My pet peeve about this series is that it's often lumped with other young adult series that were adapted into movies around the same time, cough, Twilight and Harry Potter. It doesn't help that the last book is split into two films, just like them.
To me, THG is different, it is much more mature and has much more thought-provoking factors. It is speculative fiction, a dystopian world, which is one of my favorite genres. As a plus point, it manages to tell stories from a teenager's point of view without it being unbearable and hormone-driven.
In the fictional future, twelve distinctive districts serve the main Capitol; they are being harshly controlled as punishment for rebellion seventy-four years ago. Each year, every district has to send male and female tributes to compete in Hunger Game, a fight to the death in an arena. It is presented as a reality show for the people of Capitol. Yes, the reality shows that those we have in the current world: some unrealistic, over-the-top, entertainment-driven, fashion, producer manipulations, it has all those. To the Capitol, most are portrayed as ignorant, rich and shallow. Kids fighting to the death is prime-time entertainment to them.
I would say that the first movie doesn't do it justice, and is shot in annoying shaky camera (this adds a lot to the negative IMO). Besides the technicality, it doesn't represent the richness of the book. In the book, we follow the character's physical and mental struggle, and we are fully informed about the history, and what shapes the character into the person she is in the arena. There are a lot of things you don't get from the movies, and I think the books are much more superior.
THG is easy to read, going at a great pace. It's thought-provoking, and the idea was born from the actual world: bread and circuses.
Rating: 5 Berries out of 5 Cornucopias
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