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Book Review of The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, Bk 1)

The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, Bk 1)
reviewed on + 301 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


A compelling read. The setup puts me strongly in mind of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, but this goes beyond that, following the lottery winners through a game of life and death, reminiscent of the roman Coliseum, where there can be only one winner. Except the boy and girl from area 12 are in love. Or so they're proclaiming to try to win the support of the masses.

This tension filled story is marketed for Young Adults (it's published by Scholastic Press) but the story's appeal is much broader than that.

It tickles me as well that this is going to be a big hit for Scholastic Press (yes, the ones who brought us Harry Potter.) What the heck are the big publishing houses thinking that they've let another book of this caliber slip through their fingers?