The Hunger Games

So whilst bored one night, my friend suggested I read the Hunger Games, some of you may know the series, quite recently picked up due to the film of the first book being released.

The Book:
So, published in 2008, The Hunger Games is the first in a trilogy about post-apocalyptic North America, written by Suzanne Collins.
Basically, there are 12 parts to the country, or Districts, as they're called, each with their own produce specialties, such as Mining, Agriculture, Live Stock, Textiles, Transport etc. And every year a boy and a girl from each Districts is chosen to participate in the Hunger Games.
Which is, put quite simply, a fight to the DEATH.
The contestants get trained a bit, put in a arena and left to their own devices to slaughter each other in anyway possible. And these kid's age ranges from 12 to 18, and they're just picked up and killed for the rest of the world's entertainment.
Think Battle Royale, but...no it is just Battle Royale. And there was a lot of controversy about how similar it was but Suzanne Collins said she'd never even heard of  Battle Royale before.
AND on top of all that, it's been banned! It's on the 'Top Ten most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010.
"5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
 Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence"
Back to the story line:
The main character, Katniss, from District 12, the poorest District there is,  volunteers herself to replace her 12 year old sister who gets picked. Understandable, of course, and the male volunteer is a boy called Peeta, they know each other, being the the same age, but never really spoke, apart from once when he gave her some burnt bread.  
That's Love right there.

Now I won't spoil the ending for those who've not read it yet, but I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys romantic, bloody, post-apocalyptic teen novels.
It must be kinda good, it's getting a Movie and it's own game.

The Movie:
Katniss is played by the lovely Jennifer Lawrence, who also played Mystique in the new X-Men First Class, and did a good job of it too, playing Peeta is Josh Hutcherson, who's been in...Zathura, Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)  and Cirque du Freak (which was terrible).
The cast also includes Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz and Elizabeth Banks.
So all in all, sounding very good. And apparently they've signed on to do the remaining films also, so I hope the don't mess up the first or it's down hill from here.
It was originally going to be rated 15 however due to the audience of the books, it's been knocked down to a 12A which was done by removing a few (LOADS) of blood splash marks on the set and on weapons.

It's out sometime this March so I look forward to dragging my boyfriend to go and see it :D
And for those who've not seen it; here's a trailer.

 

Ohhh look at it on it's own mini screen. And I have to say, those last four notes, the whistle, gives me goosebumbs most every time.

Others: 
There's actually a game on it. Now don't get too excited. It's a Facebook game from what I've heard, basically like Farmville or Frontierville where you perform tasks and share items amongst friends. I think I'd prefer a game it if it was out on an actual console, PS3, Xbox, PSP, PC. And where you can control Katniss or another character and go through the game, like the Harry Potter games, that'd be awesome.
And of course there'd be a online multi-player but where you can play against people from all over the world in a epic, bloody gore fest to the death.
But that's me dreaming. Still, I hope they do it.

They've also got out a nail varnish collection. Every so often you get one of these. OPI have done movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Muppets. But this series, Capitol Colours, is being done by China Glaze and there are 12 to represent the 12 districts, each with their own cooky little name. As seen here: http://chinaglaze.com/products/index.php?coll=57
Now most of those colours look bloody lovely. But I don't really like glittery things so I think I might skip out on these lovely varnishes and their probably expensive price tag.

So like I said, go check out the Hunger Games, I highly recommend it and I can't wait to read the next two books to find out the conclusion of this thrilling world that Suzanna Collins has created for us (whether or not she did rip off Battle Royale).


Till next time, Have a nice day.


References
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (2010) Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2010 [WWW] Available from: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged/2010