The Hunger Games

Nov 16

The internet has been buzzing all week. The Hunger Games movie trailer is finally here.

I’ve watched the trailer a few times and I’m left with mixed feelings. The gritty scenes don’t seem to be living up to my imagination – they feel a bit too clean – but the glamour of the Capitol is working for me. The actor choices could work, but I need to see more to be completely sold. Of course, it’s hard to tell much from a preview. One thing I will say for this trailer is that it did not give away the movie for those who haven’t read the books. What do you think about the trailer? Did it get you excited for the movie, or were you left feeling a bit blase?

Mar 11

XVI, by Julia Karr

Rating: 5 out of 5

(summary from GoodReads) Nina Oberon’s life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she’ll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a “sex-teen” is Nina’s worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina’s mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother’s killer.

Let me start by saying that I LOVED this book. I loved it so much I couldn’t put it down. That’s right. Instead of enjoying the comfortable, fully reclinable, first class seat I got upgraded to on my flight to Rome, I taped my eyelids open and devoured this book. And I didn’t even care that this meant I would have nothing else to read the entire trip or that I would start my trip half-asleep. Nothing mattered except finishing the book and finding out what was going to happen.

Karr has created a dystopian society that seems completely plausible. While some of the elements in Suzanne Collins’ world from the Hunger Games trilogy seemed a bit far-fetched, the sci-fi, futuristic, dystopian elements of Karr’s world seemed very likely. Children had tracking devices installed in them at birth; listening devices were used to hear conversations; society was split into tiers; and women were treated as goods, something that has never fully left our society and could very easily come back.

As a book for teens, I applaud Karr’s courage. Sex in YA books is controversial, especially when the main subject of the book is sex. But the way Karr explores this theme is thoughtful. She does not come out and say teenagers should be sexually active. In fact, Nina is horrified at the thought and the characters who are past 16 but have chosen abstinence are applauded. Karr seems to be encouraging more the necessity in thinking through your actions, rather than chiding or encouraging sexual behavior, an important lesson for teens.

Of course, the book is not just about sex. It is full of mystery, corruption, romance, and suspense. Karr creates captivating characters, including Sandy, Nina’s ignorant, but lovable, best friend. The reader cares for the characters and wants to see them come out on top, an element that is almost always necessary for a successful book. And when coupled with her impeccable world building, this really is a must read.

If you are overly sensitive to discussions of sex, this may not be the best book for you, but I challenge you to give it a shot anyway. And if you are not overly sensitive to sex in books, definitely give this a read. You won’t regret it.

P.S. This is a great crossover book too, meaning adults should not be ashamed to get caught reading it.

Dec 17

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, by James Patterson, tells the story of a group of genetically altered kids on a mission to save the world. This concept probably sounds similar to things you’ve read before.

But what makes this book (and the series) different is that Max and her ‘family’s’ DNA was spliced with bird DNA, giving them bird bones, a fast metabolism, and wings. In addition, extra ‘talents’ show up every so often, just to keep things interesting and add a bit of aid to the Bird Kids when things get tough.

I’m not going to lie. It took me a while to get into this book. I started reading it about this time last year but kept putting it down. Once I got past the first couple of chapters, I found myself wanting to know what was going on behind the scenes, how the mystery would play out. And I wasn’t all-together disappointed.

Where I was disappointed was in the main character, Max. She seemed to fit too neatly into the hardcore heroine mold that, in my opinion anyway, has been a bit overdone. Whereas Katniss in The Hunger Games managed to merge her hard edge with a realistic vulnerability, Max’s vulnerabilities felt a bit forced; she lacked the honesty found in some of the more memorable characters I’ve encountered in my reading life.

Another problem I had with the book was that sometimes the action became a bit confusing and, at times, forced. I don’t want to go into specifics and give away important scenes, but, like with Max’s character, the writing was not as honest as I would have liked.

All that being said, I read the second and third books in the series and, while I did not find that my general issues with the writing and character development improved with the series, I still found the books to be an entertaining read. If you are in need of airplane or beach reading, give this book (and the series) a try. If you want to recapture the feeling you got reading The Hunger Games, you may want to try something else.

Sep 11

I had a crazy dream last night. I blame it on my obsession with finishing my current book and the fact that I am still being haunted by The Hunger Games every time I close my eyes. So in the dream, you won NaNoWriMo by racing up these twisty, windy stairs. There could only be three winners. The winners would finish their books. The only challenge was that the person behind you could throw a knife in your back so they could move up in the ranks. At the beginning of the stairwell, I joined ranks with 3 other contestants. Only problem was, I was in 4th place. But in my dream, that was fine. I didn’t mind helping them get to the top. As we ran, I heard people dropping dead all around me, until finally I was almost at the top and someone came up behind me. The 3 winners had already made it. I convinced the person behind me not to stab me in the back. What was the point? Then I turned and left. The game was over. I did not win, but my teammates had.

I woke up at 3 in the morning and thought this was a pretty interesting dream. At 3 am, I ignored its connection to life in general and only saw the connection in regards to writing. There will always be people looking to stab you in the back to take what you potentially have. The struggle to the top will be long and exhausting. Getting to the top is not something you can do on your own. You need help. A support group goes a long way.

I guess my sub-conscious is trying to tell me its time to find a support group. To all you writers out there, how did you find your support group? Are you still looking for one? Do you think a support group is essential to success?

Sep 05

I’m sure by this point, everyone and their mother has written a review of The Hunger Games trilogy, now that Mockingjay has been out for a good 2 weeks and the publishers are already ordering additional printings. But I wanted to wait to give my review until the story stopped haunting my dreams, which it did, for at least a week after finishing Mockingjay. And I think that right there speaks volumes for this series.

Believability: The Key to Success

The Hunger Games trilogy was so effective because it was so believable. Not only did Suzanne Collins create a post-apocalyptic world where technology continued to advance, albeit only a small part of the society benefited from it, but she also touched on an unfortunate element of human nature – our nature for cruelty. While it is hard to cope with the idea that our society could degrade to this level, where the victors of war punish the rebels by sending their children to a horrific death, it is plausible even in today’s society to imagine this happening.

Collins portrays our cruelty most clearly through three characters: Peeta, Katniss, and Gale. Peeta is the kindest of all the characters. He doesn’t want death. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He doesn’t want to fight. He just wants everyone to learn to get along, even if it means living under the rule of a totalitarian. Of course, when Katniss’ life is in danger, even Peeta resorts to violence. Katniss, on the other hand, sees nothing wrong with making others suffer, if it will help keep her or those she loves alive. Throughout the series, however, we do see a shift in her values as the full force of the world’s cruelty is thrust upon her. It’s hard to kill someone you have come to know even if their death equals your survival, and it’s hard to keep someone alive when everything in you screams out for revenge. Finally we have Gale, who operates with little remorse. He believes that people should be punished, they should suffer. While he fights for the rebels, Gale is no better than his oppressors, a point we see laid out very clearly in the final book.

Another wonderful thing about these books was the exploration of young love. Katniss’ inability to decide rings true to the teenager in all of us. To make a decision on who to date seems so final at that age. And how many females have not been made to feel guilty for not liking someone who liked them? I think this is an element of the book that readers of all ages can relate to. But the love triangle does not exclude the male readers, who can relate to the frustrations both Gale and Peeta feel towards being played with by Katniss, regardless of how willingly or unwillingly she has played them.

My one complaint of the trilogy is that sometimes the writing became bogged down with sentence fragments, which had a tendency to distract me from the flow of the story. Told in first-person in the present tense, I can see why there were so many fragments, but my personal taste would have been to include less.

If you want to read a synopsis of the books, check out Scholastic’s Hunger Games page, or, better yet, read the books. I promise they won’t disappoint.

The Hunger Games Movie Trailer – Thoughts?

Book Review Friday – XVI

Book Review Friday – Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Dreaming of NaNoWriMo…Literally

Book Review: The Hunger Games trilogy

Believability: The Key to Success