Hunger Games: The Next Twilight?

  

They are alike?

This semester one of the books the teacher plan we read is "The Hunger Games", the first part of a trilogy of the same name written by Suzanne Collins. As a fan of the books and sci-fie and fantasy genre, the book is catalog as a young-novel story but whatever, I like the idea of read the book. However I had the idea that the hunger games trilogy is the successor of the worst trilogy of books about "vampires": Twilight. Just I hate Justin Beaver (yes, Beaver) I hate the shinnies "vampires" so my doubts about the book were great; but I finally read it and I guarantee that this book is not the same as the emo "vampires" (maybe the part of the "love").
 

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins



The story turns around Katniss Everdeen, a young teenager from district 12, that is about to go to the Capitol, the mayor city on Panem, to fight for her life (literally). The history of Panem, before United States of America, is that the 13 district that surround the Capitol went to a civil war against it. At the end, only 12 district survive the attacks of the Capitol. The Capitol, again in control, inaugurated the Hunger Games to establish who is in charge of Panem.

The Hunger Games is an event on Panem that involved that 2 teenagers, a boy and a girl,  from the age of 12 to 18 from each district, figth to the death. This event is presented as a "reality" TV show on Panem where the Capitol control the fate of the young teenagers for them "play" in the hunger games. Only one of the tributes, so they call them, survive and proclaim victorious of the hunger games; the reward is a life of luxury and one year of food to the people of the district he/she represented.

Katniss, the protagonist, is about to volunteer as a tribute after a representative of the Capitol choose Katniss' sister as tribute of district 12. The other tribute of district 12 is a boy called Peeta Mellark. They later traveled to the Capitol with the representative of the Capitol, Effie Trinket, and the last victor of district 12 and mentor to Peeta and Katniss, Haymitch Abernathy. There they are trained and "educated" to appear on cameras and later on the field to fight.

This ladies and gentlemen are "The Hunger Games".



Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
in the coming "Hunger Games" film

 The book is good until the scenes of "love" where the author tries to force Katniss to be in love with her fellow tribute partner Peeta. This type of scenes I dislike and consequently are the parts I wanted to skip. Most of the scenes portrayed Katniss' interior fight between if she love Peeta or Gale, her friend and hunter partner, and the preoccupation that if the public do not believe she is in love with Peeta the Capitol could kill her family.

Until this parts the book does not resemble to the "vampires" books, where both share an emo "love". In the shiny "vampires" the protagonist has to decide between the "vampire" and the "werewolf" and put, or at least we imagine it, her hurt face. Like the protagonist of the "vampires" books, Katniss struggle between Peeta and Gale. However in "The Hunger Games" book the plot of the games is better than the emo "love", of a necrophiliac and zoophiliac girl, plot of the "vampires" books.

"The Hunger Games" is planning to exit as a movie next month and I can not wait to watch it, more because of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen the main character. Jennifer Lawrence appeared in the 2011 film X-Men: First Class as Raven Darkhölme aka Mystique.

Here is the official trailer for the movie.