The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I have a feeling The Hunger Games is a book that defined a lot of people’s childhoods. Well teenhoods, but that’s not really something people say is it? I think I was around 12 when I read The Hunger Games and it became my everything. I was that kid at school that wore a mockingjay pin on their blazer and would rave about The Hunger Games at any given moment. It’s a wonder I had any friends in school, honestly.
I was obsessed with dystopian novels for quite a while. It feels like everyone was writing them at one point. Are they a thing anymore? Or is real life so dystopic we don’t need them now?
Anyway, it’s been such a long time since I read this series, I’d actually love to re-read them at some point, but that feels like quite the commitment. It would be interesting to read them analytically though. I wonder if I’d still think they’re five star reads. Teen me loved to throw out five star ratings for almost every book I read. It would be nice to remind myself of the parts they didn’t include in the films like when Katniss meets the covey and just Madge in general.
Synopsis: Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . .
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Kittens in the Kitchen by Lucy Daniels
It’s probably a little sad to admit, but I only recently found out that Lucy Daniels is a pseudonym, which broke child me’s heart. I was obsessed with these books for a good few years of my life. I can’t tell you exactly how old I was but it was during primary school. I’m pretty sure this one in particular was a school library book read. Even then, these books were pretty old.
I don’t think this was the first one I read but it was one that stuck with me. To this day I remember there being kittens found in a kitchen cupboard. But that’s about it. I read so many of these books back in the day that a lot of them blur into one.
One thing I do remember is one of the characters saying ‘crips’ at least once per book and child me not understanding what this meant. I’m pretty sure I thought it was ‘crisps’. I promise you I was reading well above my age at the time, I just didn’t know what crips meant. Even back in the 2000s, this wasn’t something people were saying on a regular basis. Or maybe they were but I didn’t realise because I was a child. Who knows?
This series is what made me want to be a vet when I was younger. I thought I could be exactly like Mandy. Oh to be young and naive again.
Synopsis: At Animal Ark, Mandy Hope helps her parents treat animals of all shapes and sizes. Even outside the clinic, Mandy can’t resist helping any animal in need. But when a stray cat gives birth in Mr. William’s kitchen, he is absolutely furious. Can Mandy and her friend James find homes for four newborn kittens in just one week?
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Audiobook Review: Still Mad About You by Liz Maverick