Book Review: The Hunger Games

I finally read The Hunger Games last week. I’m so glad I did.

What follows will contain some spoilers, so be aware.

State of the Book #1: March 25, 2012

Hello, my dears! I've decided to start posting weekly updates on the State of the Book, starting tonight, which is Sunday night. Well, actually it’s Monday morning, but as far as I’m concerned “night” means “the time before I go to bed.” So:

Yesterday (Saturday) I read an interesting post on how to write engaging query letters. Naturally that’s a topic near and dear to my heart, as I hope to begin querying this book in the next few months or so. Therefore, though the novel’s not nearly finished yet, I worked up a bit of query copy: 

For thirteen years, eccentric outcast Addie Allen has shared her head with an invisible friend: the brilliant and devoted spirit she calls Julian. Julian is everything she could wish for in a companion: wise, charming, and fiercely protective of her. Every night they meet in a vast and complex dreamworld, where they have adventures the waking world could never compete with.

When an old enemy starts persecuting Addie at school, Julian reveals a disturbing new talent: he can possess the bodies of other people. Unfortunately, sharp-eyed Hector Reed is watching him, and guesses immediately that Addie’s not alone in her mind. 

No one has ever guessed the truth about Julian before, so Addie is instantly intrigued. She can’t get him out of her mind, and Julian quickly grows jealous. He imprisons Hector’s spirit somewhere in the dreamworld, then takes over his body. With Hector’s life at stake, Addie is forced to follow Julian to an abandoned house deep in the forest. Now her dearest friend has become her nemesis, and she must fight with everything she has to save a boy she barely knows. 

The title should come next, of course, but unfortunately that’s an element I’m still stuck on. As you may remember if you’ve been following for a while, the original title of this project was CREATURES OF THE MIND. It was a very different story then, and the name was appropriate, but since then the novel’s undergone some drastic changes. I thought about ANIMUS, but it didn’t seem quite right. Then I hit on INCARNATE, but it turns out that one’s already been taken. (It looks like a great book, though, and I definitely want to read it!)

So the title is still a blank. Nevertheless, the story is definitely taking shape-- which is good, since depending on how you count it this is either the third or the fourth time I’ve written it.