As a lover of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, I decided to explore her other books and found this, her first novel. Gregor the Overlander, first in a five-book fantasy series for children but also suitable for young adults and adults, is a New York Times best-selling series. How quickly I raced through it. Eleven-year old Gregor lives in a New York apartment with his mother, grandmother and two sisters, Lizzie who is seven and Boots, two. His father disappeared without a trace and Gregor thinks of him every day. He has one rule, not to think of what will happen on the day his father comes home. Which means he never thinks about the future. Then one day, in the laundry room, Boots is chasing a tennis ball while Gregor is doing the washing. Until Boots disappears. Through a metal grate. Gregor follows her and falls down. Down into the Underworld where the first people he meets are cockroaches. Collins has created a fascinating world beneath the city streets. There are some meaty themes and the Underworld character list includes many giant animals and insects that usually provoke a squeamish human reaction. Collins encourages the reader to look beyond appearance to the real person inside. The world-building is fascinating, something that Collins did so well in The Hunger Games.
This is an adventure story so Gregor must go on a quest and face danger. The decisions he takes will affect everyone in this subterranean world. The Underworld is on the brink of war. Collins is not afraid to put favoured characters in danger, and to kill them. Gregor has a destiny, and purpose, of which he is unaware.
Gregor – like Katniss, like Harry Potter – is an unlikely hero, an ordinary kid without special skills. But he loves his sister deeply and this means he speaks up, and steps up, when others hesitate about danger.
Loved it.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Read the first paragraph of THE HUNGER GAMES, also by Suzanne Collins.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen [#1 Tearling trilogy]
‘La Belle Sauvage’ by Philip Pullman [#1The Book of Dust]
‘Children of Blood and Bone’ by Tomi Adeyemi [#1 Legacy of Orisha]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6A9 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-