Thursday, January 13, 2011

Breathless and The Hunger Games

This was not my favorite Koontz novel but I read it anyway.  Honestly, I can't even remember the characters' names!  I know there were these two unusual creatures that change the world.  The ending was a real let-down, too!  I just didn't get the whole thing.  Very disappointing!


At Christmas, my thirteen-year-old friend, Tori, suggested I read this book.  Then the following week, my junior-high-school-teacher friend, Dotty, said she'd just read it for the second time and was getting ready to teach it to her students.  So, I had to download it.

And, I'm so glad I did!  Wicked cool book!  Yes, it's designed for young adults but the action never stops and the characters are so well drawn that I couldn't stop reading.

It's sometime in the future.  America , as we know it, no longer exists.  Instead, North America is divided into twelve districts each responisble for a product.  The captitol is now in Colorado.  Katniss Everdeen is a teenager living in District 12, the coal mining district, with her mom and younger sister Primrose.  Their father was killed in a mining accident and Katniss teaches herself how to hunt illegally, with her friend Gale, to keep their families fed.

Once a year there is a lottery.  All the names of kids between 12 and 18 are put into a hat and one girl and one boy are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games.  What that involves is 24 teenagers put into a wilderness arena where they have to try to be the lone survivor.  Yes, they have to kill each other.  The victor gets riches for the rest of his or her life.  The whole thing is televised to all the districts. 

When twelve-year-old Prim's name is picked, Katniss volunteers to go instead and that is allowed.  She and Peeta, the baker's son, embark on the most horrific journey of their lives.

This is the first of a trilogy and I can't wait to read the next two installments.  I think I'll download them right now.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I keep hearing good things about this one. One of these days I'm going to pick it up.

Darlene said...

I loved The Hunger Games. I really need to get back and read the rest of the trilogy. So glad you liked it too!

I haven't read any Koontz's books in years. They started to really not appeal to me anymore and I quit.

Anonymous said...

Just happened across your blog and found several picks for my "to read list". Thank you! Will keep watching.. -LJ

zetor said...

Never read 'Koontz' but my daughter is always recommending him.Must get round to it someday.

Literary Feline said...

I've enjoyed the Koontz books I have read (all of two) and do want to read more by him. I have a feeling he's going to be like Stephen King for me where I only really want to read certain of his books and not all of them. I haven't heard of Breathless before. I'm sorry it wasn't better.

I'm so glad you enjoyed The Hunger Games. I did too. Even my husband did--although he hasn't been impressed with the follow-up books. He's reading Mockingjay now.

Michael Charles said...

Have you read Uncle Flynn by Simon Dillon? Its really good. Its available as a download from Amazon.co.uk.

Italia said...

t took me a while to get to this book because I never saw it out of my two daughters' hands. They devoured it! Once I read it, I understood. This is the second book I have reviewed this month that had a powerful female protagonist (other being 'Graceling').

I found the book to be well written with a fantastic pacing. Their is violence in there, but not so over the top as to be distracting. Intimate scenes are sparingly written so as not to be too embarassing (something I greatly appreciated as a dad!!) The rage against the system theme is prevalent enough to notice, but not as overbearing as say.... Ayn Rand or Terry Pratchett.