The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

This was actually something I had seen and heard about before but never really bothered to read until my Dad gave them to me as a Christmas Present. I had read the summary before in sites such as GoodReads.com and the online library catalougue, but for some reason they seemed too fantasy-ish for my taste.

I started reading them as soon as my younger sister finished them in a couple of days, which is impressive considering she rarely reads. I have to admit I was instantly hooked. The setting, the characters, the plot; it was all just so engaging and so real. Obviously, since it takes place sometime in the near-ish future, it had to be somewhat realistic, but I could find parallels between the book and what I have learned in History class which really made me incredibly happy. Another thing that really caught me was the fact that the main character is a girl. A GIRL. A FEMALE HUMAN BEING. AND SHE WAS THE MAIN CHARACTER. She wasn't somebody's BFF, or someone's girlfriend or sidekick. THIS BOOK HAD A STRONG, INDEPENDENT FEMALE AS THE LEAD  and it helped set it apart from other YA SCI/FAN books I have read like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and The Olympians and Artemis Fowl. I mean, I love those books because they are fantastic, but whatever female characters exist are placed in a sidekick kind of role. The only other series in this category (YA SCI/FAN) with a strong female lead, that I have read, is Virals by Kathy Reichs.

The Hunger Games Trilogy has it all: adventure, drama, romance, and even the right amount of that teen angst we so crave. It's also quite graphic in some parts, but if you can handle CSI and Bones and Law & Order  and all of those shows, you can probably handle the intensity.

If you still haven't read these books, please do and tell me what you think in comments below!!