The Hunger Games Series
Written by Suzanne Collins | ★★★★★ (5 Stars)
Hunger Games Review:
Keeping in mind that I watched the movies before reading the books, this is my first attempt to read the series. I was not enthused by the first person writing, but much like other books I managed to ignore it and break into the story. It was a great story, paced quickly, and to the point. There were descriptions I enjoyed seeing that were not mentioned in the movies. My biggest and only complaint was that the writer made Haymitch seem like a disgusting drunk rather than the snippy drunk played by Woody Harrelson. I prefer the movie portrayal because the book version has descriptions that seem highly unnecessary. I enjoyed most of the character interactions. I also enjoyed that the book specifies that Katniss doesn’t know how she feels about Gale and he could pass off as a cousin. Of course the movie version it’s a love triangle right off the bat which I personally dislike. The book was well written enough that I finished it within a few days of reading. Quite enjoyable.
Catching Fire Review:
The overall story was much more violent than the Movies. As an example, Katniss gets backhanded by a Peacekeeper in the movies, where as in the books she was hit in the face with a whip. I did prefer the book details here rather than the movie itself. There were so many missing pieces that I feel would have made the movies make a bit more sense, though I understand they didn’t do it simply because they didn’t want to seem redundant, but in a story as complicated as this it’s good to be 100% clear on things. Some pieces were too important to miss in my opinion, such as Twill and Bonnie at the “cabin.” And in the movies they randomly throw in “Avox” without really explaining what or who they are until way later. One of the Peacekeepers who tried to help Gale in the square became an Avox (Darius), so they don’t exactly explain that they’ll cut out ANYONE’s tongue for getting in the way of the Capitol. The book does a much better job of setting up who he is and what his goals are. It’s much clearer and I’m so glad I decided to read these books because so many things just make sense now!
Mockingjay Review:
Like the others in this series I can tell it was heavily followed when they made the movies which I appreciate. Though once again I’m disappointed they missed out on very specific things that would have made the movies less rushed and confusing. The author spent so much time to give these characters a mental reflection and for a reason. Even some of the sudden events make perfect sense and were preplanned in the book much better. For instance, Gale’s Death Trap. It was obvious when they were making it. We could see the devastation coming. At least the movie did move so fast it kept the obvious things under wraps. I’m also appreciating how at “The Nut” she writes it wonderfully to show how hard it is to be at War. I’m slightly upset they didn’t show Katniss and Johanna rooming together. Their time together was definitely my favorite part of the novel. They missed out not putting more of that in the movies. It’s so hard not to compare the two, so I apologize. A future note: One of the unanswered questions at the end of Mockingjay is almost immediately answered in the first page of “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” So knowing that we WILL have more answers makes me very excited to see what’s next.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Review:
What the heck was up with that ENDING!?!?!? Honestly, I had to look up what the intention was because it made no sense to me. I get the imposing questions it wants to leave you with, but that was the most UNSATISFYING ending I’ve ever read. Up until that final scene I was truly invested in knowing how Snow ends up as a villain. At least at the very beginning of the book it answered a mystery from Mockingjay, about Tigris. Not a favorite book, but I did enjoy the majority of it. I can’t even be unbiased int his review because it was so bad…I’m stained. I need a GOOD book to resolve my unsolved issues from this one. I have yet to see the movie for this one, but I’m confident that they will do as they always do and follow the book almost like a script. I’d like to see what visuals they came up with for certain aspects of the games, but you can tell it was intended to be “The Beginning” and something still being thought out 60 years before the whole Katniss introduction.