The Hunger Games
There is a lot to dislike about this ridiculously popular book. The main character, the rather awkward romance triangle, the "wow i'm so tough and jaded" constant inner monologues of the main character. The self serving nature of the main character. The rather obscure, evil-for-evil's sake of the central government. The main character. As you can see, i'm not Katniss' biggest fan at this point.
However one thing remains true despite all of this. It's a very entertaining story.
The idea of modern "death games" competed in by children is not new by any stretch of the imagination (see Battle Royale and The Running Man for two modernish examples), however it is depicted well here and fits nicely into the dystopian world Collins has created. Irritating Katniss may be, and not particularly likable, but she is still a compelling character and you find yourself rooting for her throughout the story regardless. The story packs some real emotional punches too, some of them arguably cheap shots but done with class and very effective.
At the end of the day, the story kept me turning the pages late into the night, and any story that can do that is a successful one.
One final note, the book does not end particularly well. Not much is resolved beyond the immediate (the games are over), the tension gets knocked up yet another notch at the end rather than tapering into a conclusion, and it feels... cut off rather abruptly. This is not a complete story in a book, though it could have been with a bit more finesse. You shouldn't plan to read "The Hunger Games" but rather "The Hunger Games Trilogy", because by itself it's ending would be disappointing. Seen as a lead-in to the next novel, as it is obviously intended to be, you can perhaps forgive this somewhat.
