Reader Response

After reading other people’s reviews of The Hunger Games it was clear to me that people loved the book or hated it.  I didn't get the impression that it was a book people didn't feel strongly about one way or another. 

I started reading reviews of the book on Goodreads first.  I got the impression a lot of the people leaving comments were younger, maybe between the ages of 18-40.  I thought this because there were lots of memes that made fun of certain characters or the book.  I felt like there were many people who didn't love the book on this site.  One reviewer, Kelly - Maybedog Hawkins wrote, “I found it trite, slow-moving, predictable, not written that well, and completely unrealistic” (Kelly - Maybedog Hawkins 1). I thought that out of the three sites the Goodreads audience was the most torn over their love of the book.  Many people liked it many didn’t.

Next, I moved on to the Barnes and Noble reviews.  It was very clear before I even read any of them that everyone who reviewed The Hunger Games here loved it.  I clicked through the first 3 pages of reviews with 20 single responses on each page and out of those 60 only 4 gave the book less than 5 stars.  The reviews I read mostly stated how much people loved the book.   A reviewer named Betty_Betty commented, “THIS BOOK IS BETTER THAN TWILIGHT!!! I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN IT WAS REALLY THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ" (Betty_Betty 1).  I felt like I should keep this quotation in call caps because after reading quite a few pages of reviews on the Barnes and Noble site this was the general consensus.  Everyone really loved the book and there were multiple comparisons to the Twilight series (which according to these reviews was much worse). 

Lastly, I moved on to the Amazon reviews.  Much like the other two sites most people really liked the book.  As I read further through the many reviews I noticed that several people were comparing the book to the movie, much more than on the previous two sites.  I thought this was interesting because on the other sites people wrote about their love or dislike for the book, but the movie theme seemed to come up more on this site. Also, reviewers here were more excited about the next two books.  One reviewer named Josue2394 wrote, “One of the BEST books I've ever read, I couldn't stop reading, it trapped me. It's better to read the book and then watch the movie” (Josue2394 1).  Many of the reviews on this site raved about the book, but said they were disappointed by the movie. 

Overall, I thought the reviews were fun to read.  It’s evident that all three of these review sites, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon, had the same goal in mind, but they all give the reader a very different view of The Hungers Games. 

Citations 

Kelly - Maybedog Hawkins. “The Hunger Games.” Goodreads. N.p., 20 June. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.<http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61363038>.

Betty_betty. "The Hunger Games." Barnes & Noble. N.p., 1 May. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/Hunger-Games%2FSuzanne-Collins/1100171585>.

Josue2394. "The Hunger Games."  Amazon. N.p., 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1E5I2SKUB6AGP/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdp>.