Thousands of Books

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games   Genres: Dystopian, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Survival Story, Action, American Literature Reading Level: Young Adult  Setting: Panem (Fictionalized future society of North America) Published: 2008 Page Count: 436 (Paperback) Content Warnings: Child Death Rating: ★★ ★ ★⭑ (4.5 out of 5) Am I reviewing Suzanne Collins' classic young adult dystopian novel The Hunger Games in the year 2025? Yes. Why? Because it feels so deeply relevant to the world we are living in today. You could perhaps be forgiven if your memories of this book are largely about a teenage love triangle set against the backdrop of a corrupt society (as most young adult dystopians of the era were). This was the aspect of the book that most readers chose to focus on at the time, especially its younger audience, and of course, the filmmakers played up this angle of the story in the film adaptations, making it one of the main selling points of the franchise. But after re...

  Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: Ace of Spades Genres: Contemporary Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Horror, Social Justice, American Literature, African American Literature, LGBTQIA+ Literature  Reading Level: Young Adult  Setting: Present Day U.S. (Unspecified city or state)  Published: 2021  Page Count: 415 (Paperback) Content Warnings: Racism, White Supremacy, Homophobia, Incarceration, Drugs Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5) First things first, do not discredit any interest in reading this book on the baseline that it is YA. The first few chapters might trick you into thinking that this book is a standard high school teen drama, but it is absolutely anything but. Also, do not discredit it on the grounds that it’s a thriller either. It is also not a standard, run-of-the-mill murder mystery book. Not that there’s anything wrong with a book that is a high school drama or a murder mystery; I would just hate for a book as incredible as Ace of Spades to get thrown int...