In spring 2021, I started to read the first Hunger Games book after my sister had recommended it to me for years. Now, I have just begun to read the third book and I thought I might share my thoughts on the first two books I have read in a (spoiler free) review for people who are interested to start the series. 

The Hunger Games is a book series by Suzanne Collins published from 2008-2010. It’s a dystopian story about a 16 year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen who tries to survive under the tyrannical rule of the Capital in the country of Panem. 

The first book, “The Hunger Games,” is by far my favorite. It was a great setup for the rest of the series. In addition, the book had great world building. In this book readers meet the protagonist, Katniss. She is a wonderful character who people can relate to on many levels. She cares about her family and friends and is just trying to survive under the tyrannical rule of the country. 

One of my favorite things about this entry is that the majority of the book takes place during the actual Hunger Games. In the other books the games are not the focus of the story which is necessary for the story but I enjoy just reading about Katniss trying to survive the games.

For this book, it was fun to learn more about the world of Panem and the consequences that sparked from the previous book. (Sharing the consequences would be sharing spoilers spoilers so I’ll keep those out of my review.) 

 I also liked to see how Katniss has changed since the previous book. She cares about her family and friends more than ever and is worried about their safety. It also seems that her sanity is being challenged. 

However, this book felt like it could have been split in two. It was very long and there was an obvious split between the consequences of the previous book, and the second Hunger Games. 

I have just started the third book of the Hunger Games Series, “Mockingjay.” I cannot share much because I am so early in this book yet I am excited to see where this story goes.

Overall, The Hunger Games series is a great story about tyrannical rule, survival, relationships and much more. I recommend this book very much and I hope that you pick it up as your next read.