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Original poster

Hunger Games Discussion- Spoiler Alerts

29 replies

SomebodySaveMe · 08/04/2012 14:28

I finished the trilogy today. I now feel a bit flat and meh at the ending!
It all seems a bit lazy to me.

OP posts:

juneybean · 08/04/2012 14:29

I agree, the last book I felt a bit WTF with, I really enjoyed the first two, especially the format of the games in the second one but the third just seemed so... I don't even know.

Original poster

SomebodySaveMe · 08/04/2012 14:33

I'm gutted about Cinna. I kept hoping he'd appear again at the end. It's the way it ended with Gale that threw me I think.

OP posts:

juneybean · 08/04/2012 14:38

Aww yes, Cinna! And Primrose! The only time I got choked up was when Katniss was talking to the cat towards the end [busad]

Original poster

SomebodySaveMe · 08/04/2012 15:01

That got me a bit teary as well! I thought Katniss would end up being president tbh.

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EmilyPollifaxInnocentTourist · 08/04/2012 15:53

The romance which wasn't a romance was quite dull.

It's like Collins thought she had to meet the teenage market by tossing in a romance and one which is the anti-twilight romance.

Felt lazy and I was imaging Katniss as the leader of the armed insurrection and then president.

CheerfulYank · 08/04/2012 16:10

I liked the ending but then I quite liked Peeta.

I though her explanation was good-that Peeta's optimism and hope were what she needed. To me, it was an interesting look at the people we choose to have in our lives, and why.

Agree she should have been President though! :) But maybe after everything she just wanted to be done with it all...

The first book was definitely my favorite, and I get the feeling the first movie will be too.

Original poster

SomebodySaveMe · 08/04/2012 16:46

I liked Peeta but Gale sounded more attractive
I think so much more could have been done with the story. She's written a teenage trilogy that adults have enjoyed too, it's a bit of a money spinner so why stop at a trilogy? I want to know how they repaired Panem!

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Fizzylemonade · 08/04/2012 18:54

I read all three one after the other, felt like 3 was a cop out, like Collins had run out of patience with thinking through a good ending.

Loved the 1st one and have re-read that and half way through book 2 again. Have read a lot of YA books and was disappointed with the "romance" aspect of both Peeta and Katniss and Gale and Katniss. I wanted a bit more declaration of love and feelings I suppose.

I liked Peeta but didn't want to feel like Katniss had setted for him rather than chosen him IYSWIM. The film was ok, wished there was more of the cave scene but I think they didn't want Katniss to come across as calculated in her moves.

Hate it when books disappoint. Grrr

Gincognito · 08/04/2012 19:20

Excellent

I felt she wrote an absolute stonker of a first novel and then her agent realised the YA market lurves trilogies.

I think she backed herself into a corner at the end.

I'm also not a big fan of love triangles - the main romance seems a bit sullied by it.

But, overall I love love love loved it. And the first film is great. Jennifer Lawrence is HOT!

Gincognito · 08/04/2012 19:25

Oh, and I'm trying to write very badly a YA fic at the mo, so I would be fascinated to hear what people would like to see in the main romantic relationship...

MyleeneCrass · 08/04/2012 19:28

I think she just wanted a quiet life.

MyleeneCrass · 08/04/2012 19:28

Katniss that is.

EllieQ · 08/04/2012 19:47

I agree that Katniss just wanted a quiet life. In some ways, I'm surprised that a YA book had such a brutal ending - Katniss is so damaged by the end of the book, and just gives up on life after she goes back to District 12. She loses her sister and is basically abandoned by her mother, after she's been used as a pawn by the rebellion leaders, who turn out to be as bad as the Capitol when they suggest a new hunger games. Gale seems to abandon her too - it's only Greasy Sae, then Peeta, who are there for her once she returns.

The romance was never important to me - it's all about how the hunger games, then the rebellion, use Katniss and how she copes with that.

CheerfulYank · 08/04/2012 20:38

I agree Ellie.

As far as the romance goes, mad passion is all well and good, and I think in a lot of ways she truly loved Gale, but...I think over time, and when you go through traumatic events with people...they sort of "become" your soulmate. If that makes any sense.

I think she realized how much she loved Peeta while he was hijacked, and later how much she needed his gentle nature and hope if she was going to have any sort of happiness. I think with Gale it would have been a lot of anger and bitterness and constant political stuff, and she was done with all that.

Original poster

SomebodySaveMe · 08/04/2012 20:43

I haven't seen the film yet. I only read the book because of all the hysterical threads about how damaging the movie might be to PFBs. It wasn't as gory as I though although I imagine the film may be a bit more brutal!

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CheerfulYank · 08/04/2012 20:48

It's actually not as brutal as you'd think due to the need for a lower rating. The blood is shown mainly on weapons instead of bodies, and the cameras are herky-jerky during the violent scenes.

The most uncomfortable part for me was finding a 19 year old boy attractive

LavenderCakes · 13/04/2012 23:28

I liked the ending as it was a quiet-but-hopeful one - I defo didn't think she should have been president as she spent the whole three books wanting to escape the spotlight.

But in general, the third book was the suckiest. Back to the games for the third time and it became a video game-esque violence extravaganza.

Still, love to the Hunger Games. It ain't Twilight and it's got adolescent boys reading something with a strong female first person narrative. Gotta be happy with that.

revolutionconfirmed · 13/04/2012 23:44

I liked the books. I didn't love them, I felt nothing for most of the characters and the love triangle has been done to death. It wasn't even a good love triangle. The characters were all flawed, some moreso than others but I just Pussy Mellark would die and Gale would shoot himself half of the time. I liked the explaination for why she chose Peeta in the end, though.

The third book just seemed rushed, lazy and generally weak. The ending was bad (I didn't feel she should have become president) and I just wanted to ask Collins all the way through ?Why??

Districttribute · 16/04/2012 04:40

I Loved the books! Loved the ending too, was bittersweet. Very disappointed in the movie mind! Young adult novels are my guilty pleasure :)

StewieGriffinsMom · 16/04/2012 08:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MsWeatherwax · 16/04/2012 10:48

I loved the ending - found it heartbreaking but realistic, not simplistic - I liked the truth of her/them being haunted by PTSD and trying to heal. I liked all the rebellion/political stuff- loved the playing out of the end with Snow. I also liked that she chose to settle with the person she needed and was suited to - I don't like the message in many novels about ending up with with Dangerous Mad Passion Stalker guy - she was with the person who was good for her and who made her a good person.

DontHaveAtv · 16/04/2012 16:18

I liked the ending. I was glad she ended up with Peeta. She needed someone more 'softer' than Gale.

I did think she was going to end up as president in the end, but I'm glad she didn't. I think she just wanted a quiet peaceful life after all that she had been through.

eurochick · 18/04/2012 13:46

I loved the first book, liked the second a little less and thought the third meandered around a bit.

I thought there were some interesting messages in it - about how she was manipulated by both sides. I don't get why she said yes to continuing the Hunger Games though. What am I missing? I also think it is very unrealistic that she was allowed to live (at least openly) after killing Coin. Most people wont have known that she was responsible for killing the children so it is surprising that she wasn't executed or assassinated. It would have been more realistic if one of the high-ups had realised that she knew and smuggled her out to leave in secret somewhere.

I thought both romances seemed rather flat. They didn't seem to reflect what I remember of intense teenage yearnings.

MsWeatherwax · 18/04/2012 21:48

She said yes so that Coin wouldn't twig, and Haymitch supported her because he understands her so well as to have worked out her plan was to REALLY SPOILERS kill Coin. And she wouldn't have her opportunity to kill Coin unless Coin thought she was behind her and her plan.

MsWeatherwax · 18/04/2012 21:49

Confused, Eurochick maybe because I've been drinking, but the Hunger Games didn't continue, so children weren't killed. Not sure what you mean.

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