THE HUNGER GAMES

About a month ago, I decided to start reading the young adult series "The Hunger Games." I had heard a lot of hype about the book, but was a bit hesitant to get into another young adult series... I mean, I already read all the Harry Potts and Twilights, how much of a teenage literature loving weirdo can I be?

The answer is.... a huge one. This was an amazing series of books -- they had me right from the start. Actually, they had me before I even started reading. When I read the back of the book and discovered what the novels were about I was fascinated to learn more.

The Hunger Games is set in the future, where all of North America is split up into "districts" and ruled over by a Big-Brother-esque government. Each year, the government chooses two children from each district at random, and these kids have to FIGHT TO THE DEATH. And if that's not enough, the entire death fight is filmed live and shown on national television.

Needless to say, the amount of violence in the novels is a lot more than you'd expect from a young adult novel. But that's not what pulls you in -- it's the story, the world that Suzanne Collins has created, and most of all, the relationships between the main characters. At the heart of the series lies a deeply confusing love triangle that has to be pushed aside or played upon frequently due to the whole trying to stay alive aspect of the Hunger Games. But a host of other rich characters also flank our hero, Katniss Everdeen, in her quest to survive the Games.

The entire book is such a different, interesting world that it really pulls you in (much the same way that the Wizarding World JK Rowling brilliantly brought us does). I felt as if I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel. And when I finished, I had to go out and buy the next book THAT NIGHT... it really pulls you in.

So if by chance you have a holiday break of some sort (from school, from work, from whatever!), I very much recommend taking a step away from Oprah's book club's recent intellectual picks, and instead going back a few years to the days when you were pimply and wore braces. Because even though that time in your life may have been awkward, you had some kick ass books to read. Plus, reading all three of these books won't take you nearly as long as getting though a long book meant for grown ups.

It's the perfect holiday treat!