(spoilers obviously)
Finished reading the book and watched the movie yesterday, haven't started Catching Fire or MockingJay yet. Great setting and structure of the games, good characters, plot was fine but was hoping for more of a bite towards the end. (not a muttations pun)
~*~ Positives ~*~
-> I really liked the whole setting of the plot, the districts, the controlling empire, the games as tribute for their rebellion, the fear they live in and the kind of life they live where just having food is such a struggle. The world setting was much better fleshed out than Battle Royale.
-> The premise of the games themselves is really good, I like the structure of the training, the sponsors mechanic and the emphasis on non-combat survival like food, water supplies, countering infection, covering tracks etc. It's all very complete.
-> Katniss is a great character.
-> The interactions with Rue were especially great, showed a lot of the vulnerabilities and conflicting emotions going on in the tournament.
~*~ Negatives ~*~
-> I feel like the plot of the games itself could have been a lot more exciting than what was told. Some very interesting characters like Thresh, Glimmer, Foxface etc got very little time of mention. It all could have been lengthened a bit to make the competition a bit more personal.
-> The whole 2 surviving business was a bit disappointing, took the edge off what could have been a moving moment of having to decide whether to kill your friend or not. Along with BR its becoming a bit of a cliche that "1 survives" actually means "The main character survives along with their potential love interest".
-> The romance sub-plot got in the way a lot, it seemed a bit unrealistic that these thoughts of her relationship with Peeta and what Gale might think would be entering her mind given the situation and more pressing matters like never seeing Prim again. Felt out of character for Katniss as someone who usually had a strong focus on the important things.
-> Why is the discussion community almost entirely made up of teenage girls swooning over which guy is cuter?
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Smurf, the cream of Sonic fanboyism