Just finished this book and I loved it. It was a 4.5/5 for me. The set up of the story is so so so good the anger and fear and tense mood of the book is so palpable. I know that Katniss as a character doesn't really change or develop throughout the series but I actually enjoy how she is like this stalwart character that is steady and reliable. She has no great drama or flaw to overcome; any major obstacle she faces is external and not internal, and I've heard people complain about her being boring, but I think that her "dry" personality is such a good contrast to the story and the setting. She's pragmatic and resourceful, determined and resilient in an otherwise hopeless dystopian world, I'm surprised more people don't like her. IRONICALLY, I think her joining the Games may be the luckiest thing that's happened to her in her life.
The mood is tense all throughout the book, and the pace was pretty fast, there were hardly any dull moments though there were some slower more contemplative moments in some scenes. I didn't feel like the romance was very prominent, the story focuses much more on the action and intrigue, which I personally prefer.
At the start of the Games like Katniss I also wasn't completely sure whether Peeta's affections were all for show and thought he was just being very clever, but towards the end of the book I started feeling really bad for him and could see how Katniss' words affected him. Bro was just trying to simp in peace not knowing Katniss was just trying to survive. But though I feel bad for Peeta, Katniss' reactions actually make me like her more; she doesn't feel like a swooning teenager but still a practical minded protagonist, though her feelings are confused she has a lot of trauma to work through after everything that's happened in the Games. I think Katniss may be one of my favorite book protagonists now.
I'm eager to see Katniss' reunion with her family and how her life changes in District 12 as well as the development of her relationship with Haymitch now that they're going to be neighbors. Katniss and Haymitch seem like they would both be the grumpy old people types. I'm also really curious exactly how Haymitch won his Games. And I'm excited for all the new characters that I know show up in Catching Fire that I didn't appreciate the first time I read the series as a kid.
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