Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins wasn't my favorite of the Hunger Games Trilogy, but it did tie everything up nicely and had an unexpected ending which I won't give away.

Suzanne Collins is an amazing writer and sets the reader among the turmoil at the Capitol City of Panem that rebels from the surrounding districts are infiltrating. Katniss Everdeen doesn't know who to trust. Peeta has been captured and she's still unsure of her feelings toward Gale, her hunting partner. With her experience, having survived two Hunger Games, Katniss is the best choice to avoid the pods of destruction around the Capitol, but she quickly learns that she is to be a figurehead. She is kept in the underground caves of District 13 and used in well orchestrated televised scenarios. Of course, Katniss doesn't take orders lightly and quickly learns to overcome the beating her body has taken in the Quarter Quell Hunger Games to join the rebel forces.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I don't normally read dystopian novels, but my son gave me a copy of The Hunger Games and said it was a must read. Suzanne Collins creates a restrictive world governed by a capitol city which controls surrounding districts. In a macabre form of entertainment The Hunger Games is a yearly event in which two people from each district are chosen to compete to the death. But this book isn't just about the games, it's about relationships, the will to live and the art of survival. Suzanne Collins doesn't just hook you at the end of each chapter, she inserts twists and turns to the story in each paragraph and keeps the tension tight even at the end. This is the first book of the series and my son was right - it's a must read.

From the cover:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.