Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, I adored this book. I picked this up following a shameful Twilight binge, and it blew me away. I had heard the hype, but every time I read the premise in the dust jacket I just wasn't "wowed". However, since I was dying to find a new series to dive into, I took a chance and I'm so glad that I did.

I read this first book in the series in one night, and proceeded to run out to my local bookstore for the other two the next morning (which I finished over the course of the following next couple of days). I loved these books so much I then made my mom read the series (and she then made her sister -my aunt- read them. You see where this is going....).

What I love about this series:

Katniss kicks butt. She's real - her emotions are genuine, and she's strong. No wussy girl here! She is a role model I can get behind. Katniss is a character who makes me wish I had a daughter - she's what good YA fiction is all about. She's flawed, but ultimately makes good decisions and cares about the people she's close to.

The social commentary woven through this work of fiction is frightening and, in my opinion, demonstrates real problems with our own commercialized society. Is it so hard to imagine the Capitol being a real place in our contemporary society? At the very least, it's not difficult to see us heading in that kind of direction.

Overall, the world building and character development is phenomenal. The descriptions are vivid, and I had no trouble picturing people and places. By the end of the first book, I felt like I had been living in their world, and that I knew the characters as though we were all friends. This is not an easy feat, but is one reason why I was able to say so engaged - I genuinely cared about Rue, Katniss, and Peeta.

The plotting was perfect. The activity and tension picked up in all the right places, which kept the story moving at a quick pace. There is nothing I would have changed.

Something that shocked me (but wasn't bad): Maybe I'm naive, but I couldn't help being surprised at how dark some of the themes in this book were. Poverty, social inequality, exploitation, murder for sport, etc... I was surprised, but also impressed. I have to give props to Suzanne Collins for having the courage to include these themes in her YA fiction. Although some of the imagery of kids killing kids was difficult to swallow, I don't think any of it was in appropriate for the YA audience it's intended for.

To sum it up... This book (and the others in the series) provide some real food for thought about where our society might be heading. Or, at the very least, it shines a light on the potential ease with which injustice can proliferate if left unchecked (or where reality TV might be heading...). I highly recommend this for mature YA readers and adults alike.

My full review of the entire trilogy can be found here: http://cactuswrenreview.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/the-hunger-games-trilogy-by-suzanne-collins/