The World of the Hunger Games [Rilegato]

In case you are one of the four people who haven't heard about "The Hunger Games," it's a dystopian book/movie series set in a future North America.

So I was hoping that "The World of the Hunger Games" would further explain the backstory, creatures and civilization of Suzanne Collins' universe. However, the book is really more of an illustrated storybook -- it has a a LOT of photographs, a nearly-full plot recounting, and a hefty dose of padding (how many full-page quotes are we gonna get?).

There's not a lot of new information, or in-depth description of the actual "world" of the Hunger Games. There are a few interesting descriptions, like the explanations of tracker jackers, jabberjays and wolf mutts, or the explanation about the fashions in the Capitol. However, those interesting bits are few and far between... literally.

About half of the book is made up of various color pictures from the movie, which usually take up one or two pages apiece -- and they can go on for four or five pages. Occasionally there's a quote from one of the characters (or occasionally from Suzanne Collins herself), but the bulk of it is made up of photos. Nice photos, but most are not "world of" material.

Most of the text is recounting the plot overall, and incredibly obvious observations like "Katniss will do anything to protect [Prim]." Yes, thank you, that becomes quite clear when you actually see what happens IN THE PLOT. It's sort of like a Cliffs Notes version of "The Hunger Games." It has the entire story, with key spoiler plot points left out, from beginning to end. It might be a nice accompaniment for people who are really desperate to know the general outcome of the plot before seeing the movie (or reading the book).

There's a three page glossary as well, which does help out with some details that hadn't been clear before, such as what avoxes are or the place where tributes are "made beautiful." But honestly, I would have preferred this information to be spread over the "World," with more details -- and it would have been nice to see some new information, such as about the backhistory of Panem.

"The World of the Hunger Games" is a misnomer -- it's half photo guide, half plot summary, with a few informative chunks thrown in the mix. Nice for people who haven't seen the movie/read the book, but not very useful to people who have done either.

I wanted to rate this book lower than I did, because it didn't live up to any of my hopes. I was thinking we'd get detailed information that is not found in the book, and I was totally wrong. If you are a loyal fan looking for maps, backstories, or anything else that you can't glean from reading the series or even from seeing the film, do not waste your money. The quotes from Collins may be new, but they aren't giving any information that's not in the book and/or movie. It's basically a summary of the film with lots and lots (and lots) of pictures. If you are interested in seeing the film or reading the books first, please don't pick this up if you don't want things to be spoiled. On the flip side, if you're sensitive and are worried about the violence in the film, you might do well with this little companion instead. Obviously it's not a copy of the script, but it hits all the main points and even includes some of the jokes and funny moments with lots of visuals to draw you in.

Despite my upset, as someone who really enjoyed the film, I have to admit that the stills they picked are nice. Some of my favorite moments are included, and I have to say that it's nice to be able to relive them quickly and clearly with this book. The photo choice is what saved this from being 2 stars.

This book is fine for what it is - a movie companion. But when I preordered this title back in January it was described here as sort of an atlas of Panem, the official one from Scholastic, offering maps of the districts, the history of the conflict, descriptions of the districts' people and products, etc. In other words, the background of the world in which the story takes place. While fine on it's own, this isn't what I thought I was ordering.