The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

From Goodreads, 

"WINNING MEANS FAME AND FORTUNE.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.
THE HUNGER GAMES HAVE BEGUN. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and once girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love."

Goodreads - The Hunger Games

Awards and Nominations:

• Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2008)
• The Inky Awards Shortlist for Silver Inky (2009)
• Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas for Mejor novela extranjera perteneciente a saga (2009)
• LovelyBooks Leserpreis for Fantasy (2009)
• LovelyBooks Leserpreis for Bestes Cover/Umschlag (2009)
• Locus Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Book (2009)
• Georgia Peach Book Award (2009)
• Buxtehuder Bulle (2009)
• Golden Duck Award for Young Adult (Hal Clement Award) (2009)
• Teen Buckeye Book Award (2009)
• Soaring Eagle Book Award (2009)
• Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award (2009)
• Florida Teens Read (2009)
• The Inky Awards for Silver Inky (2009)
• Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Preis der Jugendiury (2010)
• Grand Prix de I'Imaginaire Nominee for Roman jeunesse etranger (2010)
• West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) for Older Readers (2010)
• Charlotte Award (2010)
• Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award (2010)
• Red House Children's Book Award for Older Readers & Overall (2010)
• Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Young Adults (2010)
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2010)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (2010)
• Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee (2010)
• Sakura Medal for Middle School Book (2010)
• Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (2010)
• Kinderboekwinkelprijs (2010)
• Literaturpreis der Jury der jungen Leser for Jugendbuch (2010)
• Premi Protagonista Jove for Categoria 13-14 anys (2010)
• Evergreen Teen Book Award (2011)
• South Carolina Book Award for Junior and Young Adult Book (2011)
• Iowa High School Book Award (2011)
• New Mexico Land of Enchantment Award for Young Adult (2011)
• California Young Readers Medal for Young Adult (2011)
• Lincoln Award (2011)
• Prix Et-lisez-moi (2011)
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award (2011)
• Missouri Truman Readers Award (2011)
• Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for High School and Intermediate (2011)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (2011)
• Books I Loved Best Yearly (BILBY) Awards for Older Readers (2012)

Typing that award list was tedious!!  I didn't realize that The Hunger Games had won so many awards.  I was so excited when Suzanne Collins's new book The Balland of Songbirds and Snakes.  I was in the middle of another series when my copy arrived.  As people read it they said that it would be good to reread the original series if you didn't remember it well.  I decided to do a complete reread before starting on the prequel. 

Katniss Everdeen is just a 16-year-old girl trying to keep her family alive.  She hunts for food in the woods with her friend Gale.  The book starts on the day of the reaping.  The reaping takes place every year, and one boy and one girl must be given up as tributes.  They will then compete in a televised event called The Hunger Games where 24 tributes must fight until there is a lone victor.  Katniss ends up volunteering for her sister Prim, and must go fight to the death with Peeta, the boy from her district.

I remember being in high school when this book first came out.  I was a member of the library club.  We paid a set amount at the beginning of the year and got a book a month for the school year.  As I set down to start this book I noticed writing in the front of the book.  I had written my name on the inside cover when I got the book.  It was just interesting to think back to the first time I got this book and read it.  I remember absolutely loving this book in high school.  It was no different during this reread.  For this review though I'm going to share my thoughts on the book versus the movie.  I watched the movie shortly after finishing the book and noticed a ton of things that were different.  First off, I hate that Madge and Katniss's prep team were omitted from the movie.  While Madge didn't play a large role in the book, she did give Katniss her Mockingjay pin.  I really wish that Madge would have been in the movie.  It was a minor detail that was changed to show more of a loving side to Katniss as she originally gave the pin to her sister.  Her prep team was also a huge part of getting her ready and they really helped guide her and Peeta.  The movie kept Cinna, but the rest were never mentioned in name and their role with Katniss was left out. 

There were also a lot of moments that were quite cringy in the movie, but they weren't in the book.  For example, all the times that Katniss kissed and snuggled up to Peeta in the movie were very forced and awkward.  Peeta was genuinely in love with Katniss, but Katniss was focused on surviving.  She had to force herself to put on a show for everyone to get the help they needed.  The book made it seem forced at first, but it slowly relaxed into normalcy between them.  The movie was forced, but it never relaxed.  Katniss was a very flat emotionless character throughout the movie.  I just cringed every time she had to fake kiss him.  

My last minor thing was how everything ended for Peeta.  In the book, we find out that Peeta lost his leg due to the injury from the fight at the end of the games.  He has a prosthetic and walks with a limp.  In the movie, this never happened.  I feel like this is going to play a role in the books moving forward, but that it will continue to be omitted from the movies.  It has been a while since I read or watched this series, so I don't remember if this plays a role.  Either way, this was a detail that should not have been omitted. 

I forgot how much I enjoyed this book.  I'm always a "the book is better than the movie" person.  I feel like when I first read and then watched the movie I was really impressed with the movie.  But upon a reread and rewatch, I find the book ten times better than the movie.  I considered reading all the books and then watching the movies, but I like doing it piece by piece so I can compare everything while it is fresh on my mind.  I give this book 5 stars.  It is a great adventure and survival book with a strong female main character.  

Violent Ends by Multiple Authors

From Goodreads

"In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth Revis—come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting.

It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto the school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.

But this isn’t a story about the shooting itself. This isn’t about recounting that one unforgettable day.

This is about one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, playing saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing bullets at his classmates.

Each chapter is told from a different victim’s viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he’d become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties. This is a book told from multiple perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—by some of YA’s most recognizable names."

Goodreads - Violent Ends

A while back I reached out to my former high school librarian to let her know about a really good book series I had read.  I suggested that it would be great for her library club to read at school.  She, in return, suggested a few books that I might enjoy.  One of them was Violent Ends.  She said that they had read it in the library club and that many students had had deep and meaningful conversations with her upon finishing it.  I knew that I needed to read it if it was causing a stir among high school students. 

Violent Ends is written by multiple authors and from the perspective of multiple viewpoints.  All of the stories connect back to Kirby Matheson in some way.  Kirby went into the gym during a pep rally and killed 5 students, 1 teacher, and injured 5 others before killing himself.  The various stories paint a picture of who Kirby really was, and even what could have pushed him to a school shooting. 

Where do I even begin with this book?  I loved the different viewpoints and getting to see who Kirby was and even the minor things that he did or said that indicated he could one day snap.  The media painted him as a monster, but some of the people in the book shared things that made him more of a savior or hero because of the things he did.  I think this is interesting because you don't think back on all the things you've done or said to someone until after something drastic happens.  It really made me stop and think about all the times that I have lost my temper with someone or I've played a joke on them or even complained about my own life.  I have NO idea what they are going through.  And something I say or do could be enough to make someone snap and hurt themselves or someone else.  I can definitely see how high schoolers would be discussing this book.  It leaves a lot for discussion, especially since there are so many different viewpoints in the book and they all paint Kirby differently.  

The downfall, which isn't really a downfall, was that I wanted more!  Some of the chapters were so riveting that I was furious when their part of the story ended.  Others I didn't care for and they could have been left out of the story.  I was slightly disappointed that I had to piece together the full events of the shooting because there wasn't a chapter where it was detailed out.  There were also a few minor "holes" in the story that could have been filled in.  One was the chapter written by the teacher who seemed to be seducing Kirby in the classroom.  That chapter was really unsettling and I feel like we never found out if the had a relationship going on, if it was a forced situation, or if nothing actually happened.  That was something that was thrown into the story, that frankly, didn't need to be there.  There was also the transgender student that never fully came out and said she was transgender.  I felt like that should have been better addressed, especially considering how things are in the world today.  

Overall, it was a really good book.  I wish that some of the stories would have been longer, and I definitely wish the book had a different ending.  It ended so abruptly that I turned the pages looking for the next chapter, but there wasn't one.  This is a unique book with many different voices.  It has a strong message to be kind to people because you never know what they are going through, and to reach out to someone if you feel they need help.  I give this 4 stars.  I would recommend this to anyone who has read This Is Where It Ends or That's Not What Happened.

The Toll by Neal Shusterman

From Goodreads, 

"It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.

In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead."

Goodreads - The Toll 

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2019)

After reading Scythe I was beyond excited to read the rest of the series.  Last week I wrote about Thunderhead getting stuck in the middle child situation where it was a bridge between the first opening book and the final book of the series that was trying to finish the series with a bang.  After finishing The Toll I feel that I can easily say that Scythe was by far the best book and the series went downhill after it. 

The Toll takes place after Endura sank.  The book alternates time frames and takes place from a year after the sinking to three years.  The book follows the path of the original characters Citra and Rowan.  It also follows Scythe Faraday and his quest with Munira.  We also learn more about Greyson Tolliver, or The Toll's, role that the Thunderhead has bestowed upon him.  We also meet a few new minor characters that will interact and play a roll in the grand finale.  The entire story is based around the question of will Scythe Goddard be stopped. 

I really wish that I liked this book more than I did.  Much like Thunderhead, I felt this book was written in a hurry and was thrown together.  I could never tell how many years out from the sinking of Endura the characters were because the book definitely jumped around on the timeline.  All of these books are written into parts.  It helps break the story into pieces in a way that makes it easier to read and digest.  However, I feel that the parts in this book should have stuck with one set of people per part.  For example, one part could have been following Scythe Faraday and Munira until their story was caught up to three years after the sinking.  The same should have happened for Citra, Rowan, and Greyson.  It would have made the book much easier to digest and less chaotic.  I felt like I was constantly wondering what year it was.  The book could have definitely been organized better so that it was a smoother read. 

I was also super upset that Citra and Rowan got lost in a way in this book.  The entire series started out following their story.  They were the main characters.  But in The Toll, they were lost in the shuffle of the many characters and I felt that their story was not properly told.  The entire reason I liked the book was the concept of scythes and that the two were in love, but unable to actually be together.  

My last griping point of this book is about Captain Jeri.  I didn't have a problem with the character until it was brought up about Jeri being Madagascan and being binary.  Under a cloudy sky Jeri was he, but under the sun Jeri was a she.  At one point Citra asks what Jeri's pronouns are.  I felt that this was forced into the book.  It didn't happen naturally, and the conversation between Citra and Jeri definitely felt forced.  I am all about diversity in books, but this felt like Shusterman was told he had to include a binary character and make characters have a conversation about pronouns.  This happened multiple times.  It was just very strange in a book where it really didn't matter and had no place.

I was extremely disappointed in the last two books of the series.  When I finished this book I closed the book and said, "Well that sucked."  The book took a wild venture and I felt there was never any real closure with Scythe Goddard and Earth.  It was also left very much open that another book could be written to continue the story.  Personally, I hope that doesn't happen.  I think this series needs to be done.  I recommend reading this to finish the series, and I hope that you like it more than I did.  Overall I have to give this 3 stars.  About halfway through the book I was definitely over it and it went downhill from there.  

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

From Goodreads, 

"Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?"

Goodreads - Thunderhead

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2018)
• Grand Prix de I'Imaginaire Nominee for Roman jeunesse etranger (2019)

Recently I have avoided books that are part of a series.  I haven't felt committed to sitting down and staying in the same fictional world for multiple books.  It feels like I have to dedicate an immense amount of time to reading the books close together as to not forget important parts of the overall story.  After reading Scythe I knew I was going to quickly jump in and start Thunderhead.  I just had to hope that the second book could beat the curse of the forgotten middle child and that I would power through quickly. 

Citra is now a scythe and known as Scythe Anastasia.  She is busy finding her pattern as a new junior scythe.  Her fellow apprentice Rowan did not make it as a scythe.  Instead, he escaped and is now gleaning scythes who aren't following the rules of the Scythedom.  Both find they are in danger.  Rowan is being hunted by the Scythedom and Citra is being targeted by an unknown person.  Both must figure out how to survive to help both the all-knowing Thunderhead and the Scythedom. 

I have this really strange thing with middle child books.  These are the second book in a trilogy (sometimes a quartet).  The first book usually knocks it out of the park and hooks you.  The final book is always the big finale and pulls out all the stops to make it magical and memorable.  The middle book though always gets stuck.  It has to be the bridge between fantastic and amazing.  I find that middle child books are always boring and lackluster due to their role in the overall series.  That being said, I struggled with this book.  It felt like Shusterman rushed to get it finished and just slammed everything together.  The first two-thirds of the book was an absolute snooze fest.  There was nothing happening and no progression in the plot.  It felt like Rowan, Citra, and newcomer Greyson Tolliver were all just roaming about MidMerica and nothing was happening.  Rowan was busy gleaning rogue scythes and then in hiding.  Citra was gleaning in her unique way, but also trying to hide because there were threats to her life and Scythe Curie.  Greyson Tolliver was undercover, but got lost in the undercover system and ended up at a Tonist colony.  It was only when everything happened at Endura that I really got excited about the book, which sucked because it all happened at the end.

I think the idea of having a "Thunderhead" or our cloud is unsettling the way it is written in the book.  It is ALWAYS watching and always listening.  I didn't feel that the idea of the Thunderhead was really relatable in the first book, but after reading insight from it and being present as it eavesdropped on conversations I realized that we are living in the same world.  I can just mention needing to buy a new pair of shoes and on all my social media I will start getting ads for shoes.  Just recently I searched for a virtual race website and purchased a race.  Shortly thereafter I started receiving ads for multiple virtual race sites.  It is unsettling that we are being monitored the way we are.  Because no matter what you say we are most definitely heading toward a world where an AI controls everything for us.  

Scythe was way better than Thunderhead.  I still have the final book The Toll to read.  I expect it to follow the pattern I mentioned above and it will be a big fireworks finale to conclude the series.  If you read Scythe I absolutely advise you to finish out the series like any true reader would.  I give this book 3 stars.  

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

From Goodreads,

"Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own."

Goodreads - Scythe

Awards and Nominations:

• Michael L. Printz Award Nominee (2017)
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2017)
• Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas Nominee for Mejor novela extranjera pertenceciente a saga (2017)
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2018)
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2018)
• Grand Prix de I'Imaginaire Nominee for Roman jeunesse etranger (2018, 2019)
• South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult (2019)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2019)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award Nominee (2020)

About a month ago my boyfriend and I decided to go on an outing because we were tired of being cooped up with all the restrictions.  We ended up at Books-A-Million so I could use a gift card I got for teacher appreciation week.  While shopping I spotted Scythe on the shelf as recommended reads for young adults.  I remembered it being on at least one of the award lists that I'm reading through.  Luckily, when I got home I found that it was on two lists, the Missouri Gateway Readers Award and the Arkansas Teen Award Level 1.  The fact that it was on two of my lists, moved it to the top of my TBR (To Be Read) list. 

Imagine a world where humans had access to everything and it made us immortal.  If you jumped off a building you would "splat" and be taken to a revival center to be revived.  In Scythe that is exactly what life is like.  No one can die unless it is at the hand of a scythe.  A scythe is the only person that can glean or kill another person.  Scythe Faraday decides to take on two apprentices, Citra and Rowan, to train them to become scythes.  Everything becomes complicated when they find out that only one can become a scythe, while the other must be gleaned by the victor. 

I am beyond glad that I am reading through these award lists because it really introduces me to books that I normally wouldn't read.  Just by glancing at the cover, I wouldn't normally want to read this.  But this book was really good.  So good in fact that just 40 pages in I stopped to order the other two books in the series.  The entire book in a way centers around "The Thunderhead" which is an advancement of what we call "The Cloud".  Humans have access to everything which makes them brilliant, and as a result, everyone is now in a way immortal.  If you start to look old you can "turn a corner" and reset your age back to a younger you.  This is resulting in people resetting multiple times and continuing to have multiple children.  The world is becoming overpopulated and no one can die.  But a scythe has the power to glean or kill someone.  They make the decision if your time is up and they choose the way that you will die.  This entire concept is completely wild.  Just think about what you would do with your life if you knew you couldn't die.  Would you be more daring because you couldn't die or would you continue living life as you always have?  I like to think that I would be more daring and try more things.  I'm a very cautious person and I consider every scenario that could happen.  But I like to think that I would "live my best life" and try different things because it wouldn't matter.  I wouldn't be able to die.  I would just be revived and in a few days would resume life as normal.  But even more, think about what life would be like if we had scythes running around.  It would be terrifying to see one because it could mean the death of you or someone else nearby.  Then it becomes a question of who is suitable to be a scythe.  I feel like no matter what "screening" process you had there would always be people who were in it just to kill people.  The entire concept of this book is so crazy to wrap your head around, but it is also amazingly intriguing.

Unfortunately, the content of this book makes it unsuitable for my 5th-grade classroom.  I suggested it to our librarian and she didn't think the content would be suitable for the library either.  I always hate to be that person that closely monitors what books go into my library, but it is also a fact of what will my students take away from this if they read it.  This is a very mature book and would be perfect in a high school library.  There were a few cuss words, but it didn't take away from the book.

This book was amazing and I'm so excited to share my review of the next two books Thunderhead and The Toll.  This book is a perfect book for high school-aged students.  I give it 5 stars.  I hope the other two books in this series live up to my expectations!