5.2.12
Last night I finished the last Hunger Games book, Mockingjay. I loved them and read them all really fast so I will probably read them again more slowly (like probably starting today).
The first book, The Hunger Games, was by far my favorite. Collins managed to write a story full of violence, murder, and death while making the reader fall in love with the characters. I was able to see humanity and real people in every character and every act, good or bad. At the end, I really wanted to see Katniss great Prim after making it back from the Hunger Games, but since there were two more books, this wasn't that big of a deal.
I actually really loved the second book, Catching Fire, as well. I was very confused while reading the rescue/break out of the arena and had to read it a couple of times to know what happened, but this may have been more a result of reading in the middle of the night rather than having anything to do with the writing of the book. I have heard and read online that most people actually didn't really like this book and saw it as a typical middle book of a trilogy, but idk, I really liked it.
Now the third book, Mockingjay, I didn't love. I liked the basic outline of the story with the rebellion and District 13, but I actually hated much of the detail. I felt confused through much of it as though I was actually in Katniss's drug haze, which I suppose is great writing, but once again I was reading at 5AM so I would have preferred the book to be clearer. I also really did not like that Prim was killed. I realize that if this was real life, this is something that could really happen, plus it was a good way to help Katniss see that President Coin wasn't what she portrayed herself as, but I really think that just killing the children would have been awful enough. To me, Prim dying made it seem like all that Katniss sacrificed by volunteering for Prim in the first Hunger Games was pointless. Now I realize that the rebel cause and the freeing of the districts was much more important than one life, but this isn't real life. I like my books to have happy endings, even if life usually doesn't. This is also why I didn't really like that Katniss was so mentally damaged. Even though this is probably what would happen (if not worse) to anyone who had been through the horrors she had, I would have liked to see her healthier at least, if not a bit happier. She was a strong character, so some of this didn't even seem to fit with her character.
I'll probably add to this post after I reread each book! Now let me know what you think!
