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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Strong; children killing other children is the premise and is depicted with emotional honesty; tracker jacker attacks and other arena horrors; Katniss's kills are not presented as costless
Language
Barely any
Mild language; dystopian young adult register
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content; the romance is chaste
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild; Haymitch's alcoholism is plot-relevant
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Strong; the cost of killing to survive; the way the Capitol makes murder entertaining; Katniss's detachment as a survival mechanism; the weight of Prim's vulnerability
What this book is about
Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games is set in the dystopian nation of Panem, where the twelve districts' subjugation is enforced annually by a televised event in which two teenagers from each district are sent to kill each other until one remains. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place, she enters an arena designed for spectacle. Collins's critique of media and the performance of violence for entertainment gives the novel a dimension beyond its plot.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Children killing children is the central premise
Significant character deaths
Depiction of poverty and state violence
Reader Verification
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