"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

With the recent release of "Catching Fire", the 2nd in the series, I'm reposting a previous blog message:

I recently finished "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. This is the first book in a series aimed at young adults. It is an absorbing page-turner featuring an annual televised event called The Hunger Games. Each district of Panem, the remains of what used to be the United States, has to send one boy and one girl to the games where they will fight to the death until only one tribute remains.

This normally wouldn't be the type of book I would choose, but since it's being billed as something Twilight fans would enjoy, I thought I would check it out.

All in all, I would probably give it 4 1/2 stars. Luckily, it didn't turn out to be as gory as I had feared, and the characters were very well-drawn. I had a few minor complaints; namely that the reasoning behind the games didn't ring true. There was also a romantic twist in the book, but certain aspects of it just weren't very believable. I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment!