june reading: the hunger games

i heard about the hunger games trilogy a few weeks back and decided to read them to see why they are so popular (also because they're making it into a movie). i'm so glad i did. they were fantastic - i couldn't put them down. i haven't breezed through a series that fast since harry potter & twilight.

i started the first one, the hunger games, two sundays ago and finished it by that monday night. then i ordered all three of them (in beautiful hardback!) from amazon and waited anxiously for them to come - which they did last wednesday. i was silly and wanted to savor them since they were so good so i decided i would read some more of the count of monte cristo and then go back to the series. that didn't last long. after a couple days i pulled out the second one, catching fire, and finished it in a day and a half, then immediately picked up the last one, mockingjay, and read it until 1am to finish it. i loved them.

i can see what people were saying of how they have a similar feel to twilight or that people who liked twilight would like them. i will say that if you didn't like twilight you may still very much like these. the story is completely different as well as the characters. i guess the similarity comes from it being written from the main girl's perspective, katniss, and that there is a love triangle and an overcoming the odds kind of dynamic to it. very different from twilight in my opinion though.

a writer for EW wrote a good article about the first one, which i enjoyed reading. you can read it here.

now that i'm a massive fan of the books, i am really excited about the first book coming out as a movie next year. i think they'll do a really good job with it and i like who they've cast. i'm not familiar with the majority of them, but stanley tucci will be brilliant in his role as the flamboyant television host, caesar. click here to see the cast.

so if you haven't checked out the hunger games yet, go ahead and at least give them a try. if you don't like them you don't have to finish them. but chances are you'll be looking for book 2 & 3 as soon as you fly through book 1.