I read The Hunger Games largely for research, as I'm working on a YA novel and wanted to understand what it was about this novel that made it so massively popular. I'd also previously read Battle Royale and heard about the (quite obvious) similarities and was curious about this. Plus it was on offer at £3.49 on Amazon, so worked out pretty cheaply.

Firstly, there are obvious similarities in premise between this book and Battle Royale. The premise in both involves pitting children against each other in a battle to the death in a 'game' like scenario. Aside from this basic similarity the books are really quite different. Battle Royale is more of an exploration of human nature, whereas The Hunger Games is much more of a character piece.

The central core of The Hunger Games is the character of Katniss - a resourceful, independent character prone to stubbornness, an untrusting nature and emotional invulnerability. In short, a flawed heroine. I think Katniss is the real strength of this book, as you get drawn into her world and her decisions, not always agreeing with her actions but understanding where they come from.

Accompanying Katniss into the hunger games is fellow resident of District 12 Peeta. Peeta obviously has a crush on Katniss but she can't see it. And of course there is another guy that Katniss is fond of back home, her fellow hunter Gale. You see the love story / love triangle coming from a mile away? Me too.

Where The Hunger Games is weak against Battle Royale is around the games themselves and the tributes. In Battle Royale they pit school friend against school friend; in The Hunger Games only 2 of the tributes are ever likely to know each other so fighting the others, whilst repulsive, is easier to handle. Where Katniss and Peeta come into play, Collins is careful never to directly pit them as enemies so whilst Katniss doesn't trust Peeta there's never a point where you feel they might have to really confront the possibility of killing each other. Instead Collins focuses on the difficulties of trust. I felt this was a potential weakness of the book.

There is also some question in my mind over the viability of Katniss as a character. She is certainly the pivot point and the most successful aspect of the book and it's always good to see a strong female character taking the fore. Collins exposes Katniss's weaknesses, her character flaws and calculating nature in a way that makes her seem very human and relatable, but at the same time her skills are somewhat less realistic - she is a skilled hunter, an excellent archer, knowledgable and a great strategist. I found that in many ways this made her inaccessible as a character and perhaps an unrealistic (if interesting) role model.

In the end I wasn't really that curious about how the story continued so I don't plan to read on any further. But as a work of young adult fiction I can see the appeal. The story is fast paced and exciting and the characterisation is really very good and it does draw the reader in. In the end, though, it wasn't enough for me.