Hunger Games Book 1 Review

This book is absolutely amazing. It comes in a very, VERY close second to Harry Potter. There is so much detail, and such an interesting plot that I could not put it down. Well, correction. I put it down at one point because the description was boring me. I warn you: the first five chapters are basically just: "My name is Katniss, I'm a hunter." and "I have a friend named Gale. He hunts with me." and "I like to hunt."
But then as you read on, it gets into the ceremony for the contestants of the Hunger Games. You put your name into a little glass bowl a certain amount of times, and then twenty four names are drawn; two from each district (1-12). Unfortunately, Katniss' sister Prim gets picked for the battle. Katniss however volunteers to take her sister's place, automatically risking her life. This I found sweet and interesting, so I kept reading.
Then they brought in the character that kept me reading, Peeta Mellark. He's the baker's son. He's seriously the sweetest, cutest little thing you will ever read about. He's blond and adorable. Unfortunately, it brought me to tears that this adorable teenager was put in a battle to the death. 24 go in... 1 comes out.
After this, the book is absolutely fantastic. They go through training, and Katniss gets an 11. Before the games, each contestant must do an interview on live television. Peeta and Katniss are brought to a house, where they will live until the games. Cinna, the designer, gets them all prettied up, and then Effie and Haymitch work with them on how they are going to get sponsors. Katniss decides she is just going to answer the questions honestly.
On the night of the interview, Katniss and Peeta both look dazzling. Katniss twirls around in her dress acting likeable, and Peeta, this made me scream with happiness and just that I love Peeta, he confesses that he loves Katniss. That he has for a long time. I love Peeta!
After that, the games start. Katniss grabs a pack off the ground and heads for the woods, before anyone could kill her with any weapon they had picked up. Like I said, this is a battle to the death.
Anyway, I'll make a long, good story short. Lots of tributes die, and Katniss teams up with Rue to try to be the last ones standing. Rue gets killed. Then, a rule is made that if two tributes from the same district are the last ones standing, so Peeta and Katniss team up. Peeta has a really bad cut on his leg, so a big chunk of the book is fixing Peeta's leg, and them kissing, because they are supposed to be madly in love. His leg never completely heals but it gets a little better.
When the only tributes left are Katniss, Peeta, and another tribute named Cato, hounds that are morphed with the other tributes dead bodies are brought into the games. Katniss shoots Cato in the head with an arrow after this, and so Peeta and Katniss believe they have one.
Then the Gamemakers say that the rule is no longer in action, and that Katniss or Peeta must die. But they don't want to kill each other, so they both eat poisonous berries. But then an announcer comes along and says that Katniss and Peeta both win, because apparently eating the berries was against the Capitol. I know... it's confusing. Anyway, Peeta and Katniss both win. And I was very happy that Peeta did not die. I love Peeta.
The end is very sad. There is an ending interview, and we find out that they had to amputate Peeta's leg. After the interview, Katniss admits that her love for Peeta during the games was just for show. Peeta is upset. And I was upset since Peeta was upset. :(
Anyway, with ten being the highest score, I would give this book a definite ten. That's how good it was to me. It was so great. After Christmas, I'll do the reviews for the second and third books. Anyway, leave your comments if you've read the books and just give me your feedback on it. Who's your favorite character? What's your favorite part? Are you going to see the movie? I know I am! Opening night baby! Whoo!