Book Review: The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I know, I know. I already reviewed the Hunger Games.
But then I read Catching Fire and Mockingjay despite my non-love for THG and was so captivated that I did not move until both books had been completed at seven in the morning when my eyes wouldn't stay open anymore and my bladder was about to implode.

TMI, sorry. BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW HOW GOOD THEY WERE.

Against all odds,

Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. 

The Capitol wants revenge.


Okay, so first things first, I have to admit that I read this with reluctance. I wasn't all that in love with the Hunger Games. I'm pretty sure I actually rated it 3 out of 5. But then I started this book. It began great and just kept going until I could hardly stand it. It was gripping and amazing and you couldn't stop reading if your life (or bladder) depended on it. The details and descriptions, the characters and suspense. It was all just too much. 

If you stopped reading after THG book 1 because you weren't all that impressed, pick up the next one. I'm not kidding. It's worth it. 

Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games, twice. 

But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year. 

This book was a little different for me. The cliff hanger ending of Catching Fire made me pick this one up with no time to spare. It was way darker, more dramatic. While the writing was just as beautiful as it was in Catching Fire, I found myself empty at the end of this book. I felt lost and vulnerable.
I'm the kind of person that gets into the book so much that I forget there is a world outside of it. I forget that the book isn't my life. 

So, naturally, when all hope seemed lost as I closed the cover, I felt it personally. 

Of course all hope hasn't been lost. Clearly. 

A whole new world, a better world, has been made possible for the future. But I didn't care about the future occupants, I had fallen in love with the present ones.

Now, don't get me wrong, it was very realistic, war kills people, war changes people.

But that's why we read fiction books, right? To have a better ending? 

A happier outcome?

The brokenness at the end left me horrified. So horrified, that I threw the book. 

Actually, I had thrown it multiple times while reading. 

But anyways, there was too much death and too much hopelessness for my taste. Despite the fact that they had won. 

Of course no cost is too much if it means an end to evil. But still. LET ME WALLOW IN SELF-PITY HERE.

I hated the way too many people I loved died. I hated the way that Gale ended up in a fate worse than death. Had he died, I could live with that. Sad, yes. I would have been mad, yes. I probably would have even thrown the book again, yes. But to end like that? 

Unbearable. 

Now, *SPOILERALERT* Peeta. I'm glad he eventually became mostly normal again. Because if Collins had taken him away too I'm pretty sure I would have curled up in a hole somewhere and died. #exaggeration 

Even when the people you had been rooting for since the beginning got together, it wasn't a victory. It was just slightly less tragic than it would have been otherwise.
The tragedy was brilliant. Truly. But I felt that some of the deaths didn't add to the plot at all. Had more lived, the whole thing would have been more bearable. 

Now that I'm done ranting about the ridiculous ending. It was still a good book. Despite it ripping your heart out without hope of ever getting it back, I would actually highly recommend this trilogy. 

I also recommend you do not stop after the first one, because the second two are beyond amazing. 

Catching Fire: 5/5. I couldn't put it down, it was breathtaking, amazing, beautiful, and captivating. 

Mockingjay: 4/5. The ending was too horrific, while quite realistic, for my taste. Fictional books are supposed to end well against all odds. That's why they're fiction and not crush-your-heart reality. Had the ending offered a little more hope, (and I do mean just a little), this would have easily been five stars.