This is a good, riveting story, very hard to put down. When I first starting reading, I expected the premise to remind me of Shirley Jackson's tale The Lottery, but this story is different; The Reaping is a type of lottery, but only those aged twelve to eighteen are in danger of being its victims, and also everyone knows that the playing field is not even; some of these children have had their names entered more than others, in exchange for more food for their families. All of this abuse is punishment for earlier revolts, meant to remind the downtrodden that one group of people have absolute power over them.

This series features some strong female characters, mainly sixteen year old Katniss, who the reader knows from the beginning is a real survivor. Actually, most of the characters are interesting. I don't feel that there's anything very special about Collins's writing style, but it flows well, it's well-paced, and the storyline is intriguing.

It's catching fire:)