Example of Review Text
Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins,
is fiction in the young adult genre, which is not my age group, but I
found myself unable to put it down. Its combination of nerve-racking
tension, thrilling action, and engaging love story kept me up until the
wee hours. I was surprised at how completely engrossing the plot was.
Like Brave New World, this story is set in a future where the
government oppresses its people, but the book also borrows ideas from
the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
When the book opens, North America as we know it has been destroyed
and is now divided into 12 districts, ruled by an oppressive government
located at the Capitol.
Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12, takes her
younger sister’s place as one of 24 “tributes” selected every year to
participate in the Hunger Games at the Capitol.
The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy, and it was
released in 2008. I wish I had known it was a trilogy before I finished
the book, because then I would have been prepared for the ending, which
was a transition into the next book rather than a totally satisfying
end. The third and final installation of the series came out in August
2010. Suzanne Collins, the author, worked for Nickelodeon and wrote The Overlander before she wrote The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games won several awards and was a New York Times bestseller. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down.
The Games provided a backdrop to one of the most enthralling plots I
have ever read. Katniss constantly battles thirst, fire, hunger, wild
animals, injuries, and other teenagers for survival. She makes and loses
friends, and I became so attached to her and her fellow tribute from
District 12 that I was dying to find out how the book ended. While the
plot is mainly what drives this book, the creativity of this future
world and the concept of the Games also impressed me. In addition, the
characters are all very strong and exhibit character development
throughout the book.
While I found this book absolutely enthralling, I was surprised it
was aimed at an audience of young adults. It seems extremely intense for
anyone younger than 16 or 17. For example, there is a scene where one
young tribute is slowly eaten alive by wolf-like creatures all night
long, and Katniss has to finally throw a weapon at him to end his
misery. I found this a little too disturbing when I considered the age
of the character.
The intensity of the action was something one would find in a more
mature book, but the age of the characters and the simplicity of the
prose were aimed at a much younger audience. In addition, this book was
written in present tense, which I found annoying, but that’s more of a
personal preference than a stylistic fault. It was also edited somewhat
poorly, but that rarely distracted from the plot. For example, the
author often spoke in sentence fragments to describe how Katniss felt,
which might have been an attempt to reflect on her thought process, but I
found it disorienting to read a lot of really short sentences all
together. It would have been better to vary the sentence length on
occasion, but the story was still coherently.
Overall, The Hunger Games was an excellent, enthralling read
that I highly recommend. If it was more clearly marked for older teens,
it would have been better, but it was a fantastic book with a
wonderfully creative plot.
Credit: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-The-Hunger-Games-by-Suzanne-Collins-900110.php
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