Burned: Reactions to the Hunger Games Trilogy.
I finished reading Hunger Games Trilogy last night. I won't be lying when I say it's a great read, 'cause it is. Of course, there are stuff I didn't like as well.
ROMANCE AND CHARACTERS
I was pleased it isn't all that cheesy romance. I like indirect confessions way better than a blunt - I love you, that makes me cringe in my seat. Peeta's first interview with Claudius was breath-taking -- I had to close the book and take the whole thing in -- smiling and giddy all the while.
I found the characters real. Katniss, at first, she was a real fighter, you'd think she'd gone through the worse. And you'd think Collins would make her the invincible girl, the victor who would get through everything alive with her head held high... until you get to the third book that is. I swear the third book was devastating for me -- I guess it came with the fact that I've seen someone I love have depression -- mild, that is. And since I'm a very imaginative girl, and I always try to put myself in the book, trying to figure out how each character would've felt at that time. That mild depression which I saw last year, I multiplied nth times. I really found it hard to read, and I kept silent for a few days. >.< But I tried to read that third book as fast as I can, so I could get over the depression.
BACK TO THE POINT: Katniss' breakdowns just prove how human she is -- and I appreciate that really. The fact that she didn't end up the heroine of the war at all. She was unconscious when the battle was won.
Peeta, seems less human to me. O.o How could a guy just put himself through all that. Seeing him hijacked and shouting at Katniss actually made me happy -- at least it showed -- how hurt he was.
"I must have loved you a lot." <-- find this line. and that conversation in Mockingjay. It's when I really feel all the suffering he's been holding inside, of nights trying to comfort Katniss not really knowing if he would get any comfort from her, kissing her in the games, unsure if it was right to be loving it, when Katniss couldn't have wanted to be kissing him at all. And I might tear up so I'll stop talking about Peeta's angst.
Then there's Gale. He's human as well. He did admit to getting angry with Katniss when he would see her kiss Peeta on screen, and the fact that he kissed her that Sunday after she got back from the games. He's a broken little soul on his own. Katniss has after all, been within his reach for all those years. But he realized too late, and acted too late. And then there's Katniss kissing him just after he got whipped. Giving him.. hope. And then having to see her worry about Peeta, put the rebellion on the line just to save Peeta -- which was outside the games already, and he knew it wasn't pretend anymore.
It's Prim who's humanness I'm doubting -- she seemed so good in keeping herself together. Awesome girl she is.
Romance is not cheesy. SHOW Don't tell. Katniss has long shown the readers who she needed.. loved long before she realized it herself. Those nights with the pearl, I just couldn't help but be happy for Peeta. (You would've realized he's my favorite character by now.) She did long for his kisses after all.
POV and the role it played in making the themes of poverty, war, and injustice uphold.
Katniss' POV is very limited. I found it real good, there had to be a lot of skips though, and a lot of depressing and torturous thoughts (esp. in Mockingjay) but it just made the whole book more realistic. And I guess it serves as a better view of the devastating effects of war -- which is a field that Collins, according to google works on. Wise choice there. Sure struck me. I wasn't kidding when I said I felt devastated. O.o
The POV put the reader's in the position of the victim, the teenager who authorities used, a piece of their games. It showed how confused she was, how she didn't know who to trust. This was in the last book.
The first two books would be on poverty and injustice. The scene where people in the Capitol would deliberately puke in parties just so that they could taste a little of everything, and Katniss comparing that to the people back in her district who even had to break the law just to get meager food for the night. This is the only scene that I will never forget of the whole trilogy.
And it's one more reason why I like this trilogy. It's well rounded, there's romance, and there are other elements as well.
ENDING.
I was worried about the ending really. The whole thing seemed all wrong, and there were just a few pages left -- how is this going to end. =)) I was actually thinking that Katniss would go through it -- but like already stated she was unconscious for the crucial parts of the rebellion.
That was one worry, second was: WHO WAS GONNA DIE? It would be unacceptable if no main character died, being as the plot's been realistic all throughout. Someone has to die.
I thought of Gale and Peeta, but if I were the author, killing any one of them would be no good. >.< How would Katniss ever choose? And I don't think either boy could bear being chosen over the other because they died. Well, that was IF, so I still worried, cause I'm not the author, Suzanne Collins is.
Then I think of Katniss dying, the whole plot seemed to be getting there. But if she died during the battle who would tell the story? I rule her out, she's very, very safe. =))
I didn't see Prim coming though. I never thought of her, until she ran into the scene. (Proves how effective the POV is.. OMG. I'm amazed. *A*) But if you think about it, killing Prim makes sense. She was holding promise, Katniss was certain she had a life after the war. She was going to be a doctor. And this death did hurt Katniss, hurt her more than if Peeta/Gale would've died, I bet. After all, Prim was the very person she was trying to protect when she volunteered to be tribute in the first book, it was her promise to Prim that kept her going during the games. She was the match that lit Katniss -- and the fire, well... it burned the match as well.
But the best thing about the ending.
I tell him, "Real."
They were still playing the game. The effects of that war have not subdued, probably never.
It's not a happy ending, it's a real ending.
ROMANCE AND CHARACTERS
I was pleased it isn't all that cheesy romance. I like indirect confessions way better than a blunt - I love you, that makes me cringe in my seat. Peeta's first interview with Claudius was breath-taking -- I had to close the book and take the whole thing in -- smiling and giddy all the while.
I found the characters real. Katniss, at first, she was a real fighter, you'd think she'd gone through the worse. And you'd think Collins would make her the invincible girl, the victor who would get through everything alive with her head held high... until you get to the third book that is. I swear the third book was devastating for me -- I guess it came with the fact that I've seen someone I love have depression -- mild, that is. And since I'm a very imaginative girl, and I always try to put myself in the book, trying to figure out how each character would've felt at that time. That mild depression which I saw last year, I multiplied nth times. I really found it hard to read, and I kept silent for a few days. >.< But I tried to read that third book as fast as I can, so I could get over the depression.
BACK TO THE POINT: Katniss' breakdowns just prove how human she is -- and I appreciate that really. The fact that she didn't end up the heroine of the war at all. She was unconscious when the battle was won.
Peeta, seems less human to me. O.o How could a guy just put himself through all that. Seeing him hijacked and shouting at Katniss actually made me happy -- at least it showed -- how hurt he was.
"I must have loved you a lot." <-- find this line. and that conversation in Mockingjay. It's when I really feel all the suffering he's been holding inside, of nights trying to comfort Katniss not really knowing if he would get any comfort from her, kissing her in the games, unsure if it was right to be loving it, when Katniss couldn't have wanted to be kissing him at all. And I might tear up so I'll stop talking about Peeta's angst.
Then there's Gale. He's human as well. He did admit to getting angry with Katniss when he would see her kiss Peeta on screen, and the fact that he kissed her that Sunday after she got back from the games. He's a broken little soul on his own. Katniss has after all, been within his reach for all those years. But he realized too late, and acted too late. And then there's Katniss kissing him just after he got whipped. Giving him.. hope. And then having to see her worry about Peeta, put the rebellion on the line just to save Peeta -- which was outside the games already, and he knew it wasn't pretend anymore.
It's Prim who's humanness I'm doubting -- she seemed so good in keeping herself together. Awesome girl she is.
Romance is not cheesy. SHOW Don't tell. Katniss has long shown the readers who she needed.. loved long before she realized it herself. Those nights with the pearl, I just couldn't help but be happy for Peeta. (You would've realized he's my favorite character by now.) She did long for his kisses after all.
POV and the role it played in making the themes of poverty, war, and injustice uphold.
Katniss' POV is very limited. I found it real good, there had to be a lot of skips though, and a lot of depressing and torturous thoughts (esp. in Mockingjay) but it just made the whole book more realistic. And I guess it serves as a better view of the devastating effects of war -- which is a field that Collins, according to google works on. Wise choice there. Sure struck me. I wasn't kidding when I said I felt devastated. O.o
The POV put the reader's in the position of the victim, the teenager who authorities used, a piece of their games. It showed how confused she was, how she didn't know who to trust. This was in the last book.
The first two books would be on poverty and injustice. The scene where people in the Capitol would deliberately puke in parties just so that they could taste a little of everything, and Katniss comparing that to the people back in her district who even had to break the law just to get meager food for the night. This is the only scene that I will never forget of the whole trilogy.
And it's one more reason why I like this trilogy. It's well rounded, there's romance, and there are other elements as well.
ENDING.
I was worried about the ending really. The whole thing seemed all wrong, and there were just a few pages left -- how is this going to end. =)) I was actually thinking that Katniss would go through it -- but like already stated she was unconscious for the crucial parts of the rebellion.
That was one worry, second was: WHO WAS GONNA DIE? It would be unacceptable if no main character died, being as the plot's been realistic all throughout. Someone has to die.
I thought of Gale and Peeta, but if I were the author, killing any one of them would be no good. >.< How would Katniss ever choose? And I don't think either boy could bear being chosen over the other because they died. Well, that was IF, so I still worried, cause I'm not the author, Suzanne Collins is.
Then I think of Katniss dying, the whole plot seemed to be getting there. But if she died during the battle who would tell the story? I rule her out, she's very, very safe. =))
I didn't see Prim coming though. I never thought of her, until she ran into the scene. (Proves how effective the POV is.. OMG. I'm amazed. *A*) But if you think about it, killing Prim makes sense. She was holding promise, Katniss was certain she had a life after the war. She was going to be a doctor. And this death did hurt Katniss, hurt her more than if Peeta/Gale would've died, I bet. After all, Prim was the very person she was trying to protect when she volunteered to be tribute in the first book, it was her promise to Prim that kept her going during the games. She was the match that lit Katniss -- and the fire, well... it burned the match as well.
But the best thing about the ending.
I tell him, "Real."
They were still playing the game. The effects of that war have not subdued, probably never.
It's not a happy ending, it's a real ending.