7 Reasons Why The Hunger Games Is A Must-Read

The Hunger Games Trilogy

After hearing all the rave reviews for the Hunger Games trilogy, it's no wonder it was my very first purchase on the new Kindle I got over the holidays. Just a couple pages into the first chapter, I found myself instantly hooked and unable to put it down. That is, only until my eyelids grew heavy in the wee hours of the morning.

Admittedly, I finished all three books in the matter of a week or so and am now currently going through some serious Hunger Games withdrawals! For those of you who have read the Hunger Games, you know what I'm taking about -- constant mental references to characters in the book, sporadic impulses to reach for the book, shaking, etc. For those of you who have not read this trilogy, here are 7 Reasons Why The Hunger Games Is A Must-Read.

Note: I've done my best to eliminate any spoilers from this for those of you who have yet to enjoy this written treat!

1. Reality. The Hunger Games represents the disconnect between entertainment and real life. Take reality shows Survivor and The Real World, mix it with the ancient Roman Coliseum and add a healthy dose of forced violence and death, and you've got the Hunger Games. Today, you see producers get sucked into the ratings and what makes good TV, but we all somehow seem to forget these are real people and real lives. Hunger Games just amplifies this actual reality to show how sad it is that we've been sucked in so far to not see how desensitized we've become.
2. Politics. The book highlights the corrupt workings of government and political leaders for the benefit of their own. I guess there's always got to be a villain but it sure makes you see red when the selfish, cutthroat, and very ruthless leader does anything he can (bribe, poison, murder) to stay ahead. So many reflections back to evil dictators of our own, current reality.
3. Love. Who can't resist a sweet love story and the uncertainty that is tangled in a love triangle? This is really one of the pieces that keep you tied to the book, page after page. I won't say much more here so that I'm not spoiling anything! But it's good. :)
4. Characters. This was the first book I've ever read by Suzanne Collins, but I do have to say it's obvious she's a pro at character development. Each character came to life with her detailed descriptions and had me attached from the start - laughing, shedding some SMALL tears, on the edge of my seat with curiocity throughout all three books - wondering what would happen next to the characters you grow so attached to.
5. Survival. Okay, living in the concrete jungle that most of us live in, we don't necessarily have expertise in survival techniques. While reading the stories of their survival in the Hunger Games, it made me realize how worthless I would be in any legit survival circumstance. Make sure to grab a pen and paper to take notes of edible plants, fire starting techniques, and hunting and trapping tips.... Lord help us when the apocalypse comes.
6. Eye-Opener. After having traveled to underprivileged countries myself and seeing the kind of poverty some people only read about, The Hunger Games draws a lot of similarities. Families starving, hunting for food, government restrictions on food and supplies. It makes you appreciate what you have. I walked down the home goods isle of Marshall's the other day. It was filled with vases, figurines, carvings, wall hangings, all things that have used precious resources to create. And here we are spending our money on them so they can sit on shelves in our homes and get dusty when people around the world are barely scrapping by to feed their family. I feel ashamed to admit that I have done the same. I do pledge that I'll use this story and all the experiences I've seen firsthand to change that.
7. Future. What if we continued to fight each other in wars? Continued to pollute the atmosphere with our cars and factories? Fill our water with waste and debris? This story takes place in the future after the human race has nearly extinct ourselves through hate and war, people living amongst cumbled cities. The foundation of this book portrays a very possible future world if our human race continues with violence. In the Hunger Games, the world as we know it has come full circle from a life of extravagance to a very basic way of living.  

Bravo, Suzanne Collins! Bravo!