The Hunger Games is set where North America once was but now resides Panem: consisting of the Capitol and the 12 districts. The Hunger Games are an annual reality TV show broadcast everywhere to show the power the Capitol has over the Districts and to remind them of the Dark Days. Each year a boy and girl between the ages 12 and 18 are selected from each district to compete in the games, in an unknown arena where there can only be one survivor from the 24 teenagers. The story follows Katniss Everdeen, a very self-made 16-year-old, who volunteers to save her younger sister, Prim, from entering the games – a rare action from the run-down District 12.
Katniss believes she is very unlikely to win the games and return home to her family and district alive, but with her bravery in volunteering and the help of her stylist and acquaintances making her appear enchanting and desirable, Katniss begins to see that with the assistance she may receive in the games from sponsors who want her to win, and the skills acquired from hunting for her family, her return to district 12 may become a possibility.
However, if this is to become a reality, Katniss must face up to the terror of the games and the traumatising possibility of having to kill a person in order to survive. This may be just about manageable if it weren't for the fact she's thrown into the arena with Peeta Mellark: a boy she owes so much: a boy who has saved her life.
The Hunger Games is one of the most interesting books and series I've read with a very realistic plot that's easy to imagine actually happening at some point in the future. I would definitely recommend The Hunger Games – the entire series – with a 9/10 for the first book.
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