My friend read the back cover of this black book six times before she actually dared to open to the first page. I agree with my friend, for if anyone told me to read a book about how a group of twenty -four teenagers fight to the death, I would give that person a skeptical look. This book is called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, following the story of Katniss Evergreen. I have heard about this book, rave reviews from my friends, but I didn’t understand what was so great about this book until I actually started reading. This book is more than just a story of teenagers fighting each other; it is a story of survival.

The Hunger Games is a competition of who will defeat the other “tributes.” The only way for the victor to win the game is to kill all the other tributes. The book is set in the future of North America, in a country called Panem. Panem is divided into twelve districts, each district having a distinct characteristic designed to serve the Capitol. The Capitol is where the Games are held and is the center of Panem’s government. The main character, Katniss, is not supposed to be a part of the games. Katniss’s little sister, Prim, gets her name drawn, and Katniss heroically takes her sister’s place as the District twelve female tribute. Along with Katniss, a baker’s son is the other tribute to represent District twelve. Part of the suspense of this book is how the baker’s son, Peeta, develops a romance relationship with Katniss. Peeta does this as a strategy to please the audience of the Games, but what kept me reading was their future relationship.

I loved the suspense in this book. I don’t think I have read a book with this much suspense in years. Every single page brought more questions to mind of what might happen next. The relationship between Katniss and Peeta was always intriguing because Katniss had her best friend Gale watching the Games, back in Panem. Katniss was always worried if Gale would be jealous or if she is putting on enough of an act for the audience. Another suspenseful element of the story was how on every single page, I always wanted to know if Katniss would live through the next battle.

Each of the characters was well-developed. There were many characters in this book, and it was often difficult to keep track of them all, each character played a vital role in the storyline. Katniss had her own prep team before the Games began. There were two characters on this prep team who nurtured a close relationship: Cinna and Effie.

I now understand why everyone was begging me to read this book. Just because the words “winning means fame and fortune and losing means certain death” are printed on the back cover, doesn’t mean this isn’t the book for you. The movie is coming into theaters on March 23rd. It’s always nice to see the movie after you read the book.