Just in general, if you know a movie's been based off a book, read that book first. Or at least read it at some point. It's driving me crazy that I haven't read Stardust or The Fellowship of the Rings, to name some famous examples, when I've already seen the corresponding movies (several times). I guess I should go back to the library, now that I think about it. But anyways...
The book begins with Katniss and her harsh existence, scraping by with hunting and trading in District 12, located in West Virginia. Ish. Her life is changed by the 74th (I believe) Hunger Games - the annual tournament where each district has to send 2 adolescent tributes to serve as gladiatorial entertainment for the Capital.
Basically the whole book centers on the Games. They're bloody and intense and horrific, yet totally believable. I think the different characters' reactions to this brutal situation are genuinely portrayed - the conflict between wanting to survive and retaining your humanity. That's what really hooked me. And Katniss is pretty darn awesome. She and Archer from Fire make me want to take up archery.
We don't usually expect a sequel to be better than its predecessor (for example, just about every Disney sequel ever created). This one, though. You guys, this is one rockin' sequel. It starts out slow, but then there were SO MANY THINGS that surprised me, shocked me even. I LOVE not being able to guess what's going to happen.
First, though, I never could have imagined the world-wide ramifications of the end of The Hunger Games. It makes total sense though! I won't go into detail, obviously, but the choices the characters have to make and the brutality of the system are so much more important and ever-present.
And then we get to the final book. I'm torn on this one. I love the series as a whole, but there were some elements of Mockingjay that really bugged me. Especially the ending. But I can't talk about that here so...well, I really can't talk about the plot at all because most of the surprising things that happen in Catching Fire are related to the action going down in Mockingjay.
My memories of reading this are kind of vague, I guess overshadowed by the inconsistencies and obviousness I saw. I do want to point out that Suzanne Collins has an incredible voice throughout the series. They're very easy to get lost in, whether it's an action segment or a sentimental segment or something in between.
I have a confession to make, though. I put off reading The Hunger Games just because the series was so popular and I often have low expectations for more "mainstream" books. I don't know why - I end up liking most of them, which was certainly the case for this trilogy. I should have known. After all, I LOVE dystopias. (How ironic - Firefox thinks "dystopias" is misspelled. It wants to correct it with "utopias.")
More Blessed Word Count: 15,817
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