Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins--Thoughts

---VAGUE SPOILERS WILL BE MENTIONED---

In a dystopian future, the world's population has been reduced to one small nation, called "Panem", which is divided into thirteen districts plus the capitol. Every year, each district (save thirteen, which seceded aggressively) sends two "tributes" to the capitol to compete in a vicious contest where only one of the 24 entrants can emerge alive.

Such was the setting until protagonist Katniss Everdeen became a symbol of rebellion to the districts, sparking all-out civil war.

Now, this trilogy certainly isn't the first young-person-sparks-dystopian-rebellion series, and I doubt it'll be the last. The thing that sets this series apart from others that have covered the same ground is, I think, the first-person narration.

We get a direct line into the mind of a Katniss, who has been forced into kill-or-be-killed situations at the tender age of sixteen. She also has faked a love interest with her fellow competitor to gain the popular support necessary to survive the games. This created a love triangle with her best friend. Katniss has been concussed, burned, exploded, shocked, broken, and poisoned over the course of the series, at the very least.

Worst of all--though it's not directly mentioned in the books--she's going through puberty. It naturally follows after all this that she'd be a mental wreck by the end of the series; but most characters in her role display superhuman mental resilience to meet the demands of the plot.

Here, not so! Katniss is undeniably screwed up by the end of the series. In this sense, readers can relate to her. They can see she's not super-human or some immortal symbol, but a regular teen thrust into events disturbing by almost anyone's standards.

There are dozens of things that make this series attractive, but when you're popular enough for a midnight release, "attractive" doesn't cut it. What takes this series a step further is the humanity of of Katniss.

All that being said, the conclusion to the series is just one big anti-climax after another. Fairly disappointing. But hey, a disagreeable ending is far better than no ending at all. :P

Too long; didn't read--Read the Hunger Games Trilogy and marvel at how realistically the protagonist falls into insanity.