Hunger Games
I finished the series.
I'm not sure how to feel aside from incredibly disappointed that the people least deserving of death got killed, vindicated that the people who most needed to die also got killed, and a little disgusted at how forced the whole romance was (even though I feel she ended up with who she was meant to). The deaths of the side characters were really poignant and really drove the emotions of the story where the emotions of the main character couldn't.
I liked the books but I'd have liked them better if I'd felt anything at all for the lead character. Mostly I just wanted to slap her for being so dense. She was a good action-girl, I guess, but I don't feel like raving about her the way I've seen other internet folks do. I'd probably liked her a lot better if I were watching her in a movie instead of reading her story in the books, but my problem would remain the same: I was more interested in all the characters but her, including the villain and barely there tertiary characters (like Madge, who I weep for. And Prim, who I also weep for. And Buttercup! Damn cat).
I think the best part is when I had the thought that the author was giving a nod to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, but I do think I was giving Collins a little too much credit for intertextuality.
I'd be in love with these books if I were still a teenager. I'll admit I couldn't really put the books down once I'd started, there are only a handful of books that have kept me so thoroughly glued to the pages. They were good. But they haven't jumped to the top of my favorites list. I've got a fistful of female leads I like over Katniss Everdeen, but she was pretty cool except for being emotionally stunted. I like her a hell of a lot better than Bella Swan anyway.
In other news I'm moving on to Piratica by Tanith Lee. I don't know anything about this book except that I wish I had a Halloween costume of the outfit displayed in the cover art. I'm saving Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight for my flight next week.
I'm not sure how to feel aside from incredibly disappointed that the people least deserving of death got killed, vindicated that the people who most needed to die also got killed, and a little disgusted at how forced the whole romance was (even though I feel she ended up with who she was meant to). The deaths of the side characters were really poignant and really drove the emotions of the story where the emotions of the main character couldn't.
I liked the books but I'd have liked them better if I'd felt anything at all for the lead character. Mostly I just wanted to slap her for being so dense. She was a good action-girl, I guess, but I don't feel like raving about her the way I've seen other internet folks do. I'd probably liked her a lot better if I were watching her in a movie instead of reading her story in the books, but my problem would remain the same: I was more interested in all the characters but her, including the villain and barely there tertiary characters (like Madge, who I weep for. And Prim, who I also weep for. And Buttercup! Damn cat).
I think the best part is when I had the thought that the author was giving a nod to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, but I do think I was giving Collins a little too much credit for intertextuality.
I'd be in love with these books if I were still a teenager. I'll admit I couldn't really put the books down once I'd started, there are only a handful of books that have kept me so thoroughly glued to the pages. They were good. But they haven't jumped to the top of my favorites list. I've got a fistful of female leads I like over Katniss Everdeen, but she was pretty cool except for being emotionally stunted. I like her a hell of a lot better than Bella Swan anyway.
In other news I'm moving on to Piratica by Tanith Lee. I don't know anything about this book except that I wish I had a Halloween costume of the outfit displayed in the cover art. I'm saving Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight for my flight next week.