I did an English degree. I spent three years solid reading and researching serious classic literature week after week, and by the time I graduated I barely ever read a book for fun any more.

It took a few months, but then The Hunger Games was the first thing I read that I actually enjoyed reading purely for fun again. It brought back that feeling I had as an older kid or young teenager where I got dropped into a new world, introduced to a bunch of characters, and wanted to see who would make it to the end.

Like everything that has a wave of popularity - especially if it's popular with teenage girls - there's a backlash, but I agree most of the criticism isn't justified when you remember the target market. It does very well for the genre and age group.

It's an immersive setting, but with a fast-paced plot and many dystopian novels struggle to balance the two. I really got into the details of different Games and Districts. Love triangles are a YA staple but the HG one is different, a lot of the push and pull comes from Katniss' attempts to survive and how she thinks she needs to be perceived rather than just liking Boy A more than Boy B. The classical references are clunky to an adult, but would have been new hidden depths to me at 12 or 13.

I struggled a little with the third one, as Katniss is so deep in trauma for a lot of the book, but on reflection I appreciate the darker turn. She can't be an action girl after everything in the first two books and the series doesn't try to resolve things in a neat, happy way.

I also got a little tired of the Battle Royale comparisons people often made. There's a shared concept, but that pre-dates both pieces. In BR, the horror relies on the fact it's your friends and classmates being forced against you, while the Hunger Games always focussed on a system that would create and celebrate the big killing spree.

People can dismiss it as a series for Middle Schoolers of they want, but hey, it's a very good series for Middle Schoolers.