“Whether you love The Hunger Games or just love survival, look at this book as an extension of the skills used by Katniss, her friends, and her enemies to stay alive in desperate situations.”
Summary: A great introduction to survival techniques for any fan of The Hunger Games. Creek Stewart teaches the survival techniques Katniss & company used in the arena and District 12, and he expands on other skills that would help you in any survival situation.
“Train like a tribute before you enter the Arena using this wilderness survival guide—you don’t have to live in Panem to put these survival skills to use. Experience adventure of life in District 12 by learning and practicing the survival skills used by Katniss, Peeta, Gale and their friends.”
Quick Review: Really great information; written for Hunger Games fans, but even non-Hunger Games fans (if they exist) will want this book if they’re ever stranded in the wilderness.
First Impression: This could be a great book for me. I know absolutely nothing when it comes to surviving outside my house, and who knows when I might need some survival skills.
My Review: You know that game ‘Desert Island,’ where you choose only 5 books/movies/items to be stranded with? Change that to ‘stranded in the wilderness’ and this book is one of my 5. I don’t normally read survival preparedness books, but this one was intriguing. I mean, you wonder if any of the stuff Katniss did to survive would really work or if Peeta would really last days in a ditch camouflaged as a rock (a much easier camouflage technique is given in the book for those of us with little to no artistic ability).
That’s what’s fascinating about books & movies about survival. It makes you think, would I be able to do it? Would I have that survivor’s mentality? Could I keep myself alive like Katniss? That’s the brilliance of this book. It gives you valuable information in a way that’s relatable. It uses The Hunger Games as a starting point while giving you a variety of survival techniques & tips.
For example, the author, Creek Stewart, shows us how to create Gale’s twitch-up snare:
“Gale’s famous twitch-up snares—Katniss thinks so highly of them that she gives Gale a bow and arrow in exchange for teaching her how to make and set these snares. And she’s right; these snares are a great way to catch small game, like rabbits, without expending a lot of time and energy.”
Seriously, the diagrams and instructions make it seem like even I could set up a snare.
Then, he goes past The Hunger Games to give information on how to use the hide of an animal in various ways, how to keep fish alive until you need to eat it, how to signal for rescue, and a myriad of other techniques.
I’m not too sure I could survive long without running water & electricity, but reading this book makes me believe I might actually be able to keep myself alive. I do have a sudden urge to practice starting a fire, or create a survival bag for my family (with this book inside), because as Creek Stewart says,
“If we take time now to learn survival skills that we might need later, the odds begin to shift in our favor.”
Favorite Part or Passage: Survival Mentality: Think Like a Victor – this is a great chapter to start the book. You could have all the skills you need, but if you don’t have the proper mindset, you might not last as long as you thought. It gets you thinking about why you would want to survive. Also in this chapter is a great quote about Katniss:
“I have a deep respect for Katniss. That girl is a fighter. She never gives up. Even after being burned, knocked out, blown down, trapped in a tree, cut, shot, broken, dehydrated, medicated, starved, deafened and mentally tortured, she still never gives up. Her will to survive often overcomes the seemingly unmanageable situations she finds herself in.”
For Fans of: The Hunger Games, Ashes (Ilsa Bick), survival books and apocalypse preparedness
You can buy this book on Amazon or at Creek Stewart’s website HERE. He also has a lot of tips and other books, such as his YA fiction novel, Rugosa, that’s coming out soon. Read more about Creek Stewart HERE.
And a huge thanks to the author, Creek Stewart, for sending us a copy of The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide to review!
