Review — The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Books: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: Scholastic Press (September, 2008), Scholastic Press (September, 2009), Scholastic Press (August, 2010)
Pages: 384, 391, 400
Genres: YA, Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Date Read: February, 2012
Score: 2/5
Review:
My 16-year-old daughter has been yabbering about this trilogy for at least a year. With the first movie coming out next month, I’m positively being pelted with eyerolls and “Gawd, Mom, have you ever met cool?” noise.
Granted, I’m a good 20 years down the backslope from even circling the neighborhood of this series’ target market. Hey, man. That’s fine. I unapologetically read YA. Okay, it also helps that I read on a Kindle.
In Kindle, no-one can see your book jacket.
Er… Something like that.
Anyway. The Kid is 17 shades of beside herself about seeing the movie, loved the books, and insisted that the super awesome wowlicious person she’s beginning to doubt I ever was would love them, too.
I’m not surprised that you’re not surprised when I say: I didn’t. Yeah, we all saw that plot twist coming from the opening lines…
Rather like the transparent plot “twists” in these books. Really, I should call them what they are: contrivances. I mean… How many alligators, exactly, can one author throw in the sewers — including a herd of actual alligator mutants in the freaking sewers! — in 1000 pages? I’m not setting you up for a joke, here, guys. I believe Suzanne Collins may have broken some sort of Deus Ex Machina record.
I’m now going lay on you the ugliest bit of criticism I have for these books. And, yes, I know in saying what I’m about to say, I’m inviting evil to darken my door in the forms of fangirl teens and trolls, alike. You ready for this? You got something sturdy to brace yourself?
I could not stand Katniss Everdeen. I get it with the reluctant heroine bit. That’s cool. Do your thing, Miss Thing. I like my heroes and heroines flawed or even damaged! Real people (contrary to literary advice) aren’t boring to me; they’re flawed and fascinating for it. These were not my issues. No, Katniss irritated me in ways I thought were only possible during Thanksgiving dinner at the in-law’s house. She was so-so-ok in the first book, when she thought for herself, kicked a bit ass, didn’t bother to take names, and maintained a pretty even flow of love and loyalty for her sister, her few close friends, and District 12 in general. In the second book, she simpered. Simpered, people. I can’t respect that, let alone follow it into WW4. By the third book, sharing space in Katniss’ head felt like having a hang nail and a wedgie on a bad hair Wednesday.
I think the biggest problem I had with Katniss wasn’t just her caprice and waffling and quick decline into submissive simpering Sue. Katniss was written poorly and inconsistently. In fact, the books, viewed as a single work, were written inconsistently. I kept getting dragged out of the strange and gruesome world of Panem by this naggity-nag bumpity-bump every time I hit yet another contradictory description or passage or character trait.
I have a theory about this. Theories, actually. Sure, I know nothing about Suzanne Collins or the way she works, so I can’t say which of these scenarios was the detail-dwellin’ devil, but it was one of them. Either Collins wrote the manuscripts slowly and they spent great expanses of time languishing in her bottom drawer, or she wrote them all — boom, boom, boom — and some hamfisted junior editor relieved him or herself all over the drafts, or Collins has a mild touch of straight-jacket drool-yourself crazypants.
I’m disappointed. No, reading these books wasn’t a waste of my time; in my perfect princess world, reading anything at all cannot be a waste of time. I do like dystopian themes, and don’t necessarily subscribe to the belief, courtesy Christian Slater’s character in PUMP UP THE VOLUME, that all the good themes have been used up and turned into theme parks. I like unreliable narrative and atypical protags. We talked about that. This was practically captured magic waiting to glitter like Tinkerbell’s dust, all handed to me in the tidy package of three average-length, easy-language novels, but it all… fell… so short. And flat. And not the least bit glittery or magical. But, O! What it could have been…
3+/5 for the first book; I liked it enough that I wish it had been a stand-alone, the end, done. 2/5 for book two; I still liked the story world, but Katniss was starting to grind against my last nerve, and the bizarre shifts in writing style and voice were already pulling me out of the escape that is curling up to read. 1/5 for book three, and I’m being a bit kind there; it was an undercooked mess made without a recipe.
Challenge: 100+ Books in a Year
Host: Book Chick City
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012
Description, Rules:
- Read 100+ books in 2012.
- Join at any time — all books read in 2012 count toward the challenge goal, regardless of your sign-up date.
- Books may be from any fiction genre.
- Audiobooks do not qualify, but all other formats are acceptable.
- You don’t have to select your books ahead of time; you may add them to your tracking page as you go. If you do decide to create a proposed reading list, you may change it as you like.
- Books used for this challenge may be used for other challenges in which you are participating.
- Reviews are not mandatory, but there will be monthly linkups provided for you to link back to any reviews you do write.
- You don’t have to have a blog to join. GoodReads, LibraryThing, Amazon, or similar are fine.
I will be tracking my progress here: Reading Challenges 2012. Any reviews I write will also be linked there.
Challenge: The 2012 End of the World Reading Challenge
Host: The Insatiable Booksluts
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012
Description, Rules:
Unlike most reading challenges, this one counts the number of pages you read, not the number of books. Books must have been read in 2012. Re-reads and partial-reads do NOT count toward the total. In the end, the participant who has read the most pages before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve is the big winner and recipient of the grand prize! Check out the linkback above for all the juicy details.
I will be posting my books and page counts here: Reading Challenges 2012. Any reviews I write will also be linked there.
Challenge: 2012 Book Bloggers Recommendation Challenge
Host: Reading with Tequila
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012
Description/Rules:
- You may join anytime during the challenge.
- Create an intro post linking back to RwT’s challenge introduction post.
- Choose books from The List. You may read books only in the Top 25 or from the entire list of recommendations. You don’t need to make a list of intended reads before the challenge begins.
- RE-READS DO NOT COUNT! This challenge is about discovering books that are new to you!
- You don’t need a blog to participate.
- Reviews are appreciated but not mandatory.
Participation Levels:
LEVEL I — Read 5 books from the 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation List
LEVEL II — Read 10 books
LEVEL III — Read 15 books
LEVEL IV — Read 20 books
LEVEL V — Read 20+ books
I will be participating at LEVEL V. Below are the books I plan to read.
Proposed Books (subject to change based on availability, etc.):
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
- Delirium by Lauren Oliver
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The False Princess by Eilis O’Neal
- Enclave by Ann Aguirre
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
- Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner
- Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
- The Demon Trapper’s Daughter by Jana Oliver
- The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
- The Passage by Justin Cronin
- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
- Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
- Jellicoe Road / On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
- Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J A Saare
- Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
- …
I will be tracking my progress here: Reading Challenges 2012. Any reviews I write will also be linked there.
2012 Reading Challenges
- Under the Dome by Stephen King
- Horns by Joe Hill
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — MY REVIEW
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins — MY REVIEW
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins — MY REVIEW
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
- Enchanted, Inc. (Enchanted #1) by Shanna Swendson
- Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver
- Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning
- Bloodfever (Fever #2) by Karen Marie Moning
- Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning
- Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning
- Shadowfever (Fever #5) by Karen Marie Moning
- Dead as a Doornail (Sookie #5) by Charlaine Harris
2012 Book Bloggers Recommendation Challenge
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — MY REVIEW
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare
- Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
- Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver
The 2012 End of the World Reading Challenge
- Under the Dome by Stephen King (1074pp.)
- Horns by Joe Hill (370pp.)
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (384pp.) — MY REVIEW
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (391pp.) — MY REVIEW
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (400pp.) — MY REVIEW
- Divergent by Veronica Roth (496pp.)
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (576pp.)
- City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare (512pp.)
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King (849pp.)
- Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas (384pp.)
- Enchanted, Inc. (Enchanted #1) by Shanna Swendson (320pp.)
- Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver (448pp.)
- Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning (309pp.)
- Bloodfever (Fever #2) by Karen Marie Moning (303pp.)
- Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning (327pp.)
- Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning (388pp.)
- Shadowfever (Fever #5) by Karen Marie Moning (594pp.)
- Dead as a Doornail (Sookie #5) by Charlaine Harris (295pp.)
Page Count: 8,420
(I can’t remember what I read in January! The above are all February onward. I’ll look through my Kindle and see if it jogs my memory.)
366 Days of Media Consumption
How many books do you read in a year? How many TV shows do you watch? How many movies do you see?
We’ve all seen the news: media experts, marketing geniuses, and those super nerdy guys who get off on the most finite of demographic details say the internet will be the undoing of old-school media. We’re spending so much time online, web surfing has replaced the trusty scapegoat anathema of my childhood: watching television. Newspapers — doomed for so many years, anyway — are all but a quaint footnote of an antiquated past in a History of Mass Media lecture course. And movies… Oh, Hollywood, you desperate, overmade fool. Of course online video games are out-selling your latest blockbusters. Your product blows and The Cynical Generation (about whom the experts and nerds are all in a tither to begin with) aren’t going to pay $10 per ticket to be dulled 131 minutes closer to death.
Having been born in 1972, I’m just beyond the cutoff of the actual nethead crowd. In other words, while I do remember a time before computers, I’ve had access to mass information systems my entire adult life. Could be a valuable perspective; could be folly. Since I’m a fan of activities which save space at the table for both, I began a personal project to track just how much old-school media I still consume over the course of one year.
Er… 366 days because February is all fancy and supersized for 2012.
Do I read as many books as I like to think I do? Am I a throwback couch-tater, glazed-eyed before the flickering screen, remaining true to the anthem of my youth: here we are now; entertain us. Do I watch any movies?
If you would like to see all posts from my 366 Days of Media Consumption project, click the media-consumption tag here, in my sidebar, or at the bottom of any project-related post.
(This project was inspired by Stephen Soderberg’s 2011 Reading and Watching List and Jack’s Views List of the Year Project.)
Last year it was announced that Stephen King was writing Dr. Sleep, a sequel to his classic horror novel The Shining. The story has an unexpected twist that involves a traveling group of vampires called The Tribe. […]
( source: geektyrant.com )
Wait… What? Is it April 1st, and y’all guys forgot to tell me?
My name's Sara, but most folks call me Sadie. I'm a coffee-connoisseur (read: addict), stay-homer, and I've been married so long I'm practically a sitcom. I take pictures of things nobody else seems to, read compulsively, and sass-mouth the food and cookware while I'm cooking. Join me for daily posts about my kitchen (mis)adventures, my level of caffeinatedness, silly conversations with my family, and whatever adorkable situation I've gotten myself into this time!
