The Hunger Games

 Ok, so Sarah was quite insistent that I read theses books......she kept telling me how GOOD they were!  So, I read them, AND THEY WERE GOOD!  However, they are not really adult books.  I was a little embarrassed when I posted on Facebook that I was reading this, and one of my friends told me her son's, who are in HIGH SCHOOL, loved them!  But with that being said....they are a quick read, and the kind of book that is hard to put down!  It is a trilogy about a post apocalyptic america, with a central government and 12 districts that are separated from each other, but each year have to send a representative, drawn from a lottery amongst their young, to battle to the death.  The last one alive, wins, and obtains special treatment for themselves and their district.  Now, I had some problems with the premiss.  Not sure why these people did not revolt, but they didn't.

I also had a problem that this society had no spiritual component to it.  I don't know of any human society that doesn't have some sort of spiritual component to it, and this didn't.  No mention of it at all...and when death is an imminent part of the whole story, it seemed a strange they had no discussion of what happened after death.....also, there was a little preachiness to the books about the authors condemnation of our current society, which caused the cataclysm that produced this society where life was dreary, and had no purpose.  That I could have done without.

With that being said though, I did find the books entertaining, and I cared about Katniss, Preeta, Gale, Prim, Haymitch and the rest.  They are making a movie, and I'm sure I will see the movie.  I would recommend these to any age readers.  BUT, I can not believe when I finished the books and talked to Sarah, that I found out SHE NEVER READ THE LAST BOOK!  WHAT??????   After she bugged me forever, she said she lost interest.....What the....Sarah, get on the stick and read the last book, how can you not know what happens to everyone?  Does Katniss choose Preeta or Gale, or does everyone die?  I'm not going to tell you...you have to read it for yourself!