The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

January 18, 2010 - Posted by rileyshore11 - 0 Comments

The Hunger Games

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

One word; love.

Since the Twilight craze, I’ve been sick of vampire teen romance novels. When I heard that some Twilight fans were turning to The Hunger Games, I felt some excitement. Especially since it wasn’t a vampire novel!

I immediately went out and bought it, the cover almost completely satisfied me, however… The one thing I don’t particularly like on this cover is the font in which the title is written. It looks too boxy, and I imagine a less confined appearing font would suite the book better.

Disregarding my thoughts on the cover, I absolutely fell in love with this book. From the first page, you see the dire need for the main character (Katniss Everdeen) to keep the family alive and famished. You also instantly see the bond she shares with her sister, and even though she has slight feelings of contempt toward her mother, Katniss has kind thoughts about her too.

Never have I read such a novel that was full of so much mystery, intrigue, adventure, action and an underlying tone of unsettling in it.  The characters were completely unpredictable, and for awhile, I found that kind of exciting. The excitement quickly wore off however, when the characters kept seeming to do things that no normal teen would do.

The plot was original, and I found it hard to see any cliche elements within it. I did, however, find one overused portion that certainly bugged me. This was the fact that nobody in the council/governing party had a good thought. All of them were made out to be evil, contemptuous beings.

What I liked about this book:

  • The characters. I absolutely loved Katniss, and that’s what made it a good book, in my opinion.
  • The settings were flawless.
  • Suzanne Collins had researched outdoor survival so much that I thought she herself had been chosen for the games!
  • I liked the fact that this book wasn’t a light read, it was intense, and I enjoyed that factor.

What I didn’t like about this book:

  • I found that when Suzanne Collins was describing Katniss’s outfits, she went into too much detail.
  • This is a personal problem, but I didn’t like the amount of romance in the sort of environment they were in.
  • Sometimes, I felt like slapping Katniss and screaming…

Rating: Out of 10, I would give this book a 9.5

Recommendations: I would highly recommend this book to fans of ‘Twilight by Stephenie Meyer’ and ‘Uglies by Scott Westerfield’.

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The Black Dog Gang by Robert Newton

January 18, 2010 - Posted by rileyshore11 - 0 Comments

The Black Dog Gang

The gang was Mickey’s idea. We’d heard the rumors- rats were coming in off the ships and spreading disease. Then the government started offering tuppence a rat, so we decided to get stuck in. But we hadn’t counted on someone getting sick. Or on Mickey’s dad finding his rats and chaining Mickey up. And what happened next… well, it would change things forever…

When I first saw this cover in the shop, I was uninterested, and frankly, I hated it. But I picked it up nevertheless and was immediately interested in reading it. The odd style writing made me want to learn more, and the vivid, gruff characters was something I couldn’t resist.

The story starts with a new family moving in nextdoor, and while unpacking, the main character witness’s his neighbours father abusing his son. Immediately, it made me want to strangle the father for what he did. What made me more irked was that the main characters father saw what happened, but merely turned a blind eye. If it were a real scenario, I’d like to think a witness like that would step in. For the sake of the books plot though, it was a must.

The plot was tightly woven, with only a few scenarios taking place. The story is not complex, but rather simple and if I had skipped the whole middle of the book, and began reading the end, I think I would have only just began to feel that tingle of excitement that the beginning had given me.

What I liked about this book:

  • The offhand characters and the way they react.
  • The concept of a strong friendship in a considerably rough time.
  • The ‘back-alley’ language used. (‘Ey Mickey!)
  • Some of the sad scenes actually made me stop and think.

What I didn’t like about this book:

  • The cover of the silhouettes sitting on a brick wall with a superimposed photo of the dock.
  • Some of the scenarios inside the book made me cringe. (Eg. The father beating the son and nobody stepping in.)
  • Almost all of the parents inside this book are abusive, apart from the main characters… Cliche?
  • In the first few pages, there is a map of Sydney. I feel this is unnecessary and takes away from the readers imagination.

Rating: Out of 10, I would give this book a 7.

Recommendations: I would highly recommend this book to those that enjoyed reading ‘The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak’ and ‘The Zookeepers War by Steven Conte’.

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