The Hunger Games

I had seen most of the movie and I knew it was a Y-A book but many people in my book club insisted it is still worth a listen. And I concur: the writing is tight, tight, tight with the various plot elements: such as the appearance of mutant animals, preoccupations with food and with the songs of the “mockingjay” (mutant mockingbird/bluejay) are woven cleanly into the story. The characters, so larger than life on screen, are, as written, not as insanely dramatic even though yes, the premise of the book is dramatic and story dynamics, where the characters are participants in a cruel, to-the-death reality show, justifies and intensifies the drama. I listened to the book over two days with great enjoyment and I believe, it very deservedly, got made into a movie.