The Hunger Games

[jhempel24]

Am I the only one that found this series (save for book 2) one of the worst set of books (other than twilight) that became super popular in the past few years?

After reading Battle Royale...I found Hunger Games a complete rip-off, just changed a few things here and there. Suzanne Collins to me couldn't write action of she was given a knife and a wet paper bag to hack through.

I understand that it's not about "kids killing kids", and when she wasn't writing action, and writing dialogue, she did a good job...which was why I think I loved book 2.

But wow....I was so underwhelmed that I think the movie might actually be better than the book on this one. They will portray the action much much better on screen than her written words.

And don't get me started on book 3....wow...save for the ending, one of the worst things I've read....but again, it was all action.

So after reading some reviews I'm in the minority about book 2 being worse than Hunger Games and Mockingjay, but at least that held my interest.

What were your thoughts on the books? I tried to be vague because of spoilers for those that want to see it and have not read it when it comes out.

[frostschutz]

I've never read it, the description of the books just didn't catch my interest. At all. I've heard (and seen / read a bit) of Battle Royale but it's just not my cup of tea. The Horror/Survival genre has better things to offer, no?

I loved her Underland Chronicles though.

[jhempel24]

I honestly wouldnt consider this coming close to horror lol

[Asawi]

I haven't read the series, nor am I likely to.
I understand it's labelled as a young adult book. Is that correct? (I know it is here in Sweden.)
Maybe that's something to keep in mind when reading it.

[odiakkoh]

I think you do need to remember who the 2 books are aimed for. I enjoyed both of them in different ways.

[Belfaborac]

I enjoyed the series quite a lot. Sure, there's more than a whiff of Battle Royale to it, but so what? If I were to limit myself to reading only books which are 100% original and unique I'd be reading maybe 2 days every year.

[jhempel24]

Originally Posted by odiakkoh

I think you do need to remember who the 2 books are aimed for. I enjoyed both of them in different ways.

I'm actually perfectly okay with these being a young adult books. I do enjoy young adult books quite a lot. Which is why I went into this thinking that I would find it quite enjoyable. I'm just confused as to why they are so popular and they say that these are incredibly original when they are obviously not.

I dunno. I was severely let down by the books.

[DiapDealer]

If it helps; Collins never really intended for this to be a series. I wish I could locate a link to the interview I once read, where she was honest enough to admit that the second two books were only written because her publisher flashed her a boatload of cash to do so. My personal experience reading them certainly lends support to that idea. I thought the first book was pretty good (but certainly not great) and the last two became steadily worse. I have no problems recommending the first book... but I would encourage stopping there and moving on to something else. That's just me though.

(And yes... reading Battle Royale first can take a bit of wind out of The Hunger Games' sails.)

[tch65721]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If it helps; Collins never really intended for this to be a series. I wish I could locate a link to the interview I once read, where she was honest enough to admit that the second two books were only written because her publisher flashed her a boatload of cash to do so.

That explains a lot. I wondered about the steadily declining quality.

[Shack70]

I never read Battle Royale, but I have seen the movie. I enjoyed The Hunger Games book 1 and 2 was ok but not as good as the first one. I thought the third book was the worst of the three and almost felt like she wrote it to become a movie. I want to see the movie simply because it looks good.

[DianNC]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

...she was honest enough to admit that the second two books were only written because her publisher flashed her a boatload of cash to do so.

Interesting. I've always thought I'd have preferred the three books written by Collins as one long book (it would still have been well under 1,000 pages).

Koushun Takami's Battle Royale was around the same length as all 3 of Collins' books combined as I recall -- but he probably wasn't offered the same lucrative deal back then.

I like longish books, though, so others' mileage may vary on this point.

[Shack70]

Koushun Takami's Battle Royale is now on my to read list

[jhempel24]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If it helps; Collins never really intended for this to be a series. I wish I could locate a link to the interview I once read, where she was honest enough to admit that the second two books were only written because her publisher flashed her a boatload of cash to do so. My personal experience reading them certainly lends support to that idea. I thought the first book was pretty good (but certainly not great) and the last two became steadily worse. I have no problems recommending the first book... but I would encourage stopping there and moving on to something else. That's just me though.

(And yes... reading Battle Royale first can take a bit of wind out of The Hunger Games' sails.)

That makes alot of since. But I'll be honest, I would recommend book 2 over book 1. But maybe that's because I liked the political intrigue that came with it. You can't read book 2 without book 1 however. And book 3 was just abysmal...I loved the ending, don't get me wrong....but the whole damn thing was like I was playing a video game...and a BAD one at that.

[PKFFW]

I read book 1 because the movie looks like a bit of fun and I always like to read the book first. I thought it was ok but not fantastic. Was going to go onto books 2 and 3 just because I'm a tad obsessive about seeing how things end but after reading this thread I think I'll skip them and go read Battle Royale instead.

[the-golden-ones]

Originally Posted by Shack70

I never read Battle Royale, but I have seen the movie. I enjoyed The Hunger Games book 1 and 2 was ok but not as good as the first one. I thought the third book was the worst of the three and almost felt like she wrote it to become a movie. I want to see the movie simply because it looks good.

Same here. I have seen the battle royale movie and would like to read the book. I really liked the hunger games book one. Book two wasn't bad, though not as good as the first, but book three was just weird.
However, i'm really looking forward to seeing the movie this month.