The Book Wheel

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Why I Finally Read The Hunger Games Series (Review)

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Confession: I never had any desire to read The Hunger Games. I just didn’t. For years, I’ve warded of maniacal (and sometimes downright angry) questions about how I can call myself a serious reader when I haven’t read the greatest trilogy of all time. Yes, people said these things. Of course, these comments just made me more averse to the books. Then, a few weeks ago, my husband decided that we should watch the first movie. Being the good book nerd that I am, the idea of watching an adaptation without reading the book filled me anxiety. I didn’t want to read them, but my moral compass about reading the books if I see the movies won out and I ended up picking up the books. Here are my thoughts:

The Hunger Games – Unfortunately, I watched the movie before I read the book and was completely detached from the reading experience. I couldn’t really dive into the storyline and felt like I was just skimming along the surface. Halfway through, I realized that this probably wasn’t because of the movie, but because the writing is so simple compared to what I’m used to. At this point, I was regretting picking up the series.

Catching Fire – By the second book, I had learned to adjust my expectations and I enjoyed it a lot more. There were some major differences between the book and the movie and I was able to get into the story a bit more. I read this one more quickly than the first and it made me not regret my decision to read the trilogy.

Mockingjay – Perhaps my favorite book in the trilogy, I enjoyed the politics of Mockingjay. It was much more plot-driven than its predecessors, so when Collins did all the things she did to all of the people she did it to, it all felt emotionless and calculated, which was a major departure from the (and I use this word loosely) rich character development in the first two.

So, am I glad I read the trilogy? I guess so. I might not have to ward off the maniacal questions about why I haven’t read it, but I’m surely going to have to ward off the fangirl anger at my indifference. Oh, well. At least now I can call myself a serious reader, right?

Because no one expresses indifferences quite like McKayla Maroney…… Photo courtesy: Bleacher Report

 

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  • I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games, but I haven’t had any desire to reread it, and I don’t know that it’s my favorite series of all time or anything. I just thought it was interesting. But, yeah, YA prose tends to be overly simplistic, which is always frustrating for me. (Though worse is when a YA author starts calling their own prose “lyrical” because then you end up with overwrought sentences and analogies that don’t actually make any sense. I guess I can’t win. :p I think the plot of the last book is interestingly complex, though, and somewhat underrated by people who just seem to think the plot is exciting.

    • I can’t even imagine trying to reread these books, especially now that so much time has passed!

  • Lisa

    My daughter had these assigned in high school. Still not sure why. Lol.

  • Katherine Koba

    “I’m not saying Colins isn’t a good writer, she probably is. ”

    Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh she really isn’t. At least, not with novels, unless The Underland Chronicles are surprisingly good? She worked on some of my favorite peak 90s Nickelodeon shows (Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo), so she’s definitely got TV writing chops, but her prose is “meh” AF.

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  • Mahreen

    I have similar feelings towards the Hunger Games Trilogy. My younger cousin loves them and when the first one came out she urged me to read it. But I just could not get through it. I’m not saying Colins isn’t a good writer, she probably is. I think it was the genre of the books that turned me off. Since then I’ve had to read The Hunger Games in two of my English courses at school and I still haven’t gotten into it. I’m not really interested in the adventure, war against worlds type of books, I’m more into detective fiction and mystery. But I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the series. You highlighted some important points and I may actually give it another go 🙂 I really like the look of your blog, it’s easy to follow, the posts are organized and the layout is fresh. I look forward to reading more! 🙂

    • Thank you so much for the kind words! I think it’s a series worth reading but I won’t blame you if you don’t 🙂 I hope you stick around – I’ve read some good books, lately!

  • Catching Fire was my favorite. Mockingjay was, like you said, emotionless and calculated and I was like this is IT? It felt like a completely different book than the other two.

    • The Book Wheel

      It was completely different but I enjoyed the political posturing within it.

  • So I have read them recently too! I think Catching Fire was my favourite. I’m in two minds of whether I should review the books, but I started with Hunger Games, might as well continue. I’m glad that I read the books!

    • The Book Wheel

      Let me know if you review them. I’m on vacation and a little out of the loop right now!

  • I’m like you, overall I feel very meh about these books. I saw the first movie and I have no real desire to see the second. It just doesn’t hold my interest.

    • The Book Wheel

      I will say…. the movies are pretty good 🙂

  • I felt the same way you did going into the trilogy – I didn’t really want to read them, didn’t think I’d like them, and only picked them up because everyone else was talking about them. I loved the first two books – not for the writing, but for the unique world she created and fascinating storyline. I didn’t love Mockingjay as much as you did. But, I tend to always like later books in a series less than earlier ones…maybe fatigue with all the same characters, etc?
    PS – awesome use of the Mckayla Maroney “meh” face picture!

    • The Book Wheel

      I’m glad you like the picture. I’ve considered using it a few times but could never make it work until this one 🙂 I know what you mean about getting tired of characters – I read the first SIX Outlanders in a row and I still can’t get around to picking up the 7th 4 years later….

  • Ha! I’m not a fan of these books either. I read the first one the year after it came out, before it really took off. I enjoyed it, but not enough to seek out the next two books when they came out. And then the hype machine really turned me off. I finally listened to them all on audio a year or two ago and was unimpressed. Mainly because anything involving a love triangle makes me feel ragey, and these books DIDN’T NEED A LOVE TRIANGLE.

    • The Book Wheel

      How do you really feel? 😉

  • Jennine G.

    Haha – now you can call yourself a serious reader. Too funny. Maybe these books are easier for me to get into because I work with the intended audience. The only thing I look for in a book is an interesting story…that’s all it has to have. So when my students get crazy over a story, and I liked it, I easily catch on to their excitement with them. But, I don’t get around to reading a quarter of the YA they do, so I usually end up with the hyped books. I read this one before the hype and was an original fan, but read The Fault in Our Stars during the hype and thought it was eh. It’s hit or miss I guess.

    • The Book Wheel

      That makes sense because you’re approaching it from a different place than I am.

  • I’m surprised people have said to you you’re not a serious reader unless you’ve read this trilogy! Guess i’m not one, either… yeah I’m not interested at all. Honestly, I’m not all that interested in reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy either, but that’s probably more because I ended up watching the movies (original Swedish) first.

    • The Book Wheel

      Yes, people actually said that! I liked the Dragon Tattoos, but I didn’t see the movies first and read it when it was popular but not *too* popular.

  • You’re a better woman than I. Cannot do it!

    • The Book Wheel

      It wasn’t so bad!

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