I finished the series. Then I read it again. I really struggled with the review for this one because I wanted to like the series so bad, but something held me back from saying I do. Plus I got a little lazy and didn't want to write.
At the very least, I appreciated the name of the trilogy. The Hunger Games. There are times when the reader is left salivating after more of the book, but there are also deeper and baser themes of raw, consuming, needy hunger. Unfortunately, the ending leaves me with the empty feeling of a hunger not sated.
Catching Fire
In Catching Fire, the second book, Katniss and Peeta find themselves to be the faces of a budding rebellion in the Districts. With the Capitol's threat of their families' lives, they must tour the country trying to quell these uprisings, but they are unsuccessful. So, be it a result of this failure, or pure accident, they are both sent back to the arena in a game against the Victors from all the Districts.
This Hunger Game, a reminder that "...even the strongest among you may not survive..."is a strain on Katniss's already precarious grip on her life. She has been feigning her love for Peeta to retain the public's favor, but is still fiddling with feelings of love for Gale, he best friend. Unfortunately there is so little of Gale in this book and even less of him in the first, that it isn't clear why Katniss feels like she loves him, We haven however, had time, reason and opportunity to root for Peeta, who despite his awareness of Katniss's indecision, still loves her and still works to protect her always.
Unfortunately parts of this book are a tedious re run of the first one. We are launched into a second round of preparation, training and waiting for the games to begin. We do get introduced to a few new and interesting characters though. All of which are Victors from other years who will be joining Katniss and Peeta in the arena, making this year particularly deadly with a combination of experienced tributes and dangerous surprises that the game makers have planned.
There's a terrible lot of angst on the part of Katniss as Peeta and the other candidates get themselves wounded and killed off to protect her. The about face of the contestants helping Katniss rather than trying to kill each other off is curious considering the object of the games. This obvious shift tips us off that something different is happening this year.
The end of the book is a little expected since it's really the only explanation for the way the characters have been acting and the prior events of the series. I have to say the only reason that I read on to the third book is because the second one ends with such an obviously unfinished story. All in all, the second book struck me as the necessary and slow moving link to the third book.
Mockingjay
The third and decidedly final Hunger Games book is Mockingjay. We've reached the ending where the groundwork for the real themes of this series finally develop themselves.
The final book finds Katniss working with the rebels in the long underground (and previously assumed destroyed) District 13. Peeta has been taken by the Capitol and Katniss is the reluctant figurehead to the now full-fledged rebellion. She is still in recovery when she begins to visit other districts and encourage them or even lend a hand in the fighting. Through all of this she is pining for Peeta, who is shown on televised broadcasts deteriorating under torture.
It takes a while for the action to get going in this book. Finally about halfway through a rescue mission is mounted for Peeta. It's successful in that they rescue him, but the Capitol has altered his memories making him perceive Katniss as a threat. So Peeta is lost to Katniss, even though he is in the next room.
The story line in this final book was pretty good. There were a few false starts and it dragged in places. Katniss is reluctant to do just about anything and we're still playing around with that weird Gale/Peeta love conflict. The presented relationship with Gale is so under developed that it leaves the reader wondering why she's bothering with him at all.
But Gale's isn't the only malnourished relationship. Prim, the sister that Katniss was willing to sacrifice herself for, makes very few appearances in this, or any of the other books. She's always tucked away working with their mother. All in all, we've spent more time with Katniss's stylists than with her sister. Through the whole series there are very few moments that make us feel attached to this character, which backfires and makes a major event in the series much less of an impact than it should be.
However, the overall theme of games is entrenched through the whole series, which I seriously appreciated. The arena has extended past an annual televised event. It's now a full time occupation that every person is involved in. The contenders for this final Hunger Games are more than just the rebels and the Capitol. It ranges to a series of showdowns between individuals who battle for control. The weapons they use are just as devastating as any in the arena and the strategies are aimed at the same goal: To be the Victor.
The motivation of these games is the same as it's ever been: Hunger. Hunger for justice, hunger for vengeance, hunger for control, hunger for relieve, and even Katniss's hunger for Peeta. Gale boils down the theme of the series; "She's choose whichever on of us she can't survive without." Survival and choices are dictated by the strength of hunger. The games the districts are playing now are as much about these two things as they every where in the arena. Survival goes hand in hand with hunger. It always has.
I call the ending of this series anticlimactic because the lead character is left mourning for things we never related to. There are aspects of a happy and victorious ending, but there are undertones of melancholy that don't feel justified. So it makes the payoff of the happy parts much less poignant.
All in all the series is worth reading. Exciting and action packed for the most part and downright bloody at times. A good series that, believe it or not, I actually think will make a better trilogy of movies than books.
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