The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

My daughter loved The Hunger Games, and since I shared her love of Twilight, I was more than ready to find another series we could enjoy together. The start of The Hunger Games smacked of Sci Fi, though, and I had a hard time getting into it. Usually a book starting out with other-worldly names and places loses me quickly, as I prefer that a book opens in this world and then lead me to another.

At Christmas, though, my sisters-in-law were raving about it and my hubby caught the bug, too. I started it again, but same result. On New Year's Eve, the same s-i-l's advised I needed to read it before the movie comes out if I want to tag along. (I use that line on my kids all the time, so it's only fair!) Since one of my all-time faves, Outlander, is considered a "slow starter" by some, I dove in once more. By the time The Reaping had arrived, I was hooked.

What works:

Like all great Young Adult novels, the reader quickly forgets this is a YA story. It is not simplistic or condescending, and the characters are believable within the world where they live. The stakes are high: life, limb, love, family. The pacing is excellent. There is enough tension to keep the reader worrying about what will happen next, but it's interspersed with a few scenes where the physical danger is lessened and emotional depth is introduced instead. This keeps the reader from throwing the book against the wall in frustration, because - hey - this is supposed to be entertaining, not nerve-wracking.

What shouldn't work, but does anyway:

Katniss Everdeen is not the most sympathetic lead. She is emotionally stunted to the point of being completely aggravating, but given that her entire life has been about staying alive and risking her life to keep her family alive, it's believable. Unlike clueless leading ladies that completely miss the signals being sent out by their male counterparts, Katniss actually considers taking things at face value, but rejects these explanations as not likely under the circumstances. A "torn-between-two-men" situation is so downplayed as to be almost a subplot, which keeps it from becoming cliche.

What makes it magic:

This is one of those books that makes closing the covers feel like emerging from a deep-sea dive. The ending is satisfying without being overly "neat." Katniss avoids falling into "tough chic" or "dumb bunny" stereotypes and emerges as a real person the reader will think about long after the story is done.

Five stars - save me a seat at the movie premiere, even though we all know the movie is never as good as the book.