“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins will make your mind play tricks on you and question this crazy story unfolding. Collins uses unexpected twists and turns to guide you through a story of courage, defeat, extreme exhaustion and victory. 

Katniss Everdean, a 16-year-old from District 12 will soon be on the journey of her life as she has stepped up as tribute for her sister Primrose. Katniss decided to compete in the Hunger Games in spite of the fact that her sister’s name was drawn from the glass ball during the capitol’s annual drawing. 

As Katniss sets out into the Hunger Games, her willingness to do anything she can to survive and her determination to make it out make the book hard to put down.. As the story unfolds, the one thing you know to be true for 374 pages is that Katniss will not give up.

Collins employs different writing techniques to help illustrate the story of characters on the brink of death and fighting to make it through another day. She uses graphic language and descriptive words to make you feel like you are living through the pain and horror that the tributes are living through during the games. 

As I turned each page, I often was on the edge of my seat wondering who was going to survive and who wasn’t going to make it out of the games. I was reminded  that although sometimes the world comes across as a big, dark and scary place, there are good people in the world. “The Hunger Games” reminded me that we are quick to make judgements and have preconceived notions , when in reality we need to give people a chance to show that they are a good person before we assume that people are bad. 

I picked up this book because my mom recommended it to me. I usually don’t gravitate toward science-fiction books, due to the nature of how they are told, but this story totally surprised me. I loved the little lessons that the author teaches throughout the story with the different personalities and perspectives of her characters. She uses a multitude of different kinds of figurative language to help you feel like you are living and seeing exactly what the characters are seeing.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a page turner that will keep you sweating and smiling all at the same time. I would also suggest this book to anyone who likes a good adventure story. Finally, I would recommend this book to young girls who are looking to be inspired by another woman. Although this book is fictional, the author does a beautiful job of illustrating lessons of strength, power and perseverance no matter a person’s gender or previous identity.