The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Blurb On The Back:

Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain death.

In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

But sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Although not an original idea and despite the author pulling her punches with the actual Hunger Games, the execution of this book makes it worth reading, particularly the solid world-building and the strong first person voice given to Katniss as narrator. I look forward to reading the next in this trilogy.

Notes From the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell

The Blurb On The Back:

One word, three syllables: Underground ...

Taking their anti-social edge one step further, seventeen-year-old Gem and her friends Mira and Lo have decided to go underground. Their activities will be "extreme", "anti-establishment", "avant-garde" and "debauched".

While Gem makes an underground film and Mira sets about pursuing "boys-without-barcodes" no one knows what it is that Lo - the most subversive of the three - has planned. But in the back of her mind, Gem's worried. She feels the balance of the trio's friendship is always weighted against her. And as the weeks draw closer to Christmas, appearances start to deceive and relationships flounder. For all the promise of the group, Underground seems a dark place to be.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

A polished coming-of-age story, I found the attempts by the main characters to be anti-establishment and intellectual a little too forced to be credible, but the first person voice of Gem is well handled and credible and I'd be interested in reading more of the author's work.