And so I spent the entire weekend reading The Hunger Games.

[mellymell]

I have to say, I enjoyed Catching Fire and Mockingjay a lot more than The Hunger Games.

Also, in light of my discussion with padawansguide last time, I paid special mind not to spoil myself too much before reading these two. I didn't go off reading lengthy summaries of the books or looking for who dies in advance. I left it to my own guesses (which were

Comments

[padawansguide]

Again, the action was spot on. I've thought a bit about it and think I see a defense for using present tense in a novel such as this. After reading the first book, I really had to wrack my brain to figure out a good application for present tense but I see it right in front of me now. I think the tense, as much as the clear word usage, helped to keep things visual and kept the action from getting muddled up and confusing (even if a character was confused during the action). That said, I think it takes just the right writer to make present tense work. So, YA lit writers jumping on this present tense bandwagon: KNOCK IT OFF! unless you're really, really good at it.

THIS. I said before that I really hate present tense, and this trilogy was a rare exception, and that's I think because these books are very action heavy and you are right there with Katniss. She doesn't know what is coming next and neither do you. So it works. But this is a rare exception and this trend HAS to stop! :-)

I very much liked that both Peeta and Gale survived. I hate hate hate when they resolve love triangles by killing someone off (I'm talking to you Pearl Harbor, twice!) and thus making it "easy" for the person to choose. This was so much more complex. She genuinely loved both of them, but in the end, Gale's actions made him a non-choice. And even after that, it's not like she went right to Peeta. They had to ease into it. I thought it was well-done. Or less cliche than usual at the least?

I had no idea Prim would die, and it was like a gut punch. It's not surprising if you think about it, and "rereading" via Mark Reads, it's almost not even an author contrivance. It really seems like Coin orchestrated it, knowing what it would do to Katniss (ie, render her catatonic and out of the way). Coin sent her there (really, a 13 year old in battle?) and Coin sent the parachutes.

Also, rereading it made what Katniss does at the end so much more obvious. I didn't realize how Katniss was playing Coin with agreeing to another Hunger Games, so she could get close enough to end her. Also, on the reread Coin was so much more evil, that I can appreciate why Coin was bad news and just as bad as snow.

Hmm - I did like Peeta, and I thought he was a great compliment to Katniss. Warmth, not fire. I guess I didn't feel like he won by default, but that he gently earned her love by being what she needed. Katniss didn't need burning passion in the end, really - she needed the kind of love that is gentle and strong. Peeta really understood her too - they'd both been through hell and I think that bonded them too.

I think happiness in the woods with Gale is one of the dreams that was killed by the War, really. She could have been happy like that. But the war not only killed people, it killed possible futures, and I think that dream died with the war. And maybe Katniss once wanted that, and by the end, it just wasn't possible anymore. Not so much that she settled, but maybe both what she wanted and what was possible had changed so much.

I think her having kids was in a way a sign of her allowing herself to hope the future could be better. As a sign of faith. The future will need people to build it, and so maybe that's another piece. Teach your own kids and hope they will grow up to better the world. That's a gamble and an act of faith even in real life.

I'd be curious to see what you thought of "Tomorrow When the War Began" series by John Marsden. Don't read spoilers, though. ;-) Short summary is this: "It is a young adult invasion novel, detailing a high-intensity invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novel is told in first person perspective by the main character, a teenage girl named Ellie Linton, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy garrison in their fictional home town of Wirrawee."

No present tense and they're really gripping and intense YA books. anomilygrace and I got really obsessed with them a few years ago. :-)

Also, discussing books is so much fun. Maybe moreso when you don't agree, because otherwise you're both just like "This was awesome!" "Yes!" :-)

[mellymell]

As always, I love your input here! You're absolutely right about discussing books with someone who doesn't agree completely. It's almost more satisfying, exactly as you said. :)

Peeta was probably what Katniss needed. Like you said, more of a compliment to her and certainly someone who understands what she went through in the arena. But at the same time, I'm just not believing her love for him. She cared for him, certainly. But she seemed to be always trying to settle a score with him. She felt like she owed him for basically saving her from starvation as a child and I'm not sure the feelings born out of that equal the sort of love you need to have for your life partner. If they were going to play it that way in the end, I would have liked to have seen her actually fall in love with him. Not just cut away as she's just trying to get used to him and then jump to 20 years later when they've got kids.

I read a review where someone said they thought she didn't give herself time to wrap up all her loose ends. I think that puts it better than I had been able to. I think they said exactly, "it's like she ran out of pages or chapters in order to wrap up all her loose ends." Which makes me go back to my first impression of the first book where I felt like she soars at writing action but lacks some of the same skill at world building and personal interaction that was needed after the climax. There's too steep of a cliff from Prim's death to the end. (And when I say world building, I mean mostly that third dimension that makes you really feel a place, she does a good job of giving us sensory details to help us see it, but it seems two dimensional to me.)

I will have to check out that series though! I haven't picked up anything new since finishing these, so that would be a good follow up, I bet.