Book(s) review: "The Hunger Games" series

I have a few minutes while I procrastinate doing laundry, so I'll write this post. :)

"The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins, is a trilogy of books about a society in the future that was once the United States and is now a group of 12 districts that surround The Capitol. The districts are all poor and struggling because they provide The Capitol with goods and get next to nothing for it. At one time in the past there was a District 13, but it was blown to smithereens when it tried to start a revolution against The Capitol's ultimate control. To remember that day (and to never let the other districts forget it), The Capitol holds an annual event called The Hunger Games, where a boy and girl from each district are chosen to compete in a survival-style battle that airs live on national TV, and where the last living contestant wins (and is subsequently financially taken care of for the rest of their life.)

Katniss Everdeen, from District 12, volunteers herself to go to the games when her little sister, Prim, is chosen. She leaves Prim and her mother in the care of her best friend Gale and goes with Peeta, a boy who once saved her from starvation years ago, to the games.

Long story short: Katniss and Peeta are advised to cook up this fake romance for the viewing audience's sympathy. This works, and they go from being long shots to top contenders. In the middle of the games, The Capitol changes the rules and says that two contestants from the same district can win. So Katniss and Peeta do it, of course. Then The Capitol comes back and says, no, never mind, only one can win. Instead of trying to kill each other, Katniss and Peeta agree to both kill themselves so that there will be no winner at all.

The Capitol stops them in time, and they're considered the greatest victors of the games ever. The problem: The Capitol is pissed. The president feels that Katniss has undermined The Capitol's authority, and now warns her that she and anybody she ever cared about is in serious danger if another revolution starts.

That's just the first book. It was a quick, exciting read. The futuristic elements were a little hard to wrap my head around, but the basis of the book was interesting and compelling. So much so, I immediately borrowed the other two books in the series to find out what happens.

Book two: "Catching Fire."

This is all about Katniss and her attempts to keep a revolution from happening. Unfortunately for her, it's starting no matter what. At the same time, Peeta (whose feelings for Katniss were real) and Gale (who declares his own feelings for Katniss) are putting her in an awkward spot. This is because while she cares for both of them, she doesn't allow herself to love either. Thankfully, all that romantic triangle stuff that has been done to death in YA novels these days is a mere subplot.

So. The revolution is starting up and The Capitol attempts to quell it by doing the unthinkable: The next Hunger Games will be played by previous games winners from each district. That means Katniss and Peeta are going back into the arena. And they're super pissed about it. They form an alliance with a few from the other districts and figure out how to once again defy The Capitol by destroying the arena itself. They all know they could very well be executed for doing it, but they don't care.

When the plan is put in motion, some stuff goes wrong and Peeta and Katniss are separated. As the arena is crumbling around them, Katniss is lifted into a helicopter and flown to District 13, which exists after all. It's where the revolution has been planned underground for 75 years, and where it's going to officially start. Peeta is captured by The Capitol.

Book Three: "Mockingjay"

Katniss is thrust into life in District 13 and learns that D12 was obliterated by The Capitol after the arena was destroyed. The president of D13 wants Katniss to be the spokesperson and symbol of the revolution. She's not interested. Then The Capitol releases footage of Peeta being tortured, and she gets angry and agrees. She, Gale and some of the others with whom she formed the alliance in the games are all leading the way. They end up rescuing Peeta and some other hostages from The Capitol, and go from district to district, until all are under their control. Now they just need to take The Capitol and the revolution is complete.

It gets very political and military here, and, frankly, I was bored. Not even the triangle remained interesting enough to keep me focused. So, for the sake of this already long post, I'll give you the end: The Capitol is overthrown. Katniss wants to be the one to execute the president. Before she does it, the president of D13 (who is going to take over) says that to punish The Capitol for all the years of mistreatment of the districts, they're going to have another Hunger Games and all the contestants will be children from The Capitol. So, as Katniss aims to kill the president of the Capitol (who is dying anyway), she instead shoots and kills the president of D13.

Katniss saw what we, the reader, are supposed to see: Any government that assumes total power is bad. We cannot allow a dictatorship. We have to stand up and fight for what is right, no matter the consequences. We have to let our voices be heard and remind those who have authority that we have the power to change things if we want to. And revenge is not a justifiable reason to commit a crime.

I get Collins' message, and I appreciate that she had the guts to deliver it. I only wish she had done it as strongly in the second two books as she did in the first. The last book in particular was the least enjoyable. The best part of each of these books was when Katniss was playing in the Games. There was only a tiny snippet of that in the last book, and it felt rushed and unsatisfying.

Oh, and Katniss ends up with Peeta. (But, by then, I didn't really care.)