I thought I’d introduce a new little bookish series entitled “Musings.” This will be a place for me to share my reflective thoughts on a book or book series. *In other words, I will be shouting, venting, ranting, and raving about my emotional rollercoaster, or lack thereof, with a particular book* Talking about characters, plot twists, themes, and motifs that I liked or disliked.
I can guarantee you that this series will always be chockful of spoilers, so if you’ve not read or watched The Hunger Games and don’t want it to be ruined for you, probably don’t read this post 😉 Though this isn’t a standard book review, I suppose that it is a review, of sorts. Anyhowwww, I hope you enjoy!!
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Boy oh boy do I love these books. I first read them my senior year of high school, so two years ago now, and I read them after I read the Divergent series. Apparently, it’s now a widely agreed upon fact that THG is better than Divergent?! I didn’t really think about comparing the two until after I re-read both series over the last couple of months.
(I actually just saw a Youtube video on why, in that Booktuber’s opinion, Divergent tanked the way it did. He has a lot of good points, and although I disagree with his perspective in a lot of ways, it’s a good analysis ~& comparison~ between THG & Divergent. Here’s the link if you’d like to have a watch: Why the Divergent Series Went Down the Toilet. I’d recommend it.) This post isn’t going to compare the two, and I personally still enjoy and appreciate the Divergent series, but I do adore and love THG a lot more.
Moving swiftly forward, I just want to express how these books make me FEEL ALL THE FEELS TO EVER EXIST. I experience every range of emotion whilst reading any one of these. My heart aches, breaks, and is wrenched within an inch of its life. At other times, it’s filled with warmth, joy, and a semblance of what Katniss felt for Peeta as she began to fall for him–even though she didn’t realize it.
Mood
“Bittersweet” doesn’t even BEGIN to describe how one feels reading this incredible narrative. I honestly feel like if there is one word to describe the mood of the entirety of the series, “bittersweet” is definitely it.
The Hunger Games: Katniss and Peeta come home and are the victors but doom hangs over their heads. ON TOP OF THAT, Peeta is shattered by Katniss’ rejection. I mean, c’mon, if that’s not bittersweet in its fullest form, what is?!?!
Catching Fire: Gale, Peeta, and Katniss sure form a tragic love triangle don’t they?? Katniss aches for both of them, and she is so emotionally conflicted that at times I want to shake her and tell her to “get it together and PICK ALREADY and pick PEETA”, but then I think about how I would feel in that situation, and I’m like “honey, Katniss, “sweetheart” [see what I did there], take a deep breath because I honestly don’t know how you haven’t driven yourself mad yet.” Our victors are thrown back into the arena, VEXING MY SOUL.
Mockingjay: Do we even have to talk about the bitter irony and absolutely affecting journey towards overthrowing the Capitol?? PEETA IS CAPTURED FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. He is returned to Katniss as a broken shadow of the wonderful boy we have grown to love since we saw him at the first reaping. And when all is said and done, he is never going to lose the trauma and the nightmares. And neither will she. BITTER. SWEET.
Characters
Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch work for and against each other, and somehow always in one other’s best interests, as the story unfolds. Katniss is so flawed, but that is why we love her. How on earth is she supposed to handle what’s thrown at her?! I know I probably would do a lot worse than she does. I think her shortcomings highlight Peeta’s love for her all the more. (Basically, I think the world of Peeta, keep reading for more of that.)
Speaking of Peeta, how. is. he. so. perfect. HOW?? HE LOVES KATNISS ALL THE TIME; HE NEVER STOPS LOVING HER. Even when the Capitol highjacks him, and Katniss wonders if it could be possible that he no longer does, it comes back to him. Of course it does. He’s Peeta. I think he hardwired his love for her so deep within himself that it became a part of him. How else could he come out of that and grow together with her again? (What did I tell you? What else could you expect? Clearly, Peeta is my fav character.)
Haymitch. WHAT A GUY. It breaks my heart that he never overcomes his pain. The Capitol is overthrown; a republic is installed; he never has to worry about the Games again, but he is still a broken and shattered man. Nothing can help to heal him, and that’s how his story ends–as far as we know.
Other Dynamics
Katniss and her mother never fully mend their relationship, at least, they never draw close or bond. Still, there is room for speculation. One has to wonder if her mother ever came home to District 12, to visit her daughter and grandchildren; maybe things were improved.
And of course, Prim’s death. I should have seen this one coming; I really should have. I’m not saying every good plot needs a sad and horrible death, but it makes sense that it would be Prim in this story. Does that make sense?! (Also Finnick’s because I really did NOT see that one coming, and I ache for Annie, who finally got him back, the one who understood and loved her the most, and then his life was sacrificed for her and the Rebellion.)
Something else I thought about as I read these books this last time: Gale didn’t die, and this is good for the story. I think it was important that he didn’t because his death would have made Katniss’s choice “too easy.” That sounds harsh, and yes, we know that Gale was too fiery and not meant for Katniss, whilst Peeta was, but I think had he stuck around District 12, thereby toning down the elements of his personality that Katniss found incompatible with herself, she might have had even more love triangle conflict. And if he dies, her choice for Peeta is not so pronounced and downplays the way she eventually finds her way back to him. Maybe I’m reading into this a little too much, but I thought this was the perfect space for me to share that.
The dystopian genre is somewhat oversaturated now, in my opinion, and it’s hard to find a quality storyline like this. I truly believe that these are the best in the genre at this time, and they’re in my top all-time fav series/books. I’m a huge fan for series with lore–LOTR, Star Wars, etc. These don’t have that, but I think there’s quite a bit of room for speculation about what comes beyond the ending.
I’m going to close my lengthy and LOUD thoughts on this (apologies for that, by the way) by asking to hear your thoughts on these books. Did you love them? Hate them? What about the films? If you actually read all of this post and didn’t just skim through thinking “tl;dr,” you are so sweet, and I appreciate you so much :’) If not, I get it, I raged on for just over 1,100 words, OOPSIE. <333