I read the trilogy for the first time in 2019. I was really surprised and impressed by the complexity of these books. I think they were some of the last good YA books and also unknowingly were the precipice the publishing industry would topple from. It's not Suzanne Collins fault everyone said oh my god, we're doing districts.
The movies don't capture what makes these books special; they capture what makes it marketable. I enjoy them but don't approve. The distance between the two is too sad. For me, it's so pleasurable to trace the obvious lineage of this series. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, then The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Stephen King), two of my favorite works, then The Hunger Games. Every author wanting more than the previous one gave.
If you haven't read in a while, these might get you going again. Digestible, approachable, and honestly deeply affecting. As a connoisseur of dystopia, this tastes just fine.
