Book Review #3 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In Post-Armageddon North America, the nation of Panem, a country of 12 outlying districts and a shining Capitol, is holding it's yearly Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are fights to the death between 24 children under 18, a boy and a girl from each district as a punishment for the district uprising over 70 years ago. Katniss Everdeen steps up into her sister's place, and thus the 74th Hunger Games begin.
I heard a lot of hype about this book and decided to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. Although it took me about a quarter of the way through the book to get into it and care about the characters, the ride after that was phenomenal. Katniss is a mostly three dimensional character, although she is hard to relate to and care about. Peeta is lovable, the typical love interest. Gale is the token enigma.
That really was one thing that bothered me - the love triangle. I finished the book both satisfied and thinking, "Really? Really?" I'm very, very tired of love triangles, especially when it comes to books like this where the reader's excitement and interest should come from the action and plot, not from the lack-luster romance under story. I understand it was to add some depth, but I found it an unnecessary cop out to thicken the plot. It was fine to begin with, and in fact, Suzanne could have used the plot to do so much more if she wasn't limiting herself to the romance line. None the less, I enjoyed it and looked forward to Catching Fire.