Hunger games

[flowerseverywhere]

I loved this book series. I am so excited to see the movie. Katniss Evedeen is the type of female I admire. Strong and kind character. I was very surprised the series was rated young adult. I thought the themes were very adult and there was a lot of violence.

I only long for the day when the Jackie Faber series( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Jack_%28novel%29) also make it to the big screen

[Float On]

I haven't read the books yet, probably should put them on the list a little higher so I can read them before the DVD is available. I probably won't see it at the theater.

[Tiam]

I read the Hunger Games before they seemed to become HUGE! I liked them, didn't love them. They are violent and adult....but I think younger readers want more realistic books. They don't want pablum. One thing I kept hearing back then, was that the Hunger Games were very similar in plot to another book, a Japanese one, called Battle Royale. But I never read that one.

[jania]

I read the first book a while back when a friend suggested it and then I made her tell me what happened in the last two books of the series as I don't plan on reading them. I think if I was a young or high school girl I would have been in love with Katniss, just like I was with Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins. Katniss is a great, strong character. I didn't find the writing style that great and the reason for the games I thought was lame, so I just didn't focus on it. That being said, the trailers of the movie look great and I am hoping to see it.

[leslieann]

I liked book #1 and 2 & 3 were okay...the premise got a bit lamer and the details thinner as she went along. Books seemed CLEARLY written for the movie screen. My DH said that book #1 just lacked detail...I saw lots of detail about fashion and people's weirdnesses but nothing much to explain the political and cultural oddities. In that way, I see it as written for young adults (teens). And because sexuality and sexual violence are pretty much left out, well, except for the made-up pregnancy, that's how it is for kids...if the books really were for adults, the level of sexual violence would probably match the level of other physical and emotional violence. I thought they were gross, actually, but also I couldn't stop reading. One critic referred to them as "plot driven" which I took to mean that the characters and the context were pretty thin.

BUT....even with my complaining, I DID stay up all night reading. And I liked Katniss and the mockingjay as icon.

[CathyA]

I know nothing about these books/movie. But I keep hearing that its very violent and not for younger people. Is this another one of those movies that's going to give violent kids another behavior to emulate?

[Tiam]

I read the first book a while back when a friend suggested it and then I made her tell me what happened in the last two books of the series as I don't plan on reading them. I think if I was a young or high school girl I would have been in love with Katniss, just like I was with Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins. Katniss is a great, strong character. I didn't find the writing style that great and the reason for the games I thought was lame, so I just didn't focus on it. That being said, the trailers of the movie look great and I am hoping to see it.

You too? I was telling my daughter that the games, the reaping, all of it, just doesn't make much sense or add up. It's kind of a gaping hole for me.

[Tiam]

I know nothing about these books/movie. But I keep hearing that its very violent and not for younger people. Is this another one of those movies that's going to give violent kids another behavior to emulate?

I think you would have to define "Young People". But if you watch it, I think the filmmakers try to go with the theme of Katniss and Peeta, playing this game not out of choice but necessity, and yet they try hard to play them on their own terms, with a sense of morality, of humanity which is in direct opposition of the nature of the "games". So, humanity and non violence are a theme, even in the midst of the violence.

[Blackdog Lin]

I won't end up seeing the movie for years probably (I'm usually about 2 years behind even the DVD releases). But I picked up the book a month ago, based on all the hype I was seeing, and very much enjoyed it. Decently written and strangely compelling. So much so that I'm wanting to read the next two in the series.

[jennipurrr]

I finished reading the series recently. IRL I kept running into a wide variety of people who had read it and loved it, so I decided to give it a try even though the premise did not seem that intriguing to me. I enjoyed it and felt the writing and characters were much better than the other YA series I have read fairly recently, Twilight. I really did enjoy Katniss as a character, as a strong female protagonist. I was so happy the whole "love triangle" thing was kept to a minimum. I did wish there was more background on what exactly lead to the creation of Panem and how former civilization fell, more of the political stuff, but that was glossed over. I kept wondering where in the context of North America each of the districts were but we never found that out except for District 12. The second book seemed a little bit like filler to me, between the first and the third but I finished the series in less than a month, so I was definitely engrossed.