Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Gamesmaker

by Marc Shapiro

Suzanne Collins had an idea one day. That idea became a story. The story became The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games became a series of books about a bleak dystopian future that would go on to captivate fans around the world and spawn film and theatrical adaptations that would further the notion of fantasy and reality.

But the mystery remains...Just who is Suzanne Collins and how her personal and professional odyssey resulted in every writer's dream?

The Games Keepers Story tells the tale of Colliins' life and times and how her imagination has rocked the literary world. Buckle up and prepare for the ride. This is the story behind the story. The life story of Suzanne Collins is pulling out of the station. Next stop. The Hunger Games.

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2025

About the author

Marc Shapiro is the author of the New York Times bestselling biography, J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, and more than a dozen other celebrity biographies. He has been a freelance entertainment journalist for more than twenty-five years, covering film, television, and music for a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marcsh...

Reviews

[Portia Citlali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially judged the book too quickly, especially when the author was compared to other well known writers. The first chapter felt a bit daunting, but it quickly caught my attention, especially when I began learning about Suzanne’s background and how her and ger families experiences with war and how they inspired her work.

I found both her writing process fascinating as well as her family dynamic. She would write for hours at a time, while her spouse took on the role of stay-at-home parent. It astounds me that, despite her success, Suzanne remains a very private and reserved person. I was also impressed to learn that she began her career writing for television programs.

I especially enjoyed reading about how her books were adapted into films and the extent of her involvement in the process.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the collection of quotes at the end, especially these:

"I don't write about adolescence. I write about war for adolescence."

"I think it's very uncomfortable for people to talk to children about war, so they don't—because it's easier not to. But then you have young people at eighteen who are enlisting in the army, and they really don't have the slightest idea what they're getting into."

These quotes are a testament to Suzanne's depth of knowledge and life experience, both of which are powerfully reflected in her stories. I did feel the book was too short, I could have read more about Suzanne Collins.

I wanted to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Nicole Normand · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley and I'm willingly leaving a review
Full disclosure: I have not read the books nor viewed the movies from The Hunger Games. They would give me nightmares for years to come, thus, I bought the books for my husband, and he went to watch the movies with our daughter. I accepted the book because I love biographies and I've read some of Shapiro's work in the past. There are several repeats, right in the first few pages, then it calms down until almost the end. Also includes a repeat (in less than 2 pages), the expression "nuts and bolts". Collins' life is splattered with war stories, gory or not, depending on who's talking, and what she's reading, so it also reflects in her work. There is more information about the series (making of) than of her personally. Only one time (repeated twice) do we know a sort of routine: eat breakfast, write until you can't in the early afternoon. But otherwise, we don't know her preferences, or how she reacted when they approached her to turn her books into movies, why did she write more books when she specifically said it would be only a trilogy, etc. and that is lacking. It reads like an essay where the author picked and chose interviews, or just random comments, made by Suzanne - or people talking about her - here and there, be it in a newspaper or on the Internet. At some point, I thought the author needed a thesaurus for the lack of vocabulary (eg. Collins is always thrilled about something or the other).

[EllasEnchantedReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hunger Gamesmaker is an autobiography of author Suzanne Collins—the brilliant mind behind the Hunger Games, a literary masterpiece about a bleak futuristic dystopian world with a fierce heroine, a believable romantic plot, high stakes combat, social criticism and PTSD representation. Collins takes to heart writing what she knows and loves. Her family has a long military history, dating back to WWI, and grew up with an active duty military father. Between her father’s stories of the reality of war, an idea to blend reality TV with war footage and combining the Just War Theory (about when a war is ethically just) with YA literature, the inspiration and concept of the Hunger Games series came to be. This book was very interesting, especially if you are a Hunger Games fan and would enjoy reading the background and inspiration of this series. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Thank you Riverdale Avenue Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC!

[An Unbound · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book.

It is a solid 4 star. Its a quick read and entertaining. I loved learning about Suzanne Collins & her life as well as her journey to writing The Hunger Games series. I also loved learning about how she handled each challenge that was thrown her way. As someone who doesn't like the spotlight and hides from it, I definitely connected with her on that. Overall this was an amazing story and would read it over and over.

[Kasia Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it compelling that Suzanne Collins really doesn't like to do interviews and really only does at the publisher's request, and yet....Marc Shapiro has really pulled together a lot of information about Suzanne Collins that reads as if he was interviewing her. Filled with lots of little gems, this really does give a great synopsis of who Suzanne is and how she skyrocketed to fame. Highly recommend!
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

[madz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book as a big The Hunger Games and Suzanne Collins fan. It’s a very quick read and collates information about Suzanne Collins’ life and THG franchise. Super fascinating to learn more about Collins.

Thank you Netgalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for an ARC in exchange for a book review.

[Amanda Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Suzanne Collins fan, dating back to her Gregor the Overlander days. I'm also a fan of reading junior biographies. They're concise, informative, quick reads. This includes a lot of interesting facts about Collins and gives you a good idea of what her personality is like. It's a wordier biography, so I'd save it for more fluent readers.

[Kerry Bentley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great insight into how Suzanne Collins wrote the hunger games and how it became such a success. I loved reading about her writing process and finding out how she started writing. A quick interesting read