My friend Madeline made me read this book. I absolutely loved it, so I read the whole series. All three books The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay were amazing!
BE AWARE THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins.
The real story starts when Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister's place in the annual Hunger Games her country holds. The Hunger Games is a fight to the death between 24 tributes, a boy and a girl from each of the 12 districts. Katniss's stylist, Cinna, makes plans with her district partner, Petta Mellark's stylist Portia to ahve the most amazing costumes for their entrance into the Capitol. The two stylist put the two tributes in flaming outfits because their district produces coal. They are a smash it and become the favorite tributes of the Capitol. While holding the interviews of the tributes Peeta, admits to the whole country that he is madly in love with her. Katniss is furious because she is a girl who doesn't like to look "weak" but the two of them use as "star-cross lovers" story to stay alive. While in the arena, the Head Gamemaker decides to change the rules a little and they will allow two winners of the games as long as they are from the same district. As soon as the last person from an other district is killed and Katniss and Peeta are the only ones left the Head Gamemaker changes the rules back. In order for the games to be over, Katniss or Peeta must die. To cheat this rule, they decide to both commit suicide at the same time with sime poisonous berries, the Gamemakers not wanting to have no winners swoop in and allow there to be two winners.
Like I said, The Hunger Games, was a really good read. It's on of those books that draws you in and doesn't let you go until you're done. The story was compelling, the subject a little troublesome. It's set in the future so there might actually be a time where a city, country whatever you want to call it, like Panem does exist. I really liked how it was written in first person, past tense. You were able to enter Katniss' brain and find out what she really thought. Peeta really annoyed me through the whole book, he seemed like a whiny child, jealous and over protective of Katniss. I never believed he actually loved Katniss. I really liked Gale, I kept hoping that he and Katniss would end up together. He obviously knows her the best and sounds like he is pretty good looking. :)
Catching Fire begins with the Victory Tour for the winner of the Hunger Games. Before Katniss and Peeta head off on the tour President Snow pays a visit to Katniss at her house and tells her that he didn't like the stunt with berries and neither did some of the districts or some people from the Capitol. To ensure no uprisings, Snow tells her that she must convince him that she and Peeta are in love or he will kill her family and friends. While on the tour Peeta proposes to Katniss on camera and she accepts with great joy from the Capitol. This next year marks the 75th Hunger Games, every 25 years the Gamemakers hold a Quarter Quell, something to remind the country of why they hold the Hunger Games. This year the Quell is to made up with the living victors from previous games. Automatically Katniss has to compete because there are no other female victors from District 12. At this interview, Katniss' stylist, Cinna, creates this magnificent outfit. She is wearing a wedding dress but she transforms into a Mockingjay, the symbol of the hidden rebellion. Right before she goes into the arena, Peacekeepers (the guards) arrest Cinna and beat him. Halfway through the games Katniss is abducted by rebels and they take her to District 13 which was supposedly destroyed.
Catching Fire was my favorite book in the trilogy. Here I finally realized that Peeta did love Katniss and really why Katniss hated the capitol and President Snow so damn much (pardon my French). When Plutarch shows her is watch I guessed it had to do with the next games, but had no idea how important the Mockingjay was. In this book I also realized how sweet Peeta is and I felt guilty for not liking him in the first book.
Motckingjay is the last installment of the Hunger Game series.
Katniss awakes in the hospital of District 13 and realizes that Peeta wasn't rescued from the arena. She later finds out he was arrested by the Capitol and probably getting tortured. President Coin leads District 13 and the newest rebellion, there they have a huge military base and plenty of soldiers. The Rebels wantKatniss to lead the rebellion but she's not sure. She soon decides that she will be the "Mockingjay" the rallying point for the rebellion but with conditions, she and her best friend from District 12, Gale, can hunt, Peeta will be granted immunity from the Rebels, she gets to kill snow and her family gets to keep their cat, Buttercup. Coin and the other Rebel leaders agree and Katniss begins her Mockingjay duties. One of the Quell tributes and Rebel, Beetee, help Coin with some airtime attacks. Propos of Katniss in action would hack the country's television system giving the Rebels publicity. This goes very well. Coin decides she will start a mission to rescue Peeta, the other victors who were arrested, and a special victor Annie. When Peeta arrives he is in terrible shape. The nurses and medics of District 13 diagnose him as 'Hijacked' meaning he has been poisoned with Tracker Jacker venom to mess with his brain to think that Katniss is a bad person. Doctors try to get the old Peeta back and they succeed to some extent. After all the districts announce their freedom from the Capitol, specialized groups of Rebels head into the Capitol to kill Snow. Katniss is in the main group of course. By the time the troop meets up with Snow it's only Katniss, Gale, and Peeta left. Peeta finally breaks free from the Hijacking and falls in love with Katniss again. At the President's house District 13 sends in medic groups to help with the wounded, but Hovercrafts bomb them and end up killing Prim, Katniss' little sister. Katniss is distraught, and she 'cracks'. Back in the President's house, she comes to her self and has a chat with Snow, he tells her that it was the Rebels who dropped the bombs to make it look like it was the Capitol. She doesn't believe him at first but then that plan makes sense. Later when Snow is tied up and Katniss is ready to fire the last arrow of the war, she shoots Coin instead, knowing that Coin would be no better a President than Snow. Katniss is arrested but gets off and moves back to District 12. There she and Peeta get married and live happily ever after.
Honestly this was my least favorite book in the series, but I still do like it a A LOT because it answer's all the questions and wraps up the story nicely. In this book I really don't' like Gale, he turns into what I thought Peeta was like in the first book, he's jealous and over protective of Katniss. He becomes cold and full of fire. Peeta I was really worried about. I was worried he wouldn't ever love Katniss again and she's have to end up with Gale. Katniss herself wasn't all that great either. She was crazy and whiny, but I'll give her some slack because of what she'd been through and obviously was suffering from PTSD. The epolauge at the end made me happy, Katniss was finally happy with Peeta and they had the family Peeta so desperately wanted, it made a nice end to such a traumatic story.
Like I've said a billion times, I loved this series and I strongly suggest the books to anyone!
