Heyyy, hope you don't mind me friending you so I can officially be stalking these reviews instead of doing it covertly. I started reading them about the same time I started reading The Hunger Games, which is to say I hadn't finished it before I started reading your commentary. For the sake of a less skewed viewpoint, I finished the book before returning to its reviews and, I gotta say... despite everything, I kinda started to like it. You know, in the way you like that slacker kid at the bottom of the class who could be pretty brilliant if she just put some effort into doing work. I think I enjoyed Hunger Games more for its missed potential than any of its actual writing or story choices. That, and... okay, I'll admit it now, I turned into a sucker for the romance. S-shhhh.
Anyway, reading over the commentary now I'm glad to see you've pointed out a lot of the same things that bothered me about this book. The character of Rue -- and her death especially -- was handled with all the grace and subtlety of a hundred-pound anvil from the sky. It read like the author was trying so hard to tug at our heartstrings, but couldn't be assed to come up with anything original. There were just so many things that could've been done differently to make it stand out, and none of them even had to be that innovative! Making Rue, whose motives Katniss trusts more than Peeta despite knowing her less and for a shorter time, a backstabber or killer hiding behind the facade of an innocent child, could've provided an at least slightly exciting twist -- especially in contrast to Peeta, who has of course been on her side all along though Katniss is always suspicious of him. Ahhh, man... after I finish the series I'm going to go hunting for Hunger Games goodfic, because other writers must have been diligently filling out characters or situations where Collins never did. Otherwise I'm just going to have to write something myself. Because seriously -- so much potential! SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL. It's enough to make one weep, it really is.
Ehhhh this got rather long and rambly, hahaha. I'll probably keep my mouth shut from here on out, but for what it's worth I'm really enjoying reading these after finishing the book! You're doing such a good job of finding its numerous flaws (and the occasional bright points), I simply have to applaud.
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That, and... okay, I'll admit it now, I turned into a sucker for the romance. S-shhhh.Anyway, reading over the commentary now I'm glad to see you've pointed out a lot of the same things that bothered me about this book. The character of Rue -- and her death especially -- was handled with all the grace and subtlety of a hundred-pound anvil from the sky. It read like the author was trying so hard to tug at our heartstrings, but couldn't be assed to come up with anything original. There were just so many things that could've been done differently to make it stand out, and none of them even had to be that innovative! Making Rue, whose motives Katniss trusts more than Peeta despite knowing her less and for a shorter time, a backstabber or killer hiding behind the facade of an innocent child, could've provided an at least slightly exciting twist -- especially in contrast to Peeta, who has of course been on her side all along though Katniss is always suspicious of him. Ahhh, man... after I finish the series I'm going to go hunting for Hunger Games goodfic, because other writers must have been diligently filling out characters or situations where Collins never did. Otherwise I'm just going to have to write something myself. Because seriously -- so much potential! SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL. It's enough to make one weep, it really is.
Ehhhh this got rather long and rambly, hahaha. I'll probably keep my mouth shut from here on out, but for what it's worth I'm really enjoying reading these after finishing the book! You're doing such a good job of finding its numerous flaws (and the occasional bright points), I simply have to applaud.