The best thing about The Hunger Games is that it is a fresh story, at least for me. Its about the lengths the powerful can go to ensure their position and how the oppressed are threatened about the safety of their loved ones that lead them to suppress their protests.
I didn't like the writing style very much but the bitter tone of the protagonist fits very well with the story.
The Hunger Games is a story about a city called Panem with a glorious Capitol and 12 surrounding districts. Each district is assigned a specific profession for the benefit of the Capitol.
The only thing I found missing was a proper historical account of how the Capitol took control of districts and what did their rebellion caused the Capitol that they invented such violent games. There should have been some justification, however feeble, of the violence inflicted by the Capitol.
Anyways. The Capitol wanted to make sure that the districts do not rebel out of their misery of not being allowed the benefit of work they did tirelessly, so it made their lives even more miserable. It set a tradition of yearly Hunger Games in which a boy and a girl, both teenagers, from every districts were compelled to participate. Only one of them could win and all others had to die. That was both a punishment for districts for their earlier rebellion and an assurance that they would not rebel in future: to either see their children die or watch them become killers and worst of all to remain in constant apprehension that their kids could be next.
Now Katniss Everdeen belongs to District 12, the poorest of all. She had to hunt illegally to keep her family fed, which she had to take care of at very young age. She is bitter and unfriendly and tough but loves her family more than anything and is determined to make both ends meet despite the circumstances. Tragically, her younger sister gets selected for the Hunger Games and she volunteers to go in her place. At this point she did not think that she could win; she had actually chosen to die instead of her sister.
So she goes to the Capitol for the Hunger Games. The torture inflicted by the Capitol does not end only on shedding blood but the chosen ones called 'tributes' have to put up with fancy dress shows and interviews and it is necessary and unavoidable because only that way they could expect to be helped during the Games.
As the Games start, this novel becomes literally un-put-downable. The war is thrilling and frightening. The arena and the creatures and monsters and the emotional drama, including the romance between Peeta and Katniss, are all rich in imagination.
So 5 stars minus writing style and lack of history... is still 5 stars, Because I cannot bear to call it bad after suffering from insomnia over it.
