What are Others Saying?

Having an idea of what other people think about something relatively new, in this case a book, can gives us not only other perspectives, but give us an idea if it is worth the time and money. Even if we hear good things about the movie, we wonder if we should bother reading the book; or vice versa. In my opinion, having read the book before watching the movie, I was glad I read the book first because I knew what was going on. The book was also extremely enjoyable, quite a page turner. I thought it was so exceptional I read it three times in about four months. I did look at a few websites to see what others thought of the book as well.

On the website goodreads.com The Hunger Games was voted #1 in the category for 'best books ever' and #2 in the category for 'best young adult books.' The average ratings were 4.48 out of 5 stars, most of the comments were greatly positive as well. "This is probably one of the better books I've ever read." (Kat Kennedy, goodreads.com) Many of the positive comments were similar to this, saying it was one of their favorite books. Their were a few negative comments from readers, such as saying they were disappointed and some say they liked the book overall but pointed out a few flaws or issues they had while reading.


The average rating on Barnes and Noble was similar, 4.5 out of 5 stars. I glanced over assorted comments from both editorial reviews and customer reviews; the editorial reviews were positive for the most part and the customer reviews varied in positivity and negativity. John Green from the New York Times said "brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced…the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins' convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine..." (barnesandnoble.com) Reading a review like this from John Green gives the novel a lot of credibility and would make me want to pick up the book as soon as possible.

Amazon is another reliable website to  survey reviews from other readers, The Hunger Games had a 4.6 out of 5 rating, another great rating for piece of pop culture. Many readers said they could not stop reading it because it was so good, they could not wait to read the next book. Others loved the world created by Suzanne Collins. One reviewer Micheal A. Behr said, " I would have given it 4 stars, but they say great art leaves you changed after you experience it... and this book definitely did that. Suzanne Collins has, with one amazing work, propelled herself onto my top shelf." (amazon.com) Comments like this show the book may not be perfect, but it still is a great piece of art that can change one's life.

All of the comments I had a chance to read gave me insight on other points of view. Reading comments from men and women, teenagers and older adults showed me that assorted age groups and genders have taken the time to read the book and have different attitudes toward the book. I was glad to see most of them were positive and thoroughly explained the honorable parts of the storyline, and those that explained why they didn't like this book as much gave compelling arguments that I find understandable, even though I don't completely agree.