book review: The Hunger Games

It has been a while since I read a book that wasn't a school requirement. Oh wait, I did read 1 and a third of the Twilight books. Let me rephrase that sentence (ehem).

It has been a while since I read a book that I actually really liked and finished. That's better. I don't want people getting ideas. Haha. Anyway, the book I'm talking about is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Can I just say that I LOVED this book? I seriously wasn't able to put it down until my eyelids were falling like they were made of lead. Unlike Twilight which took me months to finish (which is so unlike me), I finished this baby in more or less two days. It was so beautiful and exciting and vivid it felt like a movie was playing in your head while you read. The narrative is pretty straightforward yet you can picture the fictional world accurately. It has everything: action, adventure, romance, that a lot of people will like it. It's a young adult novel, yet it tackles subject like politics, poverty, opression, etc. that it's actually a deep read that makes you think.

Here's a blurb of what the book is basically about for those interested:

"Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

I got that from the official website of the book. The Hunger Games is really addictive and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. I loved it til the end and I can't wait for the second book (yes, this is part of a planned trilogy - the next book's coming out on September 2009)!!!

THIS IS SERIOUSLY A MUST READ!! SO GO READ IT!