Coming from a conservative Christian homeschooling background, I somehow reached the conclusion that any book series that was "all the rage" was bad. From the demonic magic of Harry Potter to the sensual world of vampires and werewolves in Twilight, the reading material that was in style was out of the question.
Enter Suzanne Collins and her Hunger Games trilogy. With no magic or dark legendary creatures, the only objection I saw many parents bringing to the table was the violence, especially considering that it was children involved. Many tweens and teens of my acquaintance were giddy with joy. Finally! A popular series that they could read!
After purchasing the trilogy as an ebook and reading through it, I have to give credit to Ms. Collins. She has managed to reach a broader market than Ms. Rowling or Ms. Meyer by giving parents a false sense of security. "No magic or mythical creatures? I guess it's okay." - I heard parents say this more than once. Too bad they didn't look deeper.
Of course, Panem (America, holding the population of the world) is so far into the future that science can do practically anything. We no longer need magicians, witches, or warlocks to cast healing spells or change the weather. Science and computers take care of everything! Even the elaborate 'ticking clock' arena for the Games in the second book (Catching Fire) is completely scientific. Looking at how quickly the human race is progressing, though, it's totally natural to think that a completely computerized world and such advanced medical discoveries are possible. No magic.
As for the mythical creatures that many parents, including mine, have struggled with, there are no werewolves, gryphons, vampires, satyrs, or any such thing in the Hunger Games. Ms. Collins invented creatures of her own. And the "muttations" are honestly every bit as scary as any other creature from stories past or present. Moms shuddered at a novel on vampires because they knew what vampires are. Bloodthirsty villains. No mom had a clue what a Wolf Mutt was, though. Some half breed dog? Nope. A human/wolf combination actually created with or to resemble opponents from the Games who had already died. Is that really so much better than a vampire?
Overlooking the sex issues presented by the series (Finnick's constant nudity, Katniss and Peeta sleeping together, the sale of surviving tributes as sex slaves, off-color comments, etc) and not objecting to magic/science or strange creatures for myself, I still found this trilogy to be lacking.
The Hunger Games had heart and emotion. My chest pounded when Katniss (the main protagonist) volunteered as tribute in place of her sister Prim. I cried when Rue (another tribute) was killed. I actually felt that the story and characters worked. But Katniss died somewhere in Catching Fire. She suddenly seemed like a lot more of a machine and I found that the supporting cast wasn't offering enough support. We were unexpectedly thrown back into the arena and this time even the reader didn't know who exactly to root for. So I just made myself brush off all of the characters except for Katniss and Peeta. Which made it harder in the long run to accept the characters that were good or at least okay.
Mockingjay was more of the same plastic Katniss running around never doing as she was told. She has the excuse of having survived two Hunger Games, but I feel that Katniss was a pawn for Suzanne Collins every bit as much as she was a pawn for President Alma Coin. "I have to finish this out, so you're going to do whatever it takes, Katniss Everdeen!" Moving on to what is perhaps my biggest objection to the series: I admit that there is no good way to end a love triangle that involves two good guys, but having Gale's invention kill Prim seemed like such a wrong way to end things. There was no need for Prim to die at all, for one thing, and the Gale vs. Peeta debate could have ended so much differently. Not to mention the slew of other great characters that were killed off in the end. I realize that the entire premise of the series is death, but I honestly hoped that it would end on a happier note.
As I finished the last sentence of Mockingjay, I felt a hunger for more. Not because the story or the characters were lovable, but because I wanted a happier ending even knowing that it would all still end in the poor and war-riddled land of Panem.
