The one where I give in to peer pressure

Yup. I caved. I did something I didn't really want to because everyone kept telling me I should.

Now, this probably wasn't the kind of peer pressure my middle school chorus teacher had in mind when she had us sing a song about it in 7th grade (which by the way, I still remember ALL of the lyrics to). No, the peer pressure that got to me was reading Hunger Games.

Just like happened with the Twilight books and Harry Potter before those.

(Side note - are any of you at all surprised that the peer pressure that gets to me is to read? *eyeroll* Wow, am I a dork.)

I'm not a sci-fi/fantasy fan. I mostly read fiction with a strong story line (Jodi Piccoult, Joshilyn Jackson, Ann Patchett), mystery/suspense/thrillers (Harlan Coben, Laura Lippman, Vince Flynn), the occasional chick lit fluff and a respectable amount of non-fiction.

Nothing about that screams that a YA dystopian series is a good fit for me. So when they started to rise in popularity last spring, I had zero interest in reading them, yet knew, at some point I'd cave.

Just like happened with the Twilight books and Harry Potter before those.

In case you've been living under a rock, here's the description of Hunger Games, the first in the trilogy:

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survived

I can't find a complete description - this seems to be cut off, but... you get the idea. Teenagers fighting to the death in a post-Apocolypitic world.

You get why I resisted, right?

But as much as it didn't sound appealing I knew that many people wouldn't be reading them if they weren't good books. I know people who have loved them, ranging from my boss' tween daughter to a 50something colleague. There had to be something incredibly compelling and worth reading. So, I did.

What's the verdict now that I've finished the first book?

I liked it.

I'm not gushing over it or immediately starting book two before the night is over, though I will read it and book three as well. I can completely see why people are getting so sucked in, but for me, well, I'm mostly just glad I finished it so I can read the new Vince Flynn book that came out this week!

What about you? Have you read them? If so, what did you think?