I read it in one day. It was REALLY hard to put down, and I thought the story line, etc. were good. But the end seemed to wrap up way too fast and I was left wanting more information about lots of things.
So overall good, but the ending needed way more work. First book was definitely the best.
First of all, I think I went insane for a few hours after I finished this book. After all, half the characters are insane. It got to me after a while. And I didn't want them to feel left out.
Finnick dies? Really? Right after he finally marries Annie? REALLY!?!?!?
It totally bugs me that Katniss gives up on Peeta so easily. She was still sorting out her feelings (took her long enough, hmmmm?) and half insane herself, I know. But c'mon. Help a guy out, wouldja?
She really is a piece of work.
I'm soooo glad she didn't end up with Gale. Not really a Gale fan, myself.
I wanted MORE of Peeta coming back to himself, and more of them falling back in love. A stinking ONE page was completely insufficient.
I'm disappointed in Haymitch. Does he really have to end life a drunk?
Why did EFFIE come back? And not Cinna? Or Finnick? Or Boggs? Or the countless other characters that I loved infinitely more than Effie?
I still can't believe she killed Prim.
I LOVE that she killed Coin. Totally awesome. And unexpected.
President Snow freaks me out.
I really wish Katniss and Peeta didn't go insane. Was that necessary? It's just so depressing. Even if they turned out okay at the end ... depressing ....
I'm disappointed that Katniss' mom didn't pull through at the end. I was waiting for some fantastic redeeming thing at the end.
I really just want to hug Peeta. Forever.
Um - gruesome much? Any movie they make out of this would be X. Melting skin? Decapitating mutts? Disgusting torture? I think I'm scarred.
Yeah. I was shocked that they totally dismissed Gale with 2 sentences. Obviously me and everyone else wanted her to end up with Peeta, but STILL. 2 sentences and she writes him off?
And yeah, I wanted WAY more of a love story that just one paragraph on the last page of the book. What's up with that??
I was shocked when Finnick died. I had to read it twice to make sure I had read it right. And poor little Prim.
Yeah I have no idea how they would make a movie outta this...
First off, the book was BRUTAL. So, so violent. I'm not sure it needed to be quite so violent to get the point across.
I wish, and it seems other people agree, that more time would have been given to the Katniss-Peeta relationship. I understand that this is not a romance novel, but c'mon. Throw us a friggin' bone.
Finnick - just sad.
As for Prim, I guess I'm a hard-hearted beast. For me, Collins never developed her character enough that I was sad/shocked/angry when she died. And after all the other killings and death, it felt like, oh hey, another one bites the dust.
My favorite part, other that the last two lines of the last chapter (not the epilogue) was this line: "Well, don't expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear." Hee, hee!!
I thing this is my least favorite of the trilogy. I'll have to re-read it to solidify my opinion.
I just finished last night so my opinion is subject to change as I mull it over.
First impressions: I liked it. However, Katniss spent WAY too much time sitting around feeling sorry for herself and Peeta. I don't understand why she didn't demand they rescue him sooner. Also, she spent all that time rubbing the pearl to her lips and thinking about him but then when he is finally rescued she is mad at him and basically abandons him instead of finding out what she can do to help him. I felt this was out of character. But I also can see how she was somewhat insane and so you can't expect her to be IN character either.
What I felt like was very much in character was her blindness to Coin's manipulation. She was told repeatedly not to trust anyone and yet she didn't see how bad Coin was until Coin suggested another Hunger Games. She should have killed her right then. And she should have seen, by Peeta's reaction, that Peeta was going to be alright. I felt that Katniss should have and could have seized more power earlier in the book if she hadn't sat around feeling sorry for herself so stinking much. She could have saved Prim and Finnick - also read that twice because I couldn't believe it! - if she would have just gotten off her bum and taken control (with help of course.)
As for the ending, it did feel incomplete to a certain extent. All that time with Gale as her best friend and now he's not even part of her life? What? But, on the other hand, I felt it was a good illustration of what happens after war. After the destruction and violence and soul ripping things, what do you do? Going on as normal isn't a possibility so you create a new normal, slowly. One bit at a time. It was meant to be an epilogue, a glimpse into the future, not a full story. The book itself ended with the last chapter.
Was it perfect? No. But are we ever truly satisfied when a good book ends? I know I never want to bid goodbye to my favorite characters. I'm sure I'll be re-reading this one soon just so I can absorb more without feeling pressed to get through and find out what happens.
Those are my thoughts so far...sorry to ramble on!
I just finished an hour ago so my head is still spinning. I really don't know what to think other than that it way too violent. Then again, I guess that really helps to paint the picture that no one wins in a war. I do think the author didn't give the reader any outs. And when Katniss shot Coin, I gasped, "Whoa!" which says something about a book. And there should have been more about Peeta coming back to himself. But I'm still processing . . .
I didn't read the comments yet because I pre-ordered mine from Amazon. Do I have it? NO. Who has it? Plainly on the shelves? Ready for my consumption? WALMART. I'll be back.
So much I didn't expect. I read it fast and loved it. That said, I can totally get the unsatisfied feeling a lot of people have. I didn't go in with much of an expectation--I was waiting to the thrown loop after loop (which I was), so I didn't feel let so much. (Although Finnick? Aw, man.)
I was surprised at the gore level. The other books kept the deaths and violence at a distance, but here we had it up close--to the point of Kat actually landing in a puddle of blood, as well as the melting bodies and the mutts and everything else.
I think the whole Tigris/Central section was just off-the-wall. Having them go in disguise with wigs and makeup . . . didn't see that coming.
only on chapter 3... i'm finding it very, uhm.... hard to get into. i guess maybe i was so enthralled with 1 &2, but i'm just not feeling it yet??? and to Susie J... even though i preordered mine ages ago, it came only yesterday :( good luck.
I'm so glad that I pre-ordered on Amazon. Really Truly. And I really enjoyed it. And I'm glad she ended up with Peeta. I really appreciate Katniss's character, it's very raw. She's not perfectly good or bad, she just is trying to survive. My heart about broke when Coin proposed the Hunger games for the Capital kids. But then all was (somewhat) well when she took care of that. The gore level was pretty high, so... probably won't go see that movie unless they tone it down a lot. Overall, I think Suzanne Collins did a great job.
I enjoyed it and I took my time reading it because I have identified with Katniss on some strange level and I'm not sure why.
When they got Peeta back and he tried to strangle her I had to put the book down and walk away from it for a while.
I was so very sad about Finnick.
I actually figured out that Coin was going down early on in the book but I wasn't sure how.
And, as has been mentioned before, the brutality was hard to take.
I too wish that she would have focused more on Peeta falling back in love with Kat but I can't see that happening in the middle of all of that horror. Especially when he was dealing with psychological torture and trying to over come that. Can you say PTSD anyone?? And not only for Peeta but for Kat as well. So I can see why she couldn't do that. I think it would have made the book less realistic. Unless, like Annette said, she added about 100 more pages at the end.
Prim's death was hard. So very hard.
And I will never look at another dandelion the same way again.
Coin: DUH she was evil. I knew that from the beginning. As Lauren over at Busy Bee says, Anyone with hair that looks like a wig can't be trusted. ;o)
But seriously. I never got a good vibe from her. And when Gale started gettin' all friendly and agreeing-y with her, he started going down in my books too. But Katniss shooting her right at the end? Never expected that one.
Gale: I think he was spot on with Katniss. He knew her way better than she knew herself. I was sad that he wasn't involved in her life afterward, but ... not surprised. She couldn't have handled it.
Tigris: I'm with you, Annette. She eats only raw meat? She has a tail? Completely incongruous with the story. Just random, random, random WEIRD.
Prim: I didn't mourn HER so much as I mourned Katniss mourning her. Prim was a pretty flat character, and I wasn't emotionally tied to her. But she was Katniss' whole life. Sad.
Boggs: Why is Boggs not mentioned more?! Love that guy. HATE that he died. (Read that several times before I got it through my head that he was gone.) And seriously? Becky? His quote about Finnick in his underwear was GENIUS.
The violence: Truly, if the first book had been this gory, I wouldn't have finished it. But because this was #3 (and I just HAD to know who Katniss ended up with ...) I muddled through it with raised eyebrows.
I honestly wonder if Suzanne Collins has issues. Who thinks up that kind of stuff?!
Finally, I'm all for petitioning Collins to write that final 100 pages that everyone is begging for. An expansion upon the epilogue, if you will. I closed the book simply hungry for more. (Apt, considering it's the Hunger Games?)
I super duper dooopedy doo loved the book. My very favorite part of all 3 books is that Suzanne Collins doesn't glamourize everything.
Clearly Katniss is emotionally constipated throughout - but I can kind of see why. She was really young. She has only seen death and poverty. (Super glad she didn't end up with Gale though.) I like how her and Peeta's relationship ended up. I didn't mind not having the detail, but I'm not romantic, so....yeah.
Mostly I like that all of the books show that death and poverity and hunger and their kind of society hurts people. Lots of people. And that people die. And that people go crazy. And that no matter how strong a character is, if they go through crap like that, it changes them in horrible ways. Also I like how waht's his face (good memory) said at the end that "people are happy for now, but you never know when someone decides there should be a change and war breaks out again" (not his actual words, but whatever). It's just true. And sad. And that's why I loved the books because it's so much more real, and gives you more things to think about than most of the other stuff being published in this genre.
I'm no literary genius or any kind of slight critic (heck, I haven't even read many books), but I really liked it. One of the best series I've ever read. Plus, compared to many other books that leave me wanting, this one left we wanting LESS. I mean, at least it was a happy ending! I'm just glad the rebels won. If the Capitol had won I think I would have started my own rebellion.
Ditto all the comments on Prim, Finnick, and Coin.
Spoilers encouraged! Read at your own caution!
21 comments:
I loved it, but I was left HUGELY unsatisfied.
I read it in one day. It was REALLY hard to put down, and I thought the story line, etc. were good. But the end seemed to wrap up way too fast and I was left wanting more information about lots of things.
So overall good, but the ending needed way more work. First book was definitely the best.
KAY.
First of all, I think I went insane for a few hours after I finished this book. After all, half the characters are insane. It got to me after a while. And I didn't want them to feel left out.
Finnick dies? Really? Right after he finally marries Annie? REALLY!?!?!?
It totally bugs me that Katniss gives up on Peeta so easily. She was still sorting out her feelings (took her long enough, hmmmm?) and half insane herself, I know. But c'mon. Help a guy out, wouldja?
She really is a piece of work.
I'm soooo glad she didn't end up with Gale. Not really a Gale fan, myself.
I wanted MORE of Peeta coming back to himself, and more of them falling back in love. A stinking ONE page was completely insufficient.
I'm disappointed in Haymitch. Does he really have to end life a drunk?
Why did EFFIE come back? And not Cinna? Or Finnick? Or Boggs? Or the countless other characters that I loved infinitely more than Effie?
I still can't believe she killed Prim.
I LOVE that she killed Coin. Totally awesome. And unexpected.
President Snow freaks me out.
I really wish Katniss and Peeta didn't go insane. Was that necessary? It's just so depressing. Even if they turned out okay at the end ... depressing ....
I'm disappointed that Katniss' mom didn't pull through at the end. I was waiting for some fantastic redeeming thing at the end.
I really just want to hug Peeta. Forever.
Um - gruesome much? Any movie they make out of this would be X. Melting skin? Decapitating mutts? Disgusting torture? I think I'm scarred.
And yet ......
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!
Yeah. I was shocked that they totally dismissed Gale with 2 sentences. Obviously me and everyone else wanted her to end up with Peeta, but STILL. 2 sentences and she writes him off?
And yeah, I wanted WAY more of a love story that just one paragraph on the last page of the book. What's up with that??
I was shocked when Finnick died. I had to read it twice to make sure I had read it right. And poor little Prim.
Yeah I have no idea how they would make a movie outta this...
But yeah, I did love the series SO MUCH.
She tried to wrap the book up too quickly-- when in reality she needed about 100 more pages. I needed more of Peeta finally remembering Kat.
Then, who the heck IS Coin? If she was so willing to have a "final Hunger Games" then would she really have been that much better than Snow?
{had to comment again so I could subscribe}
I'm still trying to decide what I thought.
First off, the book was BRUTAL. So, so violent. I'm not sure it needed to be quite so violent to get the point across.
I wish, and it seems other people agree, that more time would have been given to the Katniss-Peeta relationship. I understand that this is not a romance novel, but c'mon. Throw us a friggin' bone.
Finnick - just sad.
As for Prim, I guess I'm a hard-hearted beast. For me, Collins never developed her character enough that I was sad/shocked/angry when she died. And after all the other killings and death, it felt like, oh hey, another one bites the dust.
My favorite part, other that the last two lines of the last chapter (not the epilogue) was this line: "Well, don't expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear." Hee, hee!!
I thing this is my least favorite of the trilogy. I'll have to re-read it to solidify my opinion.
I just finished last night so my opinion is subject to change as I mull it over.
First impressions: I liked it. However, Katniss spent WAY too much time sitting around feeling sorry for herself and Peeta. I don't understand why she didn't demand they rescue him sooner. Also, she spent all that time rubbing the pearl to her lips and thinking about him but then when he is finally rescued she is mad at him and basically abandons him instead of finding out what she can do to help him. I felt this was out of character. But I also can see how she was somewhat insane and so you can't expect her to be IN character either.
What I felt like was very much in character was her blindness to Coin's manipulation. She was told repeatedly not to trust anyone and yet she didn't see how bad Coin was until Coin suggested another Hunger Games. She should have killed her right then. And she should have seen, by Peeta's reaction, that Peeta was going to be alright. I felt that Katniss should have and could have seized more power earlier in the book if she hadn't sat around feeling sorry for herself so stinking much. She could have saved Prim and Finnick - also read that twice because I couldn't believe it! - if she would have just gotten off her bum and taken control (with help of course.)
As for the ending, it did feel incomplete to a certain extent. All that time with Gale as her best friend and now he's not even part of her life? What? But, on the other hand, I felt it was a good illustration of what happens after war. After the destruction and violence and soul ripping things, what do you do? Going on as normal isn't a possibility so you create a new normal, slowly. One bit at a time. It was meant to be an epilogue, a glimpse into the future, not a full story. The book itself ended with the last chapter.
Was it perfect? No. But are we ever truly satisfied when a good book ends? I know I never want to bid goodbye to my favorite characters. I'm sure I'll be re-reading this one soon just so I can absorb more without feeling pressed to get through and find out what happens.
Those are my thoughts so far...sorry to ramble on!
I just finished an hour ago so my head is still spinning. I really don't know what to think other than that it way too violent. Then again, I guess that really helps to paint the picture that no one wins in a war. I do think the author didn't give the reader any outs. And when Katniss shot Coin, I gasped, "Whoa!" which says something about a book. And there should have been more about Peeta coming back to himself. But I'm still processing . . .
I didn't read the comments yet because I pre-ordered mine from Amazon. Do I have it? NO. Who has it? Plainly on the shelves? Ready for my consumption? WALMART. I'll be back.
So much I didn't expect. I read it fast and loved it. That said, I can totally get the unsatisfied feeling a lot of people have. I didn't go in with much of an expectation--I was waiting to the thrown loop after loop (which I was), so I didn't feel let so much. (Although Finnick? Aw, man.)
I was surprised at the gore level. The other books kept the deaths and violence at a distance, but here we had it up close--to the point of Kat actually landing in a puddle of blood, as well as the melting bodies and the mutts and everything else.
I think the whole Tigris/Central section was just off-the-wall. Having them go in disguise with wigs and makeup . . . didn't see that coming.
Pulling a Motherboard . . . another comment because I forgot to subscribe!
posting with my eyes closed... I'm anxiously checking my mailbox Every. Single. Day. waiting for this book to arrive.
That is all... for now.
only on chapter 3... i'm finding it very, uhm.... hard to get into. i guess maybe i was so enthralled with 1 &2, but i'm just not feeling it yet??? and to Susie J... even though i preordered mine ages ago, it came only yesterday :(
good luck.
I'm so glad that I pre-ordered on Amazon. Really Truly. And I really enjoyed it. And I'm glad she ended up with Peeta.
I really appreciate Katniss's character, it's very raw. She's not perfectly good or bad, she just is trying to survive.
My heart about broke when Coin proposed the Hunger games for the Capital kids. But then all was (somewhat) well when she took care of that.
The gore level was pretty high, so... probably won't go see that movie unless they tone it down a lot.
Overall, I think Suzanne Collins did a great job.
I enjoyed it and I took my time reading it because I have identified with Katniss on some strange level and I'm not sure why.
When they got Peeta back and he tried to strangle her I had to put the book down and walk away from it for a while.
I was so very sad about Finnick.
I actually figured out that Coin was going down early on in the book but I wasn't sure how.
And, as has been mentioned before, the brutality was hard to take.
I too wish that she would have focused more on Peeta falling back in love with Kat but I can't see that happening in the middle of all of that horror. Especially when he was dealing with psychological torture and trying to over come that. Can you say PTSD anyone?? And not only for Peeta but for Kat as well. So I can see why she couldn't do that. I think it would have made the book less realistic. Unless, like Annette said, she added about 100 more pages at the end.
Prim's death was hard. So very hard.
And I will never look at another dandelion the same way again.
Okay, responses -
Coin: DUH she was evil. I knew that from the beginning. As Lauren over at Busy Bee says, Anyone with hair that looks like a wig can't be trusted. ;o)
But seriously. I never got a good vibe from her. And when Gale started gettin' all friendly and agreeing-y with her, he started going down in my books too. But Katniss shooting her right at the end? Never expected that one.
Gale: I think he was spot on with Katniss. He knew her way better than she knew herself. I was sad that he wasn't involved in her life afterward, but ... not surprised. She couldn't have handled it.
Tigris: I'm with you, Annette. She eats only raw meat? She has a tail? Completely incongruous with the story. Just random, random, random WEIRD.
Prim: I didn't mourn HER so much as I mourned Katniss mourning her. Prim was a pretty flat character, and I wasn't emotionally tied to her. But she was Katniss' whole life. Sad.
Boggs: Why is Boggs not mentioned more?! Love that guy. HATE that he died. (Read that several times before I got it through my head that he was gone.) And seriously? Becky? His quote about Finnick in his underwear was GENIUS.
The violence: Truly, if the first book had been this gory, I wouldn't have finished it. But because this was #3 (and I just HAD to know who Katniss ended up with ...) I muddled through it with raised eyebrows.
I honestly wonder if Suzanne Collins has issues. Who thinks up that kind of stuff?!
Finally, I'm all for petitioning Collins to write that final 100 pages that everyone is begging for. An expansion upon the epilogue, if you will. I closed the book simply hungry for more. (Apt, considering it's the Hunger Games?)
I keep thinking "it's not really that gory." I probably need to read it again to see if I just went too fast or something!
Me too, Sarah. Me too.
I super duper dooopedy doo loved the book. My very favorite part of all 3 books is that Suzanne Collins doesn't glamourize everything.
Clearly Katniss is emotionally constipated throughout - but I can kind of see why. She was really young. She has only seen death and poverty. (Super glad she didn't end up with Gale though.) I like how her and Peeta's relationship ended up. I didn't mind not having the detail, but I'm not romantic, so....yeah.
Mostly I like that all of the books show that death and poverity and hunger and their kind of society hurts people. Lots of people. And that people die. And that people go crazy. And that no matter how strong a character is, if they go through crap like that, it changes them in horrible ways. Also I like how waht's his face (good memory) said at the end that "people are happy for now, but you never know when someone decides there should be a change and war breaks out again" (not his actual words, but whatever). It's just true. And sad. And that's why I loved the books because it's so much more real, and gives you more things to think about than most of the other stuff being published in this genre.
(Wow, I'm long-winded.)
I'm no literary genius or any kind of slight critic (heck, I haven't even read many books), but I really liked it. One of the best series I've ever read. Plus, compared to many other books that leave me wanting, this one left we wanting LESS. I mean, at least it was a happy ending! I'm just glad the rebels won. If the Capitol had won I think I would have started my own rebellion.
Ditto all the comments on Prim, Finnick, and Coin.
I think what made me maddest was that Finnick and everyone else died to get Katniss to Snow's house, and then it was all for nothing!
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