A Guest Post or A Concise Review of The Hunger Games From Someone Who Hadn't Read Them.

For a long time, I sold books for a living.

I started when Harry Potter was beginning its world domination. Over the years, I watched as the HP crowd finished the series and picked up Twilight, Percy Jackson and the Inheritance Cycle. And while I relished putting books of any kind into the hands of the Facebook obsessed, I did not read these literary blockbusters myself. When the world’s attention turned to Hunger Games, I didn’t blink an eye.

I read Economics. I read Business books. I read…Self Improvement. Basically, everything that attracts a reader - like, say, Meg - to a book is exactly what I am not into: dragons, fairies, character names with y’s where there should be i’s. Point of fact, I just typed my name into an Elven name generator, and I got Cadothyel. Yeah - go in peace, but no thanks. As soon as I learned that we were dealing with a Katniss, I knew I would not be partaking in the trilogy.

But everybody else on earth did partake, and momentum gathered. Eventually, I came across the trailer for Hunger Games at the theater, and I felt...strangely excited. Wait, it’s a futuristic dystopia? I can watch teenagers battle to the death? And everyone has normal ears? This seems more like Orwell and Margaret Atwood than Stephanie Meyer.

And when I saw it, it was great. Without ever having cracked the book, I followed everything in the movie with ease. The world of Panem was fascinating as translated to the screen. Great performances, riveting story, lots of gore. A great movie all around.

The best part? I’ll probably pick up Catching Fire the book. I’m hooked. Score one for Young Adult!