oselle | And in other news... (Reply)

Finished Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy today and I have to give it another strong recommendation. It's been a long, long time since I read anything so well-executed and satisfying.

Much of the third book dragged a little for me, especially since the first two were so breakneck. With no arena action to occupy her, Katniss's internal monologue was getting a little thick in this one, but things got back on track very swiftly in the book's last few chapters. And while I was worried that the ending would come down to some agonizing love triangle, it didn't, and was in fact wholly believable and even very moving (especially because I got EXACTLY the ending I wanted, and how often does THAT happen?). If you love bittersweet endings as much as I do, these books are for you.

Collins is a real pro, so much so that at times the books felt almost too polished, but you can't help admire her consistent cleverness and restraint -- she never allows the books to get bogged down in teen angst. And unlike JK Rowling, she actually wrote an epilogue that did not suck!

My only regret is that these books weren't published ten or so years ago, so that Jensen could have played Peeta in the movies. As it is, Dark Angel-era Alec will always be the face of Peeta to me. Sigh.