Week 3: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

    The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the next book I will be discussing here on Feelingsonbooks.com. I had never read this book or watched the movie in its entirety, so I was not sure what reactions I would have to its content. My mom has watched the movie, so I had seen parts in passing as I navigated through to the kitchen, but it did not seem like something that interested me at the time. As I suspected, I was not very excited to be reading a book about children being made to kill each other for the sake of entertainment of the wealthy capital people all because there was a war seventy-four years prior to the time of this story in which the capital was the victor and the other districts that lost the uprising were made to live their lives at the mercy of the leaders. 

    The way that Collins wrote this book in first person made me feel like I was following Katniss Everdeen through her whole journey and helped me to connect to what was going on easier than a third person telling because it seemed more personal. Do you think Collins made the right choice to write this book in first person, or would you have liked it better from a third person perspective? 

    Katniss felt that she did not have the skills or the strength she would need to survive in the games. She did not have the charming personality that the mentors thought she needed to gain the favor of the game makers and rich sponsors, but I believe her life experiences growing up in the Seam of District 12 taught her the skills that she needed to be a natural contender. She learned how to hunt game from her dad before he was killed in the mine, and which plants are safe to eat from her mom being the daughter of the apothecary shop owner. She had survival skills and perseverance from taking on the responsivities of her dad when her mom fell into a deep depression after his death. All these struggles helped to build her into a natural fighter. What life skills did you think would make Katniss the most suitable tribute to compete in the Hunger Games? 

    The last thing that I wondered about in this half of the book was how Peeta always seemed to do the kind thing and help Katniss, even when she did not want his help. Did he really secretly love her all that time without her knowing. Do you think that Peeta expressing his secret love for Katniss will help them both survive by gaining them favor with the sponsors? I guess we shall see as we read deeper into the last half of the book. See you all next time!