Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

I'm not sure how I feel about doing a full review for this book. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hunger Games series! You can see how positive my response to the books were by reading my reviews for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I thought those 2 books were totally awesome, and I was sure that the final book promised to be epic and a satisfying end to the trilogy.

Sadly, my feelings pretty much match those of my friend Graham, whose review can be seen here. I think he says it better than I could. Well, he's already said it, anyway.

I didn't hate this book, but I didn't really love it either. I was sad that the main character, Katniss, had to endure so much physical pain, get addicted to the drug morphling, have her boyfriend Peeta go insane and brainwashed to kill her, and see all her friends die around her (even a member of her family!). I don't blame her for being so suicidal near the end.

Because of all this sadness, I was pretty confused how in the epilogue, Suzanne Collins managed to create a semi-happy ending, where the Districts don't do Hunger Games anymore but just try to rebuild their lives, and Katniss and Peeta get married and have 2 kids. It was just really weird, you know? It's obviously meant to be a bitter-sweet ending, but I don't know why after all the awful stuff, she even attempted to make it happy.

But like I said, the book isn't all that bad. I liked some aspects of it. The writing was really good, and I liked how Suzanne built the world of District 13. Interesting how that's like a big melting pot for all the rebels of the districts, and even some people from the Capitol are there. The character of President Coin, leader of District 13, is quite a piece of work. Like Katniss, I was really suspicious of her (you should be too).

And besides, this book has some cool memories attached to it. I actually bought this novel from the bookstore (a rarity for me, since I'm more of a library girl) so that I could get to meet Suzanne Collins herself! She couldn't really sign her books, because she had some condition with her hand, but she stamped this special Mockingjay mark in the front of each person's copy.

I was the 71st person in line to meet her. I know, because they handed out these tickets to people in the order that they arrived. There must've been over a hundred and fifty people in the room by the time Suzanne arrived, so I guess I was lucky. See how happy I am, holding up her book? My brother Adam is the one who took the picture. For some reason, only he and I were able to make it to this special event. My parents and sister were working at our apartment in Boston. It was our last day there, so I guess it was pretty hectic. O,o

In the fliers for the event, it said the author couldn't exactly pose with every single fan, but pictures seemed to be allowed. So my brother snuck this one in. Sorry for the blurriness. Anyway, it's proof that I got to meet Suzanne Collins. ^_^

She seems like such a sweet person. You almost wouldn't think that she is the individual responsible for creating such a dystopian universe for her characters to live in, not to mention making most of said characters suffer so horribly. I mean, she writes so well that she makes me believe that these are actual people, and then she just kills them off one by one (since there's no way around it in the Hunger Games). It's as if she's a murderer, although I'm pretty sure that she's not in real life. It's just... weird. O,o I guess that's how it goes for all authors who kill their characters at one point or another. How do they sleep it night, I wonder?

Oh by the way, at the event they had this table that suggested what other books readers might enjoy if they like the Hunger Games trilogy, so I took a panorama picture in order to get the entire table. Do you see that green book in the very middle? ^_^ Yes, it's the Maze Runner! I thought it was so nice of Suzanne Collins to help promote James Dashner's book like that. I'm very excited for the next book in that series, the Scorch Trials, to come out in October.

So yeah, it seems like I was able to give a pretty full review here after all. Didn't know I had it in me. ^_^ Until next time. *Bettina out.*

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

What can I say? Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, was just as good as, perhaps even better than, it's predecessor. You just fly through the pages, because it has the same high level of urgency and danger. It's interesting, because I reviewed the Hunger Games way back in February, so it was a little bit hard to remember all the characters, but I think I got by alright.

By now, everyone should know that Katniss survived the Hunger Games, because she's the main character, and there wouldn't be a sequel if she'd lost. However, she also managed to pull Peeta out alive, even though there's only supposed to be one winner in a Hunger Games. Hey, love conquers all, right? So now the two of them are in the lap of luxury. They and their families don't have to starve anymore, because they enough food and money to last the rest of their lives.

That doesn't mean that Katniss and Peeta's troubles are over. Far from it. They have to go on this Victory Tour around the country to celebrate their winning the Games (and rub it in the other Districts' faces, I think), and still pretend they're in love. Well, Peeta is for real, but Katniss is on the fence. At the same time, there's some kind of rebellion stirring up among the 12 Districts. If Katniss and Peeta can defy the Capitol by coming out both winners when it's always been one, couldn't anything happen? Well, I couldn't tell much about the rebellion, maybe they'll discuss it more in book 3. ^_^ Yes, there's got to be a book 3, because the ending to this one was so open-ended! I'll tell you why.

Now the Hunger Games isn't just going to disappear from Katniss and Peeta's lives, because now they get to be mentors for the following Hunger Games. Remember, this thing happens every... single... year! No excuses. It's been that way for 75 years. And every 25 years they have a special version of the Hunger Games, called Quarter Quells. This year, the new rules of the Hunger Games is that instead of having fresh blood in the arena, the competitors are the people who have won the Hunger Games before. Now quickly, do the math! District 12 only has 3 victors who are still alive. Katniss, Peeta, and their drunk friend Haymitch, who was their mentor in the previous book. Now out of those 3, who is the only female in the group, and therefore will HAVE to compete in a game she thought she'd never have to do again, especially not in the following year?!!! That's right, Katniss is back. Man, you should read the scene where she finds out she has to do the whole thing again. She almost cracks! ~,~

My favorite part was when they and the other people were in the arena, which was very different from the one in the original book. It was weird, because to me it kind of felt like the Games were much too short. In the story it only takes a couple days, but the chapters covering it took a very short time to read, I felt. I won't tell you much else about the Games, except that Katniss and Peeta make a lot more alliances than they did in their first Hunger Games.

I really, really, really liked this book! Even when it had been ages since I read the last book, Suzanne Collins had made her characters memorable enough for me to remember them fondly when they were introduced in this installment. And then she manages to stuff a few more cool characters into my head, but I think I'll be able to remember them all when I read the next sequel. You know, I'm noticing more and more how cool it is when an author decides to write in the present tense. Like, not as if it's happened already, but as if the story is happening right now, as you turn the pages. It really gets you into the thick of things, especially when the story is in first person, so it's like you are the person the book's about. It's just funny that I've only started noticing it now. =P

Read this novel! It's a keeper!

Books I just read in Borders ^,^

After a little shopping yesterday, my mom dropped Annette and me off at Borders so we could hang out. I really like it when we do that. ^__^ So on this particular bookstore visit, I took a good look at 4 awesome books and read a couple chapters or more than 20 pages of each one. Here's my impression of them, in the order they were read:

1: Ring of Fire, by Pierdomenico Baccalario ~ Boy, that's a hard name to pronounce! Sounds Italian, doesn't it? Well, if this series gets famous, maybe the author's name will be easier to remember. Anyway, this is the first volume in his 4-part Century series, and I picked it up in the first place simply because I remembered that it was recommended to me by Dave and his Latiener Gang. I read the first 3 chapters, I think, and even though I heard that the beginning is supposed to be a little slow, I thought it was quite well-written. You meet most of the characters right away, including all 4 kids the book is supposed to center on. I didn't read enough to get very into the story, just enough to get a sample and know that it's pretty much hooked me. I needed to put it down though, because I only had an hour in the store and I wanted to see what else there was to read. Still, I definitely say that this book's a keeper. ^_^ Thanks, Lat Gang!

2: This Book Is Not Good For You, by Pseudonymous Bosch ~ Hey, isn't it a coincidence that this author has the same initials as the Ring of Fire author? Oh well. So this book I just had to read, because this is the 3rd book in this really funny "Secret" series. I think that's what it's called, because Book 1 is called The Name of This Book is Secret, and Book 2 is If You're Reading This, It's Too Late. (Really funny titles, huh? ^_~) As might be apparent by his book titles and his pen name, Bosch's writing style and mysterious personality in the world and the book bears a strong resemblance to Lemony Snicket, who is the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events. You'd have to read the first couple books to appreciate this one, but I think this gets off to a pretty good start. This, too, will go right on my "to-read" pile in the back of my mind.

3: The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo ~ The first chapter was quite long, so that's all I read. But I think it's still a worth-while book. Have you ever read a book by Kate DiCamillo? She hasn't written many. Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Each book is a stand-alone novel, but they're all very sweet stories. The little that I've read so far from her latest release is about a boy who goes to see a fortune teller who tells him his sister is alive, and to find her he has to follow an elephant (?). Which is weird, because elephants aren't common in his village. (Then again, they're not exactly common anywhere else, besides in zoos and in Africa!) Anyway, I think it'll be a good story to get into. I can probably finish it in a wink if I went to the bookstore again and it was all I read.

Last, but certainly not least, 4: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins!!! ~ I'm sure pretty much everyone has heard of this book, the well awaited sequel to the Hunger Games. This was the last book I was able to read on my wonderful Borders visit, and most probably the best. I also read this for the longest, covering roughly 80 pages/ 3 chapters in one sitting. I couldn't exactly finish Chap. 3 though, because then my mom came back to pick us up and started whistling for me, so I unfortunately lost my place in the book.

On the plus side however, it's an incredibly good thing I was able to reserve this book from my library! I'm practically never able to get the newest, most hyped up books from the library so soon after they come out, but I got Catching Fire! Well, I don't have it now, but I'll patiently be waiting for it to come in, so that's awesome! ^_^

BTW, here's the link to an ultra-cool contest the Latiener's are having to give away a copy of Catching Fire! You can either get the ARC or the hard copy. More details to enter and win are in the post. I also have the link on my sidebar. Just check the Lats out if you have any interest in owning this amazing book!

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Published: 2008

Pages: 375

Chapters: 27

Pages per Chapter (on average): 13+

Date Started: Feb. 5-----Date Finished: Feb. 7

My Reading Speed:125 pages a day, or 9 chapters a day

The Main Characters: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, two teens from District 12 competing in the Hunger Games.

My Brief Synopsis: Another kind of alternate future, except it's clear that there used to be an America. There is now this country called Panem, and it's divided into 13 sections. I don't now whether to call them states or something, but there are 12 Districts, numbered 1 through 12 (quite unoriginal) and the Capitol in the center. Kind of like Emerald City being in the center of Oz. The Capitol controls the districts somehow, and they make the poor Districts compete in these terrible games every year that are all televised and about survival. One boy and one girl from each district, aged between 12 and 18, that makes 24 kids, must battle to the death in the wilderness, with very few supplies, to be the last one standing. Now, the story follows Katniss, a girl who hunts to keep food on the table for her family. Her father's dead. She lives in District 12, the poorest and worst reputed district in the country. District 12 players rarely ever win the Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers for the games instead of her little sister, who was initially chosen.

The Conflicts: The boy from District 12, a boy named Peeta, is secretly in love with Katniss, even though she barely knows him. So there's a little romance. But that's a problem, because only one person can survive the Hunger Games. It's a very serious competition, kind of like those survivor game shows (I never watch them) except you actually have to kill your opponents. I didn't see any real bad guys except for Katniss' opposition.

My General Comments: Well, I really liked it. The story is much more exciting than I've described it, trust me. I don't think I did it justice. It's just hard to describe. I think the story reminded me a lot of the 7th Pendragon book's plotline. You know, The Quillan Games? The Hunger Games? Very deadly contests? If you liked that, I believe you'll enjoy this story.

My Favorite Part: I liked the part a little before the Hunger Game begins, like when Katniss and Peeta enjoy more food than they're used to, and they go in a parade and get interviewed, and Katniss' stylist, a kind man named Cinna, turns her very beautiful with wild costumes, and she scores an 11 out of 10 for her training score because she surprised the judges or something. I also like the part where the game is almost over and Katniss and Peeta make an alliance and try surviving together. I won't give too much away though.

My Favorite Things About the Book: I like how the characters seemed so believable. Like, you can believe that people like them could really exist. Even the funny ones, like this lady named Effie, who's a bit fussy and annoying, and Haymitch, the last living District 12 victor, who is a bit of a drunk at first but then really helps Katniss and Peeta becuase he believes they can survive, they seem very real. One of my favorite characters was definitely Cinna. He's very skilled at being a stylist, and he brought out the best in Katniss' looks.

A Personal Shout Out to Suzanne Collins: I don't when you plan on unveiling the 2nd book, or what's going to happen next (in the end, the Hunger Games are over and it's very open-ended. I won't say who won though), but I think your series is one worth following. Keep up the good work!

Here's the link to the Hunger Games's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

Below is the Suzanne Collins's website:

http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.