusing and didn't really fit very well into the story.

Personal Thoughts:
-Peeta is probably the most likeable character, besides maybe Rue.
-Harry Potter fans and Hunger Games fans are friends. THANK YOU. I don't think I can handle more fandom hate.
-I listened to the second of this series on my i-pod while making dinner. I salted our meal with my tears.

Links:
-Divergent vs. the Hunger Games (blog post by one of the people I follow) This puts into words some of the things I liked about the Hunger Games.

Other:
-there's a movie, in case you haven't seen the trailers. I actually really loved the movie. Movies for the rest of the series have not been released yet, but are coming soon.