The Hunger Games (Collins)
Short summary
Dystopian North America, post-apocalyptic future. In the impoverished District 12, sixteen-year-old Katniss volunteered to replace her younger sister in the annual Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.
Alongside her was the baker's son from her district. The Capitol transformed them into spectacles with elaborate costumes and training. During his televised interview, the baker's son confessed his longtime love for Katniss, creating a star-crossed lovers narrative that captivated audiences.
In the arena, twenty-four tributes fought for survival. Katniss formed an alliance with a young girl named Rue, but Rue was killed. Devastated, Katniss sang to her as she died and covered her body with flowers. When the Gamemakers announced that two tributes from the same district could win together, Katniss desperately searched for Peeta. She found him severely wounded and nursed him back to health in a cave, playing up their romance to win sponsor gifts. After Katniss destroyed the Career tributes' supplies and the remaining competitors died, only she and Peeta remained. The Gamemakers then revoked the rule allowing two victors.
We both know they have to have a victor ... If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were ... My fingers fumble with the pouch on my belt, freeing it.
Katniss pulled out poisonous berries, and she and Peeta prepared to eat them simultaneously, forcing the Gamemakers to declare them both victors rather than have no winner. Their act of defiance enraged the Capitol, and Katniss learned she was in grave danger. To survive, she had to convince everyone that her actions stemmed from desperate love rather than rebellion.
Detailed summary by parts and chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Part 1. The Tributes
Chapter 1. Reaping day: Katniss volunteers for Prim
On the morning of the reaping, a sixteen-year-old girl woke in District 12 to find her younger sister had climbed into their mother's bed after nightmares. She dressed in her hunting clothes and slipped into the woods beyond the electrified fence, meeting her hunting partner at their usual spot. They spent the morning gathering food and discussing the possibility of running away, though both knew their families depended on them too much.
At the reaping ceremony, the Capitol's escort drew names from two glass balls. When the first name was called, it belonged to a twelve-year-old girl. Before anyone could react, her older sister pushed through the crowd.
I volunteer! I gasp. I volunteer as tribute!
The crowd responded with a silent three-fingered salute, an old gesture meaning thanks, admiration, and goodbye to someone loved. The male tribute's name was then drawn.
Chapter 2. Peeta Mellark: the boy with the bread
The girl recognized the boy immediately as the baker's son. Years ago, when her family was starving after her father's death, she had been searching through trash bins behind the bakery. The baker's wife had chased her away, but the boy had deliberately burned two loaves of bread and thrown them to her despite being beaten for it. That bread had saved her family and given her hope to survive. She had never thanked him, and now they would be forced to fight to the death.
Chapter 3. Journey to the Capitol and first impressions
The tributes were taken to the Justice Building for final goodbyes. The girl's mother and sister came first, followed by the baker himself, who promised to keep her sister fed. Her hunting partner arrived last, urging her to win and promising to care for her family. On the train to the Capitol, they met their escort, a woman obsessed with manners and propriety, and their mentor, the district's only living victor.
Chapter 4. Meeting Haymitch and preparing for the Games
The mentor arrived drunk at dinner and immediately vomited. When the tributes tried to get advice from him the next morning, he was dismissive until the boy challenged him. After a brief scuffle, the mentor agreed to help them if they followed his instructions exactly. His first advice was simple: stay alive. He told them to appear mediocre in training and save their best skills for the private sessions with the Gamemakers.
Chapter 5. Transformation by Cinna: the girl on fire
The tributes were assigned prep teams and stylists. The girl's stylist was unlike the garish Capitol citizens she had seen. He designed a black unitard with a cape that would be set on fire with synthetic flames for the opening ceremonies. When she emerged in the costume, she appeared to be engulfed in flames.
I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.
During the parade, the stylist had the tributes hold hands, which distinguished them from other districts whose tributes stood apart. The crowd loved them, and they became the talk of the Capitol.
Chapter 6. Training and first impressions of the tributes
Training lasted three days. The tributes from wealthy districts, called Careers, were larger, better fed, and had trained their whole lives for this. Following their mentor's advice, the girl and boy from District 12 learned basic survival skills together: knot-tying, fire-building, and plant identification. They avoided showing their real talents. A small twelve-year-old from District 11 began following them during training.
Chapter 7. Private sessions with the Gamemakers
On the final day, tributes performed privately for the Gamemakers, who would assign them scores. The girl went last. By the time she entered, the Gamemakers were drunk and distracted by a roasted pig. She demonstrated her archery skills, but they ignored her. Furious at being dismissed, she shot an arrow into the apple in the pig's mouth, pinning it to the wall behind the Gamemakers' table. She left without being dismissed.
Chapter 8. The arrow and the roasted pig
Terrified she had ruined her chances, the girl waited for her score. To her shock, she received an eleven, the highest score of all tributes. Her mentor explained that the Gamemakers wanted players with heat, and her temper had impressed them. The boy received an eight.
Chapter 9. The interviews: star-crossed lovers
For the interviews, the stylist dressed the girl in a gown that flickered like candlelight, making her appear young and innocent. During his interview, the boy shocked everyone by confessing he had been in love with the girl since childhood. The crowd went wild. Afterward, the mentor explained that the boy had made them into star-crossed lovers, which would attract sponsors. The girl was furious, feeling manipulated, but the mentor insisted it was their best strategy for survival.
Part 2. The Games
Chapter 10. Launch into the arena
On launch day, the girl was dressed in simple arena clothing and given her district token, a mockingjay pin. Her stylist told her to run from the initial bloodbath and find water. She was lifted into the arena on a metal plate. Tributes stood in a circle around the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn filled with supplies. She spotted a bow and arrows but remembered her mentor's warning. When the gong sounded, she grabbed a backpack and fled into the woods as tributes began killing each other.
Chapter 11. First day: bloodbath at the Cornucopia
Eleven tributes died on the first day. The girl found water and set snares for food. That night, she climbed a tree to sleep. The Career tributes, who had formed an alliance, tracked her down. To her shock, the boy from District 12 was with them. They surrounded her tree but couldn't climb high enough to reach her. A small tribute pointed out a tracker jacker nest above the girl's head. These genetically engineered wasps caused hallucinations and death.
Chapter 12. Survival and tracker jackers
During the night, the girl sawed through the branch holding the nest, dropping it on the Careers below. Two girls died from the stings, and the others fled. The girl was stung three times and began hallucinating. She managed to retrieve a bow and arrows from one of the dead girls before collapsing. The boy from District 12 appeared and told her to run before the Careers returned. Confused and poisoned, she fled deeper into the woods.
Chapter 13. Rue becomes an ally
After recovering from the tracker jacker venom, the girl found the small tribute from District 11 hiding in the trees. The younger girl had been following her and knew which plants could heal the stings. They formed an alliance. The younger girl revealed that the Careers had stockpiled all the supplies at the Cornucopia, guarded by the boy from District 3. Together, they devised a plan to destroy the supplies by setting fires as a distraction.
Chapter 14. Rues death
While the younger girl set fires, the older girl shot an arrow into the supplies, causing a massive explosion. The Careers' food was destroyed. But when the older girl went to find her ally, she discovered the younger girl trapped in a net with a spear in her stomach. The older girl killed the boy who had speared her ally and held the dying girl as she passed. She sang to her and covered her body in flowers.
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true / Here is the place where I love you.
I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable ... That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I.
Chapter 15. Two tributes can win
That night, the Gamemakers announced a rule change: two tributes from the same district could win together. The girl immediately called out for the boy from District 12. She found him camouflaged in mud by a stream, severely wounded with an infected leg. She cleaned his wounds and moved him to a cave, where she tried to nurse him back to health. His condition worsened, and she realized he would die without medicine.
Chapter 16. Destroying the Careers supplies
The Gamemakers announced a feast at the Cornucopia, where each tribute would find something they desperately needed. The girl knew medicine for the boy would be there. Despite his protests, she drugged him with sleep syrup and went to the feast. She was attacked by a Career tribute but was saved by the large tribute from District 11, who killed the Career girl to repay a debt. The girl retrieved the medicine and returned to heal the boy.
Chapter 17. Finding Peeta in the mud
The medicine worked, and the boy began to recover. They stayed in the cave, and the girl realized she needed to play up their romance to get more gifts from sponsors. She kissed him and acted affectionate for the cameras. The boy seemed genuinely in love with her, but she wasn't sure of her own feelings. She was confused about whether she was acting or if her emotions were real.
Chapter 18. The feast and medicine
Only six tributes remained. The Gamemakers drained the water sources, forcing everyone toward the lake. A sly tribute died after eating poisonous berries the boy had gathered, not knowing they were deadly. The girl kept some berries in case they could be useful. The large tribute from District 11 was killed by the remaining Career tribute. Only three tributes were left: the girl, the boy, and the Career.
Part 3. The Victor
Chapter 19. Healing Peeta in the cave
The Career tribute was hunting them. The girl and boy made their way to the Cornucopia, where genetically engineered wolf-like creatures suddenly appeared, chasing them. The creatures had the eyes of dead tributes. The three remaining tributes climbed onto the Cornucopia. The Career held the boy in a headlock at the edge. The boy marked an X on the Career's hand with his own blood, and the girl shot an arrow through it. The Career fell to the mutts below.
Chapter 20. Playing up the romance
The Career suffered for hours before the girl mercifully killed him with an arrow. But the victory announcement didn't come. Instead, the Gamemakers revoked the rule change: only one tribute could win. The boy told the girl to kill him, but she refused. She pulled out the poisonous berries and suggested they eat them together, forcing the Gamemakers to either let them both die or declare them both winners. Just as the berries touched their lips, the Gamemakers announced them both victors.
Chapter 21. Sleep syrup and the feast
They were taken to the Capitol for medical treatment. The boy had lost his leg. The girl was healed completely, all her scars removed. They were kept apart until the final interview. Their mentor warned the girl that the Capitol was furious about the berries stunt, which had made them look foolish. Her only defense was to claim she was so madly in love she wasn't responsible for her actions.
Chapter 22. Peetas recovery and the rules change again
During the final interview, the girl and boy played up their romance for the cameras. They watched a recap of the Games, which focused heavily on their love story. The president himself crowned them both victors, but when he looked at the girl, his eyes were cold and unforgiving. She realized she was being blamed for the berries idea and would be punished.
Chapter 23. The final tributes and berries
At the Victory Banquet, sponsors and officials celebrated the victors. The girl maintained her loving act with the boy, though she was increasingly confused about her real feelings. Her mentor had warned her to keep up the romance until the cameras were gone and they were safely home.
Listen up. You're in trouble. Word is the Capitol's furious about you showing them up in the arena ... Your only defence can be you were so madly in love you weren't responsible.
Chapter 24. Foxfaces death
The Gamemakers had orchestrated every moment to create the most dramatic story possible. The girl understood now that the entire spectacle had been designed to control them, to make them perform for the Capitol's entertainment.
Chapter 25. Mutts attack
The mutts had been created specifically to terrorize the tributes, combining the worst aspects of wolves with human intelligence and the faces of fallen tributes. The girl would never forget the horror of seeing her dead competitors transformed into weapons against her.
Chapter 26. Victory and Capitol control
The victory felt hollow. The girl had survived, but at what cost? She had been forced to kill, to watch children die, to manipulate her own emotions for an audience. The Capitol had controlled every aspect of the Games, from the arena itself to the rule changes designed to create the most compelling drama.
Chapter 27. Going home
On the train home, the boy discovered that much of the girl's affection had been an act for the cameras. He was hurt and angry, asking what would be left between them once they returned to District 12. She admitted she didn't know, that she was confused. As they pulled into the station, he offered his hand one more time, asking if it was for the audience. She took it, dreading the moment when she would finally have to let go. The cameras would follow them home, and the performance would have to continue. But for how long, and at what cost to both of them, remained uncertain.