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I read them a few months ago and loved them! Overall I thought it was really well written and engaging. I never read twilight though so I can't make a comparison there. I love Katniss and I can't wait for the movie! I loooove that they have woody harrelson and lenny kravitz, so well cast.
As for the love triangle-- HATED IT. I hate love triangles in general though. I thought it was totally unnecessary and distracting to the story. I didn't even really care who she ended up with, I just wanted them to stop talking about it haha.
And also, I didn't like the end. I felt like there was such a huuuge build-up... 3 books worth! Then BAM prim dies and katniss is out of it and everything gets solved in like 20 pages. Meh. It just felt a little unsatisfying. I'm hopeful they'll do it better in the movies.
Despite that though, I did really love the books in general. Very thought-provoking :)
@CorgiTales: haha, i always like love stories, my only critique is that the love triangle was almost too much like Twilight, like in how Catniss thought of them and obsessed over kissing them. i didn't mind it though. And i was happy she ended up with Peeta. and yes, i saw that Lenny Kravitz is cast and thought that was as awesome - as Cinna no less!
i also hated that Primm died, but i think if something terrible didn't happen, it would be too unrealistic. i actually thought her depression at the end kind of dragged on. i kept thinking the book was going to end and instead she had to contemplate how to kill herself, then bond with the cat, then burn stuff, lol. i was like just finish already!
I read them last month and since I normally don't like fantasy sort of books (I like non-fiction and chic lit which I know is a weird mix) I only bought the first book - big mistake. I went crazy waiting for Amazon to deliver 2 and 3 which I blew through. I have not read Twilight so I can't comment there but I also thought they were well written and easy to read. The perfect series to bring on vacation. I really got sucked in and found myself dreaming about Katniss and Haymich and Gale. I had hoped she would get together with Gale up until book 3 which changed my mind. I think the love triangle actually makes the books interesting as it got me invested in the characters. However, I do agree there was too much action too quickly in the end like everything abruptly finished and it was super predictable that she would kill Coin by that point too. Wishing there were more books to come but I am looking forward to the movie.
I read all the three of these books as they came out (as a teen librarian I find myself immersed in this literature ALL.THE.TIME. but I love it, so who am I to complain??) and I have to say I LOVED the Hunger Games, LOVED Catching Fire, and I HATED Mockingjay. I'm not sure if it was the buildup and sudden end that was so unsatisfying, I don't know if it was the "fake" arena that the Capital had become, but I just didn't jive with Mockingjay as much as I did with the first two. I think that the characters are so well written, I loved all of them - and whether you're a Gale or a Peeta - unlike in Twilight - it doesn't really matter. It's not the focus of the plot, and yes it is disappointing that they focus on it so much, but I don't think that it took away from the story. I know a lot of my teen patrons who can ONLY relate to a book that has a strong love component, so I get why it needs to be in there. But a lot like the love interests in the Harry Potter series, it's not what the book is about. And that makes it better for me.
It's not a love story, where Twilight is, and what I love about Katniss (vs. Bella?) is that she is a STRONG individual, who takes care of her family, fights for everything she believes in, and doesn't moan and groan about the horror that has fallen into her fate. Teen lit is full of helpless girl characters, who depend so heavily on their boyfriends, or are just snarky and catty with their friends (series like Pretty Little Liars & Gossip Girl), and it's so refreshing to see a female character break these molds. I totally get the appeal of those other characters and stories, and trust me, my collections are full of them. I just like to see both sides of the spectrum get a fair shake. Katniss is the anti-Bella if you ask me, in terms of female characters, and I can not wait to see what they do with her in the movie!
I just read these, too! I was surprised by how much I liked the series (and bulldozed through the books in a week), given that I had found the idea of "hunger games" seriously disturbing when a friend explained it to me back when.
I loved the first two books, but have to agree with pps who said they were not a fan of Mockingjay or the ending! Granted, I was glad that the author did not simply kill off Gale or Peeta. It seemed like an easy out-- then Katniss didn't have to choose between them. So that was good.
I think part of what makes the first two books so appealing is the "survival" aspect a la Hatchet / My Side of the Mountain / Swiss Family Robinson. Who isn't intrigued by the idea of fending for oneself in the wilderness? Maybe this is partly what the third book lacked (besides a sane Peeta)-- it is not nearly as interesting to read about characters eating canned food.
Gale was definitely never such a romantic hero. But then again neither was Peeta. Honestly, the way she described him in the first book, I always thought of him as physically unattractive, so I couldn't see them being togethe.
The most interesting thing about the books I thought was how often I had to stop and just wrap my head around what was happening. There were so many levels on which things were occurring, especially in the first book. The act Katniss and Peeta were putting on for the camera, the act Peeta was putting on for Katniss, the denial Katniss was in, the political undercurrents throughout. It was really complex. And every few chapters I would just pause and picture teenage kids I know, and think, THAT is who this book is about. People in high school killing each other in cold blood. So intense.
i also agree that the third book was not as good as the first two, but partly because i also did not like how Katniss was for the most part. As LibraryBride2013 pointed out, Katniss is a strong female character, but i found she lost that in the third book. Obviously there was trauma and reason for it. But i wasn't thrilled with her. Even her voting yes to the hunger games at the end made me disappointed in her.
I read all three books in the trilogy in about 2 weeks starting during my Thanksgiving vacation. I was drawn in and hooked!
I'm surprised all of the PPs were team Peeta. I was definitely team Gale all the way and was saddened by how pulled apart he and Katniss were by the end of Book 3. They seemed to truely have a deeper connection where as I felt like with Peeta, Katniss felt like she needed to like him because he cared about her. It always just felt very forced and not genuine to me.
I've always been a fan of dystopian novels which was why I decided to read this series (I have ZERO interest in Twilight so the comparisons there actually worried me before I started Hunger Games). I'm looking forward to seeing the movie now and hope they do the books justice.
I finished these books in December and it was such a fun read! The first one was amazing, second one was good, but I agree with others that the last one was a bit lack-luster for me. I didn't hate it by any means (and I had been warned by people before that the last booked ruined the series) but it was just kind of meh...
I agree that the end just felt rushed. Like BAM, Prim is dead! And the 20 pages later it's done. It could have had a lot more meat to it. I understand the reason that authors often have to kill off characters to prove a point (example, Harry Potter, JK Rowling killed off half of my favorite characters, but it all had a purpose to the plot and showing the importance of the fight) but I didn't get that sense with Prim. If she was going to die, I would have though it should have been earlier in the book to light a fire under Katniss to take up the Mockinjay title sooner?
The thing that REALLY ticked me off about these books was the fact that Katniss didn't really ever MAKE A FREAKING DECISION between Peeta and Gale. It was just like Oh look, Gale moved to District 2 and we aren't talking, guess I'll just go be with Peeta! There was no epiphany, no realizing that she felt one way or another, it almost just felt convenient. It really irritated me!
@ChemistryBride: I know exactly what you mean! Her entire decision on who to spend the rest of her life with went something like "Gale's gone. Hmm he's kind of an angry person. I don't think I need more anger in my life, hey look! Peeta's not angry, let's do this"
Such an anticlimactic way to sum up three books worth of love triangle
I also picked up these books because I loved twilight. but I would not dare draw a comparison. Bella is so devoid of personality, wheras Katniss is an amazing role model! Twilight was basically the inane fantasy world I had running in my head the entire time I was in high school, wheras the hunger games actually had some semblance of intelligence to it.
however.....
I, too, hated the love triangle. snore. I would have been ok if there was a love story in there, but the love triangle was just insulting to the reader.
I hated Katniss's final battle scene. after all that buildup, she didn't even get into the president's house! instead, she burned up after like, 5 days of roaming through the sewers and trying to not fall in a trap. so anticlimatic.
also, am I the only person who was not all that sad that Prim died? it did not feel real at all. and as other PPs said, it felt pointless.
things I loved:
I loved how district 13 was not some perfect place that was going to be the big solution to all their problems, that it had it's own flaws to contend with.
I am a huge fan of dystopian stories, so as soon as I figured out that's what these books were about, I dove in with great fervor. I really enjoyed this series! I compared these books to Enders Game, Brave New World, and Battle Royale all rolled up into one great story.
I'm trying to talk my SO into reading these. I warned him that there are many parts that have to do with pretty clothes and makeup. but I basically told him that if you think about why they were being all dolled up, it added to how f-ed up and twisted their situation really was. otherwise, I'm sure he would have found all of those stylist scenes totally off putting.
It really pissed me off. Why do books have to be ruined by sequels prequils and trilogies?
I loved the first book couldn't put it down and really liked how it ended and was like cool then my friends like "it's a trilogy." I was a bit dissapointed.
My brief review:
2nd book is pretty much just like the 1st and i found it very dissapointing at the end becasue I thought what a waste of a book writen in her 1st person when she didn't know anything that was going on. So I suggest read the last page there you go.
3rd book needs to find the nearest paper shreadder and throw itself into it. It just pissed me off and bored me. Pissed me off becasue katness is a real bitch and i didn't care about her at all at the end and bored me casue it's like 90% action adn I don't think action works well in books, well at least not in this one.
Wish it had ended with #1.
@Atalanta: Agreed. The third book was terrible but I forced my way through it. I thought the end scene was almost unreadable as well.
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I am sure there are old threads about this, but i wanted to start a new one. especially if there are other people like me who just recently read the series. I really enjoyed it. I admit, I decided to read it simply because i heard that if you like Twilight, you'll like the Hunger Games. I think i know why that was said - the writing level and ease of getting hooked into it was similar to Twilight. Although that was about it!
Throughout the first book when I found out what it was really about (because i had NO idea when i started reading), i was supremely disturbed by the concept of the hunger games. like unbelievably disturbed. But i got into and had to get to the end.
I guess another Twilight comparison is the love triangle with Katniss, Peeta and Gale. however, i also found it different because i found this time (unlike Twilight) i had a strong preference. Although it wasn't until halfway through the third book that i made a firm decision who i wanted her to end up with and i got my wish - Peeta! He was the one who was just so undeniably devoted to her. And it was so heart wrenching to read about what they did to him in the Capital. I also got depressed near the end because i was positive once Katniss voted yes for hunger games with the capital children that Peeta would no longer want her.
In fact, in the whole ending was depressing - except for the tail end where they live happily ever after, but i am referring to the time after her sister's death. I was happy when she killed President Coin though and i totally predicted beforehand that she was going to that - did anyone else?
One other thing i found entertaining about the whole series was of course how they described the Capital. I loved the irony in how they were essentially exaggerating western society and showing us how it looks from an outsider viewpoint.
So those are some of my thoughts, what are yours?