Book Log 2012 #37: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I finally broke down and read this first book in the trilogy (it helped that it was shelved with the adult books, as I wasn't going to venture into the young adult room to get it). And I can see why the book (and series) became so popular. It's a good story featuring a strong protagonist in a dangerous setting.

That being said, it's much clearer that this is a book intended for tweens and teens than, say, the Harry Potter series. There's less depth to everything in this book than in even the first Potter book, which in some cases is unfortunate (I'd love to hear more about how Panem and the Games came to be, and get more background on the supporting characters, though I suppose that may come in the other books) but also understandable in places (it's more realistic, I think, that a teen forced to fight to the death would have a more practical reaction to all the death).

Not that I think that this series should be compared to Harry Potter. It's just the best frame of reference for these sorts of books I have. By the same token, for all of the killing in this book, the body count isn't all that much higher than your average Potter book. It's just more gruesome.

I do plan on reading the rest of the trilogy. Just as soon as the books wind up in the adult section.