Katniss, the winner in the previous year’s hunger games competition which took place in Book 1, is forced to relive the nightmare again when President Snow announces that all previous winners from past competitions will now compete with one another in the current year’s Hunger Games, in which only one person will emerge alive, whom they will crown the winner. Katniss and Peeta, the two winners from District 12, secretly determine to do everything in their individual power to ensure that it will be the other that must emerge as the victor, and they each strike deals with their mentor to help keep the other alive and ensure they win.

Thus begins a roller coaster journey of excitement, fear, nostalgia and awe as we root for Katniss and Peeta and hope that they’ll somehow come out of this alive, like they did in Book 1. We meet the other victors, and some we also root for, while others we wish to be killed off and be done with!

THE BOOK: Suzanne Collins is a great author. Her writing style is ruthless, dark, yet simple and relatable; emotional yet emotionless; wryly amusing yet quite brooding. I loved the theme of survival that was prevalent all through the book, and Katnis' strength which shone all through its pages. Not only did she do what she could to ensure her survival, she also did all that she could to ensure Peeta’s survival, stubbornly insisting that he be the survivor of the two of them and the winner of the competition. I devoured this book in less than 48 hours; it was one of those I couldn’t put down until I was done with it.

THE MOVIE: I thought the movie was great. I wasn’t disappointed in the least bit about the casts’ portrayal of the characters in the book; it was exactly as I had imagined. It was quite entertaining watching on screen the images of the arena and everything that went on in there that I had envisioned in my mind. It was as good as the movie depiction of the first book, Book 1. Katnis’s character was portrayed so well by Jennifer Lawrence, like the quiet love she felt for both men Peeta and Gale. Katnis’s strength shone all through in Lawrence’s eyes, in her gait, in her pose, in her words, in her silence. She and all the characters portrayed this book brilliantly.

One other great thing about the movie is that you don’t have to read the book in order to fall in line with the motion story; the movie stood on its own and was self-explanatory, unlike some books on screen that aren’t as easy to understand. In this case, I would say the movie was just as good as the book.

Check out the books and movies if you haven’t already!

GENRE: Dystopian
COARSE LANGUAGE: Low
VIOLENCE: High
SEXUAL CONTENT: Very low