Hype! The Hunger Games

1. The Hunger Games

Deserving of the hype? Yes!
Rating for the trilogy: 4/5 stars
Current Goodreads stats: The Hunger Games (Book 1)
     - 4.53/5 stars, 643,592 ratings, 81,836 reviews

Please see my previous post about Hype!

I'm starting with these books since they are my most recent example (and for this post I am referring to the trilogy as a whole). I first heard about these books in 2010. Someone I follow on Goodreads had given The Hunger Games a glowing review so I looked into it. To be honest, the premise of the book held absolutely no appeal to me. From what I could gather, it was about a bunch of kids sent to an arena to fight it out to the death. This didn't strike me as interesting, so I let it pass me by. Despite constantly hearing about these books and how good they were, I never revisited them.

Then, the movie came out. It was our anniversary, and this movie was playing at the right time so we got our popcorn and soda and headed in...and it was amazing! We both really loved the movie so it was only a matter of time before we picked up the book. About a week later I purchased The Hunger Games, and read it within a few days. I immediately read the following two novels, and my husband is currently working his way through the final book.

There is so much more going on in these books than the simple description I first encountered. There are a lot of interesting issues about war that are raised, and they do a good job of portraying the idea that no one really wins in war. These books kept me up at night saying 'I'll read just one more chapter', and I would inevitably read two or more. They do have a few flaws, mostly apparent in the final book, but the trilogy as a whole is terrific.

Overall, I am so glad we saw the movie, because the books have become some of my favorites.

Do you follow the Hype?

It begins simply: a new book is released, possibly from a little known author or maybe a well known one.

Then, it starts climbing the best seller charts. All of a sudden it's everywhere; you overhear someone in the bookstore mention it, book clubs start reading it, blogs start talking about it, and magazines have articles about it. The hype has set in...you hear things like "This is a book you need to read...NOW!" and "Have you read ______? Really? Wow, you're missing out!"

I'm not sure why I am always so late to jump on the hype-train, but for whatever reason I am. Perhaps it's because of the constant exposure, so I'm tired of the book before I even pick it up. Which really isn't fair to the book; I mean, it's popular for a reason, right? And I have noticed for many of these books, I pick them up after seeing the movie. Whatever that might mean.

Once I finally give in to the hype, I usually find myself saying something like 'I should have read this sooner" or "Yep, everyone was right, this book is great." Occasionally I have been let down as well, but I don't think this has happened quite as often. In the coming weeks I will share with you my experiences with hyped-up books, from The Hunger Games to Harry Potter and many in between.

Do you pick up a book if everyone is talking about it? Or do you find yourself holding back? Why or why not? Maybe you're answers will help me figure it out for myself!