The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins caught my attention quickly and held it fast throughout the rest of the book. The cliffhanger ending prompted me to buy the next two books without thinking twice.

A book like this makes you think about your situation as it is today and the direction everything is going. It is clearly set in a futuristic United States, but it's no future any of us (hopefully) would ever want. It has a corrupt government in every sense of the word. People nowadays may not be happy with the way things are going, but at least we aren't publicly whipped or shot if we want to speak out against things that are happening. We still have so many freedoms that The Hunger Games shows us we should be thankful for.

Who could live in a world where "games" are held every year pitting people–teenagers–against each other in a battle for their lives? Aside from that there is a constant fear of starvation or a fear of things getting worse than they already are, though that is hard to imagine. This government has torturous ways of dealing with difficulties that keeps everyone terrified.

One girl, a hunter who just wants to keep her family alive, especially her little sister, is faced with what she considers no choice. She enters the hunger games to save her sister from having to go. This sacrifice leads her down a road she can't turn away from. Her hunting skills and ability to out-think her opponents–and the government–are the only things keeping her alive. For now. But will the government let her truly win the games?

1984

Wow! This book scared the shit out of me. And not just because of the torture and the idea of Big Brother always watching you and being able to read your thoughts, but because I can see this eventually happening and that terrifies me. George Orwell may not have guessed the correct year in which this would take place, but I'm pretty sure he hit the nail right on the head with what will happen someday.

I can't even imagine living in a world where everyone just accepts everything they see, hear, and read as fact when those "facts" are constantly changing. How can anyone believe that they were always at war with one country and always allied with another when a week ago you knew the opposite to be true? This type of mind control and seduction will, I hope, never be possible en masse, the way this book portrays, but it does make me wonder about the power of mind control. Who wouldn't be able to rule the world if they have the ability to control the thoughts and emotions of those living in it?

One thing I love and hate about books like this is that it shows how bad things can get if power is put in the wrong hands and technology is poorly utilized, but it also shows those who want this kind of power what they need to do in order to gain it and use it wisely. It blatantly shows the weaknesses of the human race and how easily our minds can become corrupt.

A good read for those who want a glimpse of the future and don't mind seeing something truly horrifying. Sci-fi always shines a light in the darkest of places. I hope we know what to do when the time comes that these things are possible and possibly happening. I want to wish the world luck.