I succumbed. The movie came out and everyone is talking about this book. I’m pretty sure it’s meant to be a young adult book but, when I started reading it, I really started to dig it. One boy and one girl are randomly chosen from each District to fight to the death in the capital once every year. These tributes are sent as punishment for the District’s rebellion at some point in the past. Very reminiscent of the classical Greek myth of the seven Athenian sons and daughters sent as tributes to the labyrinth of King Minos (this is the pretentious price one pays after spending two years reading classical Greek and Roman works).
Collins does a great job setting up the tension and inevitable moral conflicts bearing down on these kids and then… she began to lose me. The conflicts come, though they seem muted. The difficult choices are side-stepped and this world, that just invites nuance and moral ambiguity, becomes one that can be maneuvered in black and white with only an occasional hint of gray. In the end, it felt like I was reading a kid’s book. A good kid’s book, but a kid’s book.
