Reread: The Hunger Games Trilogy

I just reread The Hunger Games trilogy so that I could actually read them in quick succession instead of waiting months between books.

I think I read them almost as quickly as I did the first time. Even though I knew the endings, it was still interesting and engaging. And I'm good at forgetting details of books and movies, so I can enjoy my second time around almost as much.

There are some complaints about these books and its main character. Katniss is a bit slow at picking up on the hints and help people try to give her sometimes. Some people also think she's a bit wishy washy when it comes to her two romantic options. But I think it helps to remember that Katniss is only around 16 years old when these books take place. How well would you have done in her situation when you were 16? I prefer not to think of myself at 16, so keeping that in mind, it helps me forgive some of her silliness. Also, if she always picked up on the clues that the readers do and was always certain who the love of her life is, where would half the suspense be?

I liked these books just as much the second time around. And I'm looking forward to seeing how they adapt them to movies. Especially since the main audience is YA and many of the scenes are quite gruesome. It reassures me that it's for a YA audience though, or I don't think I could stomach it in movie form.

Review: Gregor the Overlander

"Courage only counts when you can count."

Since I read the Hunger Games series, I decided to try out Suzanne Collins's first book: Gregor the Overlander. I found it interesting and entertaining enough, even though I am by no means its intended audience. I'm not about to run out and read the second book in the five book series, but I may pick it up another time when I want something entertaining and easy to read.

Like the Hunger Games series, this series is pretty scary and violent for a YA book. In some ways Gregor the Overlander was even scarier to me, probably because of my fear of spiders of any size, let alone enormous ones. I was more freaked out than any ten year old when the huge spiders chased Harry Potter and I spent a couple of years dreading the enormous spider from the Lord of the Rings (because I anticipated it in the second movie, but it didn't arrive until the third one).

One moment in this book seemed to echo one of my favorite YA books, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Compare the two quotes:

“Despair settled like a stone in the pit of Meg’s stomach. She had been so certain that the moment she found her father everything would be alright. Everything would be settled. All the problems would be taken out of her hands. She would no longer be responsible for anything.” - A Wrinkle in Time

"This was the scariest part of all. Gregor had thought he would get a parent back when he found his dad. Then he could stop having to make hard decisions. He could just be a kid." - Gregor the Overlander

Both Meg and Gregor learn a hard lesson early on: your parents can't fix everything, and eventually you have to start making hard decisions for yourself whether your parent is there or not.

Thoughts: Mockingjay

*No spoilers--I wouldn't even call this a review of the book.

Last night I finished reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I am very proud of myself for not neglecting my child or going to bed at a ridiculous time to finish reading it.

I have tons of things to say about the book to someone who's read it, but I don't want to ruin anything for someone who hasn't. So I'll just say I liked it, and I liked the ending. There was the plot twists throughout like the first two books, but this one had closure (thank goodness, being the last book in the series, but that's not always a guarantee).

As I was reading it I was thinking about Suzanne Collins and the kind of pressure she faced as she wrote the book. The Hunger Games series had become so popular that there were millions of fans with their own ideas and expectations for the book. The characters had truly taken on a life of their own.

I didn't read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire until this year, but I still wish I could have read them both again just before reading Mockingjay. It was honestly hard for me to keep track of some of the characters simply because there already were so many and many more are added. I'm sure someone who was more obsessed with the story would have no problem keeping track of them--I don't think it's the fault of the writer or the editors. Just my tired mom-brain that needs help these days. Maybe I just should have kept a character list. At any rate, I will definitely read the three of them back to back at some time--probably before the movie comes out.

Review: Catching Fire

Catching Fire, the follow up to Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games didn't disappoint. It was just as gripping and nail biting as the first, and I can't wait to read the third when it's released in August.

I must admit that I was surprised with the direction the plot took. Surprise in fiction is good, but there were a few parts in the beginning of the book that felt rushed in order for Collins to get to the story she really wanted to tell.

And this might be part of the main character's charm, but I found her to be completely clueless at times. Or in more flattering terms, you might say that she's innocent and unassuming. The hints that other characters were trying to give her were apparent to me, but she was completely blind to them. I'm still not sure if that bugged me or not. I may hold out judgement until book three to see if she learns to be a little more savvy.

Finally, I've heard that The Hunger Games is being made into a movie. Part of me wants to see it because I enjoyed the book, but another part worries that any true rendition would be too bloody and yucky for me. Of course, these books were written for ages 12 and up, so how much could they show in a movie made for that audience?

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

"They do surgery in the Capitol, to make people appear younger and thinner. In District 12, looking old is something of an achievement since so many people die early. You see an elderly person, you want to congratulate them on their longevity, ask the secret of survival. A plump person is envied because they aren't scraping by like the majority of us. But here it is different. Wrinkles aren't desirable. A round belly isn't a sign of success."

I've heard a lot of hype about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, so I thought I'd give it a try. First of all, I'm just relieved to be reading a current YA fiction that's not about vampires. Yes, this book is dark, but it raises interesting questions about survival and humanity. And it puts a whole new twist on reality TV and the short story "The Most Dangerous Game."

It's difficult to to talk about this book without giving something about the plot away--and it's a plot driven book. So I'm just going to say that I enjoyed it. Once it got into the action, I had a hard time putting it down. It is violent and bloody, so keep that in mind before going into it, but it was a level of violence and blood that my sensitive stomach could handle. I'm glad I came late to this book, because the second book is already out so I don't have to wait for it. But I am going to have to wait for the third and final installment, which comes out this fall.