the games never ended: the hunger games and dystopia

a commentary and reflection of the hunger games series, it's resurgence, and the power it possesses.

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The Hunger Games originally released in 2012. It’s remained a critical point of my generation’s growth, and it’s had a recent resurgence. New movies, top marketing, and a new book have drawn this series back into the public’s eye. Not that I think it ever left—in fact, I’m of the belief that the series is a modern classic. But what made this book an instant success?

Timing. A fresh lens. Easy reading. Well paced. Likable characters.

The first book released a few years after both the Harry Potter and Twilight books ended. It’s straightforward to say that these two series were, and still are, massively influential and a pillar for many YA and NA readers. What were we to read next? Well, Suzanne Collins’s new release of course.

Furthermore, those two series are both heavily fantasy based. The Hunger Games is dystopian. Similar yet different; fresh; new. Combined with Collins’s generally great writing style such as consistent pacing, likable characters, and simple wording, everyone was drawn to The Hunger Games. Everyone from eager readers to those who read once in a blue moon found this book easy to read—a brilliant move by Collins.

Based on information I found in this article from The Guardian who obtained it from an interview for Scholastic, Collins first sparked the idea while channel surfing when it switched from a reality TV show to footage of the Iraq war. Back and forth, side by side. This juxtaposition was something of a pillar in Collins life before then as her father was in the Vietnam war. She would see horrible footage of the war on TV—where her father was in that moment—then it would switch to cartoons.

It’s unsettling in and of itself, but what is worse is how normalized it all is. And thus, Katniss was born.

This is one of the many social commentaries Collins forces us to face in this series. The divisions, President Snow, The Capitol, the games themselves…they all make us to take a true look at our society. Are we truly much better?

While these societal themes are universal and everlasting, the booming success of the movies catapulted these books and The Hunger Games into a modern classic. It is so easy for books to get mistranslated into their movie adaptations. Overall, these were stunningly well done and have continued to be. Lionsgate’s marketing for the movies was so well done I literally studied it in college.

This is why after thirteen years the success only continues to grow. A perfect mix of marketing, a growable world, and quite frankly the themes it requires us to confront in our lives.

We all see the games as barbaric, but we watch war footage on TV and continue on. Red carpet looks are ironically compared to The Capitol and how overly done everything is there. And of course the characters. The flawed, realistic, Non-Chosen-One characters. Likable on their own, they were also perfectly casted in the movies.

In fantasy, it is easy for us to dismiss parallel themes to our world. In dystopia, it is much harder. Katniss didn’t have magic. She had her bow and years of going hungry to drive her. Peeta was a painter and baker. There was a President, and there were divided people. And, they sparked a movement.

A lot of dystopian books are hauntingly familiar in our lives. Collins was able to reach a young audience on these topics and get them to understand. She helped challenge and change the way our generation thought.

Where would we be without it?

And today, Collins released her new prequel. Lionsgate just released Ballad and have been marketing the creation of the prequel’s movie. It’s top of mind, but it’s also been hovering in the background for all of us. By bringing it forward, we are stunningly reminded that it never truly left.

The Hunger Games isn't just a book we read as teenagers or a movie we lined up to see in theaters. It's a mirror—one that reflects the extremes of inequality, spectacle, and resistance in a way we can’t look away from. As long as we live in a world where injustice exists alongside entertainment, Katniss’s story will remain relevant.

So while the resurgence might be fueled by marketing and nostalgia, maybe it’s also because, deep down, we know the games never really ended for Katniss, and perhaps, for us too.

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All links to books are affiliate links through bookshop.org to help support indie bookstores.

1. The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig (Fantasy): May 20, 2025

2. Nightshade by Michael Connelly (Thriller): May 20, 2025

3. Rewind It Back by Liz Tomforde (Romance): May 20, 2025

4. Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt (Romance): May 20, 2025

5. Not Safe For Work by Nisha J. Tuli (Romance): May 20, 2025

6. We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (Mystery): May 20, 2025

7. Behooved by M. Stevenson (Fantasy): May 20, 2025

8. The Doorman by Chris Pavone (Thriller): May 20, 2025

9. Tom Clancy Line of Demarcation by MP Woodward (Thriller): May 20, 2025

Books I’ve compiled from a variety of bestseller lists. I add the books I haven’t before, since I’ve caught up to the new additions. If you’re curious, last week’s post can be found here.

1. The Tenant by Frieda McFadden (Thriller)

2. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune (Romance)

3. Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry (Fantasy)

4. My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Popular Fiction)

5. Silver Elite by Dani Francis (Sci Fi/Romance)

   1. note: has anyone else seen all the discourse on this?

6. Tina: The Dog Who Changed The World by Niall Harbison (Nature & Biography)

7. The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers and Alex Kiester (Thriller)

8. The Names by Florence Knapp (Popular Fiction)

9. My Name is Emilia De Valle by Isabel Allende (Lit Fic & His Fic)

If you have a book recommendation to share, send me a DM or email me at thesundayreads@gmail.com!

1. I mean, it’s only appropriate to say The Hunger Games, right?

That’s all for today. Much love

Izzy