the Hunger Games trilogy is a young-adult adventure science fiction series written by Suzanne Collins. the trilogy consists of the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. the first two books were each the New York Times best sellers, and the third book, Mockingjay, topped all US bestseller lists upon its release.
the Hunger Games trilogy takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of the current nations of North America, in a nation known as “Panem”. Panem consists of a rich Capitol, located in what used to be Rocky Mountains, and twelve (formerly thirteen) surrounding, poorer districts which are under the hegemony of the Capitol. as punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol wherein twelve of the districts were defeated and the thirteenth destroyed, every year one boy and one girl from each of the remaining twelve districts, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, are selected by lottery and forced to participate in the “Hunger Games”. the Games are a televised event where the participants, called “tributes”, must fight to the death in a dangerous outdoor arena until only one remains. the winning tribute and his/her corresponding district is then rewarded handsomely with food and plenty, seeing as the lower districts are starving.
Each book in the Hunger Games trilogy has 27 chapters and is further divided into 3 sections of 9 chapters each. Collins says that this format comes from her playwriting background, which taught her to write in three acts. Her previous series, the Underland Chronicles, was written in the same way, as Collins is “very comfortable” with this structure. She sees each group of nine chapters as a separate part of the story, and comments that she still calls those divisions “act breaks”.
All three books have received positive reception. Praise has focused on the addictive quality of especially the first book, and the action. John Green of the New York Times compared the Hunger Games with Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series. Catching Fire was praised for improving upon the first book. Mockingjay was praised for its portrayal of violence, world building, and romantic intrigue.
In Catching Fire, Katniss learns that the Capitol is angry at her for her defiance in the previous novel, which started a chain reaction that inspired rebellion in the districts. For a special 75th edition of the Hunger Games, she and Peeta are forced into competing a second time with other past victors. They team up with a few other tributes and manage to destroy the arena and escape the Games. Katniss is transported to District 13, a place that is widely thought to no longer exist, but Peeta is captured by the Capitol, and District 12 is destroyed.
Mockingjay, the third and final book, centers around Katniss and the districts’ rebellion against the Capitol. Katniss, now a refugee in District 13 and quite damaged from her experiences, is used by the rebels as a propaganda tool to unite the districts in the uprising against the Capitol and President Snow. Peeta and the others who were captured by the Capitol are rescued. Finally, a group including Katniss, Gale, and a still somewhat unstable Peeta go renegade in the Capitol on a mission to assassinate President Snow. Before Katniss can complete her objective, Prim is killed in a bombing targeting rebel rescuers. Later, a captive Snow tells Katniss that Coin, the president of District 13, was behind the bombing. Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch eventually return to a ruined District 12. Katniss slowly begins to recover from her many mental scars. Katniss’ mother and Gale both take jobs in different districts. Katniss eventually comes to genuinely love Peeta, marries him, and after many years of misgivings they have children.
