The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, Book One)

I was not prepared to have such an unhinged main character that is Katniss Everdeen, because wow, she is truly a fighter.I found Peeta as a dork & I laughed more than I was expecting at the thoughts running through Kat's head.Fist time reading this book, and it's cool, I'll also be watching the movie for the first time in a day or so.

I wasn’t expecting The Hunger Games to grip me the way it did, but from the first chapter, I was all in. The writing is fast-paced without feeling rushed, and Collins does a great job building a bleak but believable world.Katniss isn’t your typical dystopian “chosen one” — she’s grounded, cautious, and motivated by love for her family more than anything else. Watching her navigate both the brutal Hunger Games arena and the politics outside of it kept me turning pages way too late at night.What I really appreciated is how layered the story is. Yes, there’s action and suspense, but underneath that is a sharp look at power, media, and survival. It made me think, but never in a way that felt forced.I also liked that the romance subplot didn’t take over the story — it added tension without being the focus.Overall, this book deserves the hype. Whether you’re into dystopian fiction or just want a story that keeps you fully hooked, this is it. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

can’t believe i’ve read this for over ten years and have only now gotten my own copy. still a favorite of mine!

This book was very entertaining and enjoyable. It kept me on my toes the whole time can’t wait to get the second book.

Gripping from the first page! The Hunger Games throws you into a brutal, high-stakes world where survival means everything. Katniss Everdeen is fierce, clever, and unforgettable. Suzanne Collins blends action, emotion, and rebellion into a story you won’t be able to put down. A modern classic!

I've read this book so many times, but it still continues to emotionally devastate me on every single read. I loved annotating while reading it because I was able to pick up on some stuff that I hadn't previously. Collins has created a dystopian world that is easily accessible for teenagers and adults. On the surface is Katniss's story of survival. But underneath are themes of government corruption and rebellion for the betterment of all.I'm really looking forward to finishing this series as I annotate it, especially doing my first reads of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping.

Would You Survive the Games? A Violent Rip-Roaring Read and Perhaps an Ominous Glimpse into Our Future?American writer Suzanne Collins has given us a magnificent portrait of what contemporary SF suspense fiction can be—even if the suspense is for young adults and teenagers. The Hunger Games is an adult novel written for and starring children.The genre is an eclectic mixed bag, a potpourri of the best in futuristic, post-apocalyptic fare. It is a romance, a science fiction novel, action, adventure, danger, dystopia, some horror and a little fantasy (what with the exciting creatures like wolves and wasps) thrown into the mix.The plot concerns a contest in which 25 teenagers are placed in an arena (not unlike the ancient Roman gladiator fights) and instructed that in order to live all but one must die … at each other’s hands. And everything is televised world-wide. Survival tools and assorted weapons are given to everyone. And they are left inside the dome for a week or so to live by their wits and duel to the death. So the book is violent and bloody, even having a twelve-year old girl grisly killed.But in all the terror, and fantastical creatures like mutant wasps, birds, and bristling dog-like wolves featured in the finale, including fight scenes to compete with Ridley Scott or J.J. Abrams, The Hunger Games is not a horror novel but an examination of the depravity of man. Could something like this actually happen in future America? In the light of entertainment, it’s at least plausible.People are becoming increasingly more difficult to shock. Lust for fame and power is high. Our forms of amusement are slowly becoming more visceral, less tame. Example: In the 1960s, television censors wouldn’t show a pumping and gyrating Elvis Presley from the waist-down. Now it seems television HAS NO censors.Suzanne Collins has described how difficult the book’s writing was. Reality TV shows like Survivor and contest shows wherein people bid to get money and prizes, footage from the Iran-Iraq war—soldiers carting machine guns in whirling grit—the horrors of war, and the Roman clashes of old all served as a framework … not to mention Collins’ past growing up in Vietnam and the loss of her father at an early age. The novel’s themes to Suzanne Collins include tackling issues like “severe poverty, starvation, oppression, and the effects of war on others.” Even Christian themes like self-sacrifice, such as when Katniss takes the place of her younger sister in the Games. Peeta Mellark, a participant, exhibits a Christ-like affect when he is apparently killed, laid in a cave, and emerges with a total confidence that for the first time in Games history, two people can and will survive—a boy and a girl—namely he and Katniss. Do they win The Hunger Games, together?You’ll have to read.Panem is the continent where this story takes place, really the remains of North America after a series of natural disasters obliterated the cities and towns from the map. The name suggests the defunt airline corporation. The Capitol is a rich extravagantly luxurious cityscape, reminding me of the planet Corauscant from Star Wars fiction. When the book was published, it became the biggest phenomenon since Harry Potter. Bigger than the unappealing (at least to me) vampires of the Twilight saga—even Stephanie Myer lauded the book. But similarities between this story and the Japanese novel Battle Royale, Stephen King’s (who praised the book) novels The Running Man and The Long Walk—both concern contests and fights to the death—and Shirley Jackson’s (the woman who wrote The Haunting of Hill House) short story “The Lottery” where the same scenario happens (a pitched battle for justice) as in The Hunger Games.And who can forget another inspiration and precedent: William Golding’s first book and classic Lord of the Flies. The trapped teens, and mounting hysteria over who should lead them, and the threats to survival under duress, all play a part in a riveting tale set on a tropical island—The Hunger Games is set in a sealed, domed false-paradise. I think an avid reader could even go so far, to return to King’s work, to say his Needful Things and Under the Dome are repackaged “get out of that” story templates.So the concept is as old as the quills, thousands of years in the making, and it works fearfully, wonderfully well.Nevertheless, the book won many awards, which I feel were well deserved, including the New York Times Notable Book, Library School Journal’s Best Book, the Golden Duck Award, the Cybil Award, and more.Considering everything I have told you, should you read this book? Well, ultimately you will have to make that decision. Some people will just be wowed by The Hunger Games (I’m one of them) and others may be repulsed or turned off. The novel is intense even while not being overtly graphic. Like other phenomenon books including ones I like, like Harry Potter and Jurassic Park, the symbol of the Games is a “mockingjay”, a “jabberjay” cross-bred ...

I began this book with a certain amount of trepidation. It's certainly very popular, not just among the target audience, but with older readers, too...and I've found that I tend not to enjoy the hyped up novels very much. However, after a brief stint working in a bookstore and selling these books like hotcakes, I wanted to give them a go and see what they were all about. Do I think "The Hunger Games" is as good as it's hyped up to be? Ehhh...no. But it's an entertaining read nonetheless. Spoilers follow.Seventy-four years after brutal war, the United States is divided into 12 districts headed by the capital city of Panem. As punishment for the war, every district must submit two tributes, one boy and one girl, to take part in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death competition that is broadcasted for all to view, with the winner's district being rewarded with extra food until the next Games rolls around. Katniss is a sixteen year-old girl from District 12, the region that provides the Capital's coal. She lives in poverty with her distant mother and her younger sister, Primrose. The family's breadwinner since her father died in a mining accident, Katniss spends most of her time illegally hunting for food to trade and consumption and is often the only thing that keeps her family alive. During the reaping, her sister's name is pulled to be District 12's female tribute. Knowing Primrose doesn't have a chance at surviving, Katniss volunteers to go instead with the understanding that she also likely won't return. Paired with the kind yet determined Peeta as her fellow tribute and their cynical mentor Haymitch, Katniss is whisked off to the Capital, where she faces untold horrors and almost certain death in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games.This is an exciting premise, to be sure. Unfortunately, I'm going to start this review with one of my main complaints with the story. While the concept is interesting and exciting, it doesn't hold up particularly well to scrutiny. The population can be split into two groups when it comes to the Hunger Games: those who are entertained by the carnage and drama and those who just passively accept it. I'd be willing to buy that if we were talking about adults being forced to fight...but we aren't. These are kids, some as young as 12, being pitted against one another. I find it very difficult to believe that there hasn't been some pushback from the population. Today, we see parents go to great lengths to protect their children, particularly in war torn countries where kids are often pressed into service as soldiers or forced into servitude. These parents know they face certain death, yet their willing to do what needs to be done to find and protect their children. Collins tries to explain away the passive attitude toward the games by saying that the population is too beaten down to care or object. Really? There hasn't been anyone, a single family or even a lone parent, that has tried to make a stand? It simply isn't believable when taken at more than face value.That aside, "The Hunger Games" is an exciting read. The beginning is a little slow, but the pace really picks up once Katniss leaves District 12. Collins deserves a big pat on the back for pacing this so well. It's difficult to find a good stopping point; hard to quit reading when you just want to know what happens next. The story flows well from element to the next and it never feels forced, stilted, or, worse, boring. A lot of the YA novels I've read lately have had incredibly bloated middle portions that slowed the pace of the overall book to a crawl - thankfully, that's not the case at all here. It's also worth mentioning that nothing feels unnecessary. The action is placed where it needs to be and never feels gratuitous, and the more relaxed sequences (even in the beginning) are never seem longer than they need to be and always serve a purpose. It's riveting, it's hard to put down - it's a well-plotted and well-paced story that never bores or strays from its plot.The plot also deserves recognition because it's damn good. One of my major complaints with books that I've read recently is how predictable they are, especially in the Young Adult genre. "The Hunger Games" is far from predictable; the twists are unexpected and genuinely surprising, and not in a nonsensical way. As I mentioned above, implausibility aside, the premise is engaging and, for the most part, different. I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that Katniss survives, what with there being two more books being told in the first person point of view. How she gets there, though, is quite a journey, full of surprises and twists, some good, some terrible. I was also pleased to see that the dystopian aspect was executed well. I've always loved "1984" and "Brave New World," and wondered how a Young Adult novel would portray the horrors and hardships of a dystopian society. Collins doesn't pull any punches with what is shown. I...

REASON FOR BOOK CHOICEI am an aggressive reader now, for sure, but I didn't used to be. As such I found out about Hunger Games via a trailer on Apple.com. It looked intriguing and the main character had a lean and angry feel to her that I hadn't seen in a while. I like kick ass female heroines and the story seemed to tick all my desirability boxes.Then a few reviewers said the movie wasn't as great as it could be, so I passed and decided to wait for the DVD release. However, a couple of weeks ago I was trawling for a good book and I thought: Hunger Games, why not? I'm currently writing my own YA book and I thought that I should be pragmatic and check out the competition. I didn't expect it to be good, I certainly expect it to be great. It was just the new Twilight that I had to read because the world demanded it.COVERThe cover for the Kindle version I purchased is the movie tie-in edition. I'm not sure what to think of that. I know that keeping your marketing material the same is a good idea, but would it be such an ask to have a unique Kindle cover that really takes advantage of its grey scale processing? We're not talking a single independent writer here, this is a professional squad. Surely they could design something that grabs you straight off from the get go.The cover itself is fine. It's Katniss' mockingbird on fire and I already knew it looked great in print at the local bookshop. In greyscale, however, not so much. All the vividness and contrast has been drained out of the picture; therefore, even though it's in super high definition, it doesn't grab me on the Kindle.It's also strange that the cover suffers from the 'blank space' issue a lot of books have around its left and right sides. I went off at Alan Parr last week about and I haven't changed my opinion. This is really lazy work and whoever put the book together for the Kindle should be spoken to about it. Yes, they would have to modify the file but it would be worth it.BOOK LAYOUTEven though the book still starts right into the novel (please, can we not do that?), I found it had all the essentials: TOC, chapter headings, acknowledgments and a really great way of promoting the next book. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of the way the TOC had been laid out and although I understand it's not the Kindle version creator's fault (because he / she was staying true to the source material) it really reeks of sloppiness.I can comprehend that fans of the novel would want it changed as little as possible from one version to another, but I'm not sure they would complain about aesthetic changes like chapter headings. I say this because the TOC chapter listings are 1, 2, 3 and so on. It works when you create a printed book because you can make those numbers really large but as TOC headings, it looks like an eighth grader put the table of contents together. Surely they could have changed them to One, Two, Three and kept the spirit of the book.One thing I love about the layout is their marketing. At the very end of the novel is a picture promoting the new novel: Catching Fire, and it's great. It let's you know that the other book is available, what it's called and it's not trying to force you to read anymore. I'm already thinking for picking it up in the Christmas period (or when I have holidays) to add to my list of reading material.STORYThe story is pretty well known by now: Katniss has voluntarily put herself forward to compete in the Hunger Games so that she can save her sister from a likely death. This games are a survival tournament between the 12 different districts that is held in the Capitol and features participants from the ages of 13 (?) to 18.The main story: survival, is added to with the possibility of romance, audience manipulation and defiance against an oppressive regime. I loved it. I really loved it. The story arc is tightly wound and just goes up and up in its tension as the book progresses.I found Suzanne Collins totally ruthless as an author (for this kind of book she needs to be) and that was overwhelmingly refreshing for me as a reader. No-one is spared. Friendships are made because of the need to survive and then characters are dispatched as if the Hunger Games was happening in reality right now. There's no sentimentality in this book or inauthentic moments and that's what makes the story work because it feels as if you're right there every step of the way with Katniss and the other competitors.Also, the book ends. The Hunger Games end and that makes it a compelling (and fulfilling) read.CHARACTERSIt's been a long time since I've read characters who I've cared about so deeply. I love Katniss and her strength, her confusion, her struggle with humanity versus survival. It's powerful, it's evocative and it made my heart jump more than once. She's a character that hasn't just turned up with a bow because that's what the author wants, she's a character who grew to use a bow because of her fierce determination to survive. I feel that ...

The Hunger Games~ This book was one of the best books I've read. Not only did the author create such a vivid image in your head when you read it, but also the story line kept you on the edge of your seat. The setting takes place years into the future into a new country known as Panem. This new country rose from the ashes of North America after it failed. In Panem, there are 13 districts and one Capitol. Each of the districts specializes in a certain area. While one district might supply weapons another supplies coal. One year though, district 13 decides to start a rebellion against the Capitol because they no longer want to supply them and be under their control. This caused the Capitol to destroy the 13th capitol and kill everybody remaining. The Capitol decided to make more laws and become extra strict. They wanted to make sure no one ever forgot what happened and the power they have over them all, thus creating the Hunger Games. Every year and once a year, each district must pick two tributes, one boy and one girl, from a glass bowl. These 2 tributes are then shipped off to the Capitol for training. Here they meet the other 22 tributes. Soon after their tanning they are taken to the arena, the battlefield for the games. While in this arena the tributes are forced to kill each other until only one is remaining while every citizen is forced to watch every brutal second of the games. The last tribute remaining will then go home and receive riches for the rest of their life. Meet Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old teenager from the poorest district, District 12. At a young age she lost her father and was forced to support her mother and her little sister Prim. To do this every morning she leaves early to go hunt in the woods with her best friend Gale. Although hunting is illegal, they never get in trouble because everybody could use a little food. One the day of the drawing for tributes, Prim is chosen. Katniss leaps forward to volunteer to take her little sisters place. Once she is up on stage the boy tribute is chosen. The boy picked is Peeta Mellark. He is also a 16-year-old teenager. Katniss and Peeta know each other but aren't exactly friends. Peeta was the one who got Katniss to start hunting again and saved her family from starvation. When the games began Peeta told all of Panem that he was in love with Katniss. This was supposed to be only apart of the show, but he was actually telling the truth. At the beginning of the games, while in the arena, Peeta joins forces with the Careers (the rich kids from the upper districts who have trained their whole life for the Hunger Games, to them it's a honor) and helps them hunt down Katniss. This ends up being a lie to keep them away from her. Although he knows he has to die to keep her alive, he is willing to keep her safe. This is the problem, both Katniss and Peeta want to keep each other alive but to do that one of them must die. Then there was a rule change. During this rule change, two tributes can win if they are from the same district. This sends Katniss into a frenzy to find Peeta, who has been seriously injured. Once she finds him she learns that Cato, their many enemy and the one with the best chance of winning, sliced open Peeta's leg. Together they take shelter and Katniss nurses Peeta back to health. Soon there was only three left, Katniss, Peeta and Cato. Though they were spread apart, so, soon the gamemakers (ones who control everything that happens in the arena) send mutant mutts to chase them to the middle of the arena. This is where it all goes down. Once all three find each other in the middle, Cato puts Peeta into a headlock. He tells Katniss to go ahead and shoot him with her arrows because all it will do is send him and Peeta to their death. Being a smart young girl and an expert with bows and arrows, she shoots Cato in the hand causing him to let go of Peeta and fall to the mutts to die. Once Cato was killed, Katniss and Peeta think they have won. That is until the previous rule change had been revised, meaning only one could win. Katniss wasn't going to accept this. So she pulled out the nightlock berries (These berries are extremely deadly if you take one tiny bite, you will die instantly from the poison) and hands some to Peeta. They counted to three and shoved the berries into their mouths. That's when they are told they have won. Each spit out the berries and is lifted into the hovercraft waiting to take them back to the Capitol. They are finally safe and can both go back home and live peacefully with their families.... Or so they think. At home trouble is waiting for them, why? Because they outsmarted the Capitol. And nobody outsmarts the Capitol and gets away with it.

Every year, twenty-four teenage "tributes" are brought to the Capitol of Panem, and sent out into the arena to kill each other on live TV. Only one will survive.This chilling premise is at the center of "The Hunter Games," the brilliant, powerful first book of Suzanne Collins' bestselling trilogy. It's a slow-burning, brutal, chilling thriller twined with some barbed satire (reality TV!) and an oppressive government -- but at heart, it's an uplifting story about a young woman fighting to be free.Katniss Everdeen lives in the impoverished District 12, hunting food to provide for her mother and her beloved little sister Prim. But on the day of the reaping, Prim is selected. And Katniss does something no one else has done in a long time -- she volunteers to go instead. Along with the male tribute, Peeta Mellark -- a boy who once helped her at her lowest point -- she is swept away to the Capitol.Once there, the tributes are pampered, tutored, styled and turned into celebrities -- until they're released into the arena, and start killing each other to survive. Katniss must evade murderous gangs, traps, and genetically engineered beasts.But after their triumphant first appearance at the Capitol, the audience has taken a shine to the impoverished young "lovers" and are rooting for them to triumph. But if both Katniss and Peeta are to survive, they must learn how to play the game that the gamemakers and polticians are playing -- and use the Hunger Games against them.A lot has been made of "The Hunger Games'" resemblance to the Japanese franchise "Battle Royale," but honestly the only real similarity is the core concept. Suzanne Collins' world is a far stranger place, set in a futuristic North America where rebellion is brewing against a tyrant. And it seems more to be a barbed, glass-sharp satire on reality TV and how easily people are swayed, either for evil or good.Suzanne Collins' writing style here takes a little getting used to -- she not only writes everything in the first person, but in the present tense. It's.... a little strange, and it takes some getting used to.But once you do get used to the odd style, Collins' writing is on fire. She writes in an intense, slow-burning style that is speckled with bittersweet scenes (Katniss singing to Rue) and colorful descriptions (the superficial, sparkly Capitol). But it's also brutally violent at times, with various teens being killed in some truly gruesome ways (broken neck, countless stings, arrows) -- and though Collins doesn't go into graphic detail, it's still pretty shocking.But at heart, "The Hunger Games" is about one young woman's struggle. Katniss is a struly striking heroine -- she's strong, tough and fiery, as you'd expect of a girl who has been supporting her family, but she has the right amount of vulnerability and kindness. Peeta is a very sweet, sensitive love interest who complements her perfectly, and there's a strong round of supporting characters -- the clever stylist Cinna, the drunken ex-tribute Haymitch, the birdlike Rue, and many others."The Hunger Games" is one of those rare books that strikes a deep chord in people's souls -- and it's a beautifully (if oddly) written story with a brilliant heroine. Spellbinding.

I heard about his trilogy for a while before I finally decided I would go ahead and order the first book to see how I liked it. I am a college student with little free time but I wanted to read this trilogy after all the recommendations. There is no denying that the way the book is written keeps you going back for more. In less than two days I had blazed through the first book, was driving to the bookstore to grab the second book, and once back at home, was online ordering the third. After I finished the trilogy, I felt so emotionally drained and I knew why. I m going to write my review as if the three books were one book since I had the fortune to read through them successively. Before I start, I have to say that I did thoroughly enjoy these books, there are just things I wish that could be different with it. A lot of issues with the book have already been discussed previously such as the rushing of the story line in the third book, the overuse of "drugging Katniss then explaining the missed events" trick etc. I wanted to touch upon a couple of thoughts I had in addition to those great reviews.I was pretty intrigued by Katniss' character at first for many reasons, and starting out the book I really really wanted to like her. She seemed immature, complex, intense but deeply caring. I felt like there was a lot of room for character growth. As I read on, I began to dislike her more and more. Throughout the series, her immaturity never seems to wane. Her thoughts sound like that of a child, they are very self serving and arrogant. The reader slowly starts to learn that all her "heroic" actions throughout the trilogy are about making herself look good, or being able to live with herself. She also definitely has trust issues, no matter how much the lead male character confesses his love to her, puts his life on the life for her or even offers to die in her place, she is still so skeptical about his love for her....REALLY? What more does this poor guy need to do??As for the love triangle in this book between Katniss, Gale and Peeta, it seems forced. I feel like the books could have stood on its own without it. The fact that Katniss and Peeta were thrown into an arena to kill each other was complicated enough. Gale's presence was fine, if the author had kept him as a "big brother" figure throughout the book which he played perfectly. Gale's character was not developed enough for the readers to really be rooting for him seeing as readers were so engrossed in what Katniss and Peeta were going through together.Aside from the lack of character growth of Katniss, some characters were actually very likable. Prim, an innocent little sister who has a natural talent for healing people like her mother. It is only around Prim that Katniss remotely begins to resemble a real human being with real human feelings. Prim is selfless and very mature for her age, too bad the author had to kill her off for no good purpose. Then there is Rue, a little girl that Katniss meets in the arena who like Prim, is also intelligent,selfless, caring and innocent...guess what she gets killed too. So then there's Finnick who develops as a character beautifully. This apparently shallow, crude man turns out to be caring, deep, troubled and hopelessly in love with a mad girl. Hate to admit it, but at one point, I almost wished the story was told from their point of view because their love story was so beautiful and inspiring...buuuuttt you guessed, the author killed him off with no good purpose or contribution to the story line.Then there is Peeta, what a great character, you cant help but like the guy and feel bad for him at the same time. It is hard not to feel bad for this poor guy who has fallen in love with the heroine with no feelings for others, and barely any redeeming qualities. Peeta's character and strength doesnt waiver from beginning to end and I think that is why he is so likable. He is pure, caring, selfless, humane and an advocate for everybody. He genuinely seems to care for all people. Peeta never becomes afraid or selfish in the face of death and shows an unbelievable amount of maturity and wisdom for being his age. His only weakness as a character? His constant, illogical submissiveness to Katniss.I wish sooooo much that there could be another book, not a sequel to this trilogy but a book that runs concurrently with this trilogy, only narrated by Peeta. I m not sure if this has ever happened or if it would be an unprecedented event but I feel like that is what this trilogy needs. Peeta's emotional stability, complex yet humane character could give readers almost a completely different view on the whole event. If we could follow Peeta through the events that took place, through growing up, entering the games, winning them, going through the quarter quells, being taken hostage by the capitol, being brainwashed, rescued and finally being able to settle down with Katniss, I feel that readers would not only be able to appreciate Kat...

Either Katniss is a perpetual liar/unreliable narrator, or lobotomies were free for most characters.#1. The hungry ignore how she gets food. Katniss says she's one of few who hunt--the rest haven't learnt archery or spear-throwing or fishing. They aren't desperate enough to creep outside the fence, where it's brimming with food and life. "Roots to dig, greens to gather, fish..." And even a strawberry patch! If Katniss' father--a regular coal miner--became a good hunter, why didn't the starving masses copy him?#2. Katniss' dad would've made them rich. The food he'd fetched would have made him a lot wealthier than a miner, so WHY was he still mining, instead of hunting full-time?#3. Hunger doesn't drive these people to boldness? "Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons. But most are not bold enough to venture out with just a knife." (Pg 6). But the Peacekeepers "protect" successful hunters instead of punishing (shooting) them, and Prehistoric men turned sharpened sticks into spears to hunt and defend against sabre-tooth tigers! Desperate people would hunt like this to feed their children, or even with pitchforks. It's 74 years since the Games started, and hunting/gathering outside is STILL rare?#4. Animals (meat) are safe inside D12? Katniss tells us there's a lot of livestock INSIDE District 12 and that all are apparently safe from being stolen and roasted. Pigs (Peeta's), goats (Prim's & Goat Man's herd), cattle (the soup lady will tell the Peacemakers her soup is beef), horses (to pull the wagons), sheep (Katniss trades for wool), and enough leather for shoes, jackets, etc. Yep, starved coal miners and orderly teens limp past Prim's goat on their way home to their starving families every night and ignore it!#5. Everyone's a lawbreaker, but they're terrified of breaking the law? The reason Katniss gives for the above is that it's against the law to steal, the punishment being death, which would be scary if they weren't being killed slowly, anyway. And she *also* says, "...and who hasn't broken the law?" Whiplash! Which is it? 200 years ago in England, the poor knew they'd be sentenced to death or shipped to hard labour in Australia for being caught stealing bread or hunting on private property, but hunger twisted their arms.#6. Starving people don't make their own veggie gardens? Outside the fence are potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips (roots), berry bushes, leafy green veg, herbs and strawberries, all growing hardily without human nurturing, so the seeds/cuttings are right there to cultivate from! Pg.34 has Peeta's yard with a "garden bed, not yet planted for the spring" and Pg.42 K's hungry mother grows herbs, so growing food is legal in D.12 and no one is persecuted in any way for it. Why isn't the whole of D12 swollen in greenery from these hardy crops?#7. Katniss is well-fed but hungry, poor but sells what everyone wants? She says she still goes to bed hungry at times, so hungry she's needed to put her name in the Hunger Games hat extra times every year for grain and oil. Yet she *also* says their goat (her "gold mine"!) provides so much milk for them to drink that they occasionally have enough left over to make cheese, and that she brings food, including meat, home on a daily basis (Pg.377).#8. Miners that keep the Capital running on coal are so hungry they can't mine? If the above is true, then miners go to bed even HUNGRIER than Katniss, every SINGLE night, thus they're seriously frail, endangering D.12's ability to dig coal for their overlords = the main theme is a PLOT HOLE!#9. The Capitol doesn't care about production? A place of technology and comfort, they use electricity (from coal) to maintain that lifestyle. Understandable. The other districts would also be heavy electricity users for their different productions, so coal would be in VERY high demand since no other fuel is being produced. Wouldn't PRODUCTION be the overlords supreme goal? Fear of the Capitol is a done-deal already, since all children must have their names in the hat for the Hunger Games. So the Capitol doesn't have to shoot itself in the foot by having workers who can barely walk in order to maintain control.#10. Miners with serious illnesses keep the Capitol running? Living mostly on grains and oil would mean these precious workers are severely deficient in Vit.C = scurvy (weakness, anemia, bleeding organs, heart disease), folic acid (anemia, irritability, memory problems, manic depression, bone fractures, low libido, fetal problems) and iron (fatigue, difficulty maintaining body temperature, decreased immune function, anemia). HOW ARE THEY REPRODUCING, let alone working?11. Given the laws of supply and demand, Katniss would be wealthy. She is one of just a few who are selling the rarest and most desired product to eight thousand people (including the wealthier Peacekeepers) who are all desperate for her meat. However, sh...