The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

[love_aud]

What are your thoughts on this series? Or have you even read these books?

I love them, myself. I am on the third book of the series but have noticed that even with the movie coming out, that not very many people have heard/read the book.

SO, your thoughts on the series and books?

[RuqeeD]

I started reading the first book on a recommendation from a friend and tbh I wasn't keen on it after she briefly gave an outline of the plot but I knew she would bug me if I didn't read it. I actually quite enjoyed it, it's a good storyline even though I found some of the characters (like Peeta) a little weak - this is in the first one though, he improves as the story goes on).

But I'm afraid it went downhill from there for me. The second book seemed like a rehash of the first one, and the third just annoyed me with the ending. I won't elaborate at the moment why as I don't want to ruin it for you but would love to know what you think about how it ended when you've finished with it.

[Jp1978]

But I'm afraid it went downhill from there for me. The second book seemed like a rehash of the first one, and the third just annoyed me with the ending. I won't elaborate at the moment why as I don't want to ruin it for you but would love to know what you think about how it ended when you've finished with it.

How disappointing, I enjoyed the first book but haven't read the second and third.

[gabrielgreystone]

I'm reading the first book and I'm enjoying it so far.

[love_aud]

I'm reading the first book and I'm enjoying it so far.

Have a great time reading !

[bookmadgirlie]

I started reading the first book on a recommendation from a friend and tbh I wasn't keen on it after she briefly gave an outline of the plot but I knew she would bug me if I didn't read it. I actually quite enjoyed it, it's a good storyline even though I found some of the characters (like Peeta) a little weak - this is in the first one though, he improves as the story goes on).

But I'm afraid it went downhill from there for me. The second book seemed like a rehash of the first one, and the third just annoyed me with the ending. I won't elaborate at the moment why as I don't want to ruin it for you but would love to know what you think about how it ended when you've finished with it.

I started reading the Hunger Games, because a friend recommended it to me, but I absolutely loved it. I can't wait for the movie to come out of course, but books will always be better in my mind.

[Chris Blue]

I read, and really enjoyed the trilogy. They are well paced, and the characters are well drawn.

I lent my copies to my 75 year old Mum, who loved them and passed them on to my nephew (13 years old), who loved them too. Plenty of people avoid YA books, but I always feel that a good story well told doesn't have an age limit either way.

[Mykajean]

You know, I had only seen it a couple times and ended up snagging a digital copy as a freebie thing forever ago. Never payed much mind to it really. Then, hubby and I went to see Sherlock Holmes a couple weeks ago and I saw the preview and it triggered some recollection. Monday night i had some down time so I looked it up. I am now halfway done with book 3! LOL i cant put them down they are so good, and i dont want them to snd. just thewhole concept is awesome. Have you read about Suzanne Collin's influence for them? I recommend doing so before you finish the books, really puts a whole new perspective on the series really. They are incredible, and i hope the movie is at least half as good. (book readers know the movie you make in your mind while reading is always better than the Hollywood ones) well nback to book 3 for me happy reading!

-- Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:48 pm --

I started reading the first book on a recommendation from a friend and tbh I wasn't keen on it after she briefly gave an outline of the plot but I knew she would bug me if I didn't read it. I actually quite enjoyed it, it's a good storyline even though I found some of the characters (like Peeta) a little weak - this is in the first one though, he improves as the story goes on).

But I'm afraid it went downhill from there for me. The second book seemed like a rehash of the first one, and the third just annoyed me with the ending. I won't elaborate at the moment why as I don't want to ruin it for you but would love to know what you think about how it ended when you've finished with it.

I can see what you mean, being on book three myself, but I think that the author did a good job of making it intriguing and different enough to make you cone back for more. Especially liked the way book one ended but i dont like that book two doesnt pick up the same way. It would have been so much more rewarding to the reader to have it instantly flow that way to me. For a YA book series, i think book two was just fine. Got me to get it, read it, and move to book three though. Plus as a middle its shorter than book one and two so it works well to be a little more like the first. I cant wait for the end though to see what you mean!

[RuqeeD]

You know, I had only seen it a couple times and ended up snagging a digital copy as a freebie thing forever ago. Never payed much mind to it really. Then, hubby and I went to see Sherlock Holmes a couple weeks ago and I saw the preview and it triggered some recollection. Monday night i had some down time so I looked it up. I am now halfway done with book 3! LOL i cant put them down they are so good, and i dont want them to snd. just thewhole concept is awesome. Have you read about Suzanne Collin's influence for them? I recommend doing so before you finish the books, really puts a whole new perspective on the series really. They are incredible, and i hope the movie is at least half as good. (book readers know the movie you make in your mind while reading is always better than the Hollywood ones) well nback to book 3 for me happy reading!

-- Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:48 pm --

I started reading the first book on a recommendation from a friend and tbh I wasn't keen on it after she briefly gave an outline of the plot but I knew she would bug me if I didn't read it. I actually quite enjoyed it, it's a good storyline even though I found some of the characters (like Peeta) a little weak - this is in the first one though, he improves as the story goes on).

But I'm afraid it went downhill from there for me. The second book seemed like a rehash of the first one, and the third just annoyed me with the ending. I won't elaborate at the moment why as I don't want to ruin it for you but would love to know what you think about how it ended when you've finished with it.

I can see what you mean, being on book three myself, but I think that the author did a good job of making it intriguing and different enough to make you cone back for more. Especially liked the way book one ended but i dont like that book two doesnt pick up the same way. It would have been so much more rewarding to the reader to have it instantly flow that way to me. For a YA book series, i think book two was just fine. Got me to get it, read it, and move to book three though. Plus as a middle its shorter than book one and two so it works well to be a little more like the first. I cant wait for the end though to see what you mean!

I think what it was with book two is that there was a large gap between reading the first and second and because I had enjoyed the first one quite a lot I built up the second so much in my head and had a lot of expectations that unfortunately didn't exactly match up. Character development-wise, I did enjoy Peeta's built up slowly but steadily and even more so with Gale who was always a favourite of mine. I did enjoy the third one - again Peeta becoming stronger as a character, I wont mention about Gale at the moment . The only character that imho that seemed to go in the opposite direction was Katniss whom I'm sorry to say started to dislike just that little bit. In some small way she reminded me a little of Bella in Twilight which as you can know can really grate - but again this is all my view.

Let me know what you think when you finish. I'm particularly interested in how you find Peeta's and Gale's characters.

[Doyag]

I read all three books, they can be really hard to put down.
I didn't expect to enjoy them. I only read them to see what the hype is all about.
To me, by far the first book was the best. I can't wait to see how the movie would portray that. I'm not liking the movie hype, the are making it sound like more of a love-triangle kind of romance, which is unfair to the books. The book focuses so much on the games. That's what I loved most about it.

The least favorite book was the second. I can't remember what exactly bothered me about it, as I have read it months ago, but i do remember hating it - I think I was annoyed by some of the characters.

The third book was good but I hated the ending. I felt an urgency to the third book, and some exaggerated, over-dramatized storylines which I wasn't a big fan of.

all in all, i think everyone should give the trilogy a try. They aren't the type to either love or hate. There is a lot of love-hate relationship with the characters and the book.

[StefanB25]

The first book is on my list to read and it is currently on my shelf. I have a couple of others to get out of the way first. Two of my cousins are currently reading it and they are seeing who can read it the fastest.

[Goddesseve05]

I just started rereading the series for the third time and as you can probably guess I'm obsessed with the story. I really like how Collins took our current fixation with reality tv and evolved it. Since reading it I've bought copies for my niece and shared my own with my friends. Having the movie coming out has really helped me push people to read them.

[Abednar17]

I just started reading the first book 2 days ago and am over halfway through it. I have to say that I really do like it so far. I'm constantly on edge waiting to see what is going to happen next! But that is really disappointing to hear that the second two aren't as good. I hope to finish them within the week.

[J-Cran]

I also read the Hunger Games series off of a recommendation from several friends. I loved the first book and immediately went to the store and picked up the second and third. I was honestly let down by the second and completely annoyed by the third. I'm not one who has to have "happily ever afters" but to me this storyline and its characters had so much potential and the author didnt deliver. It was very strange to have a series where the first book is the most climactic and have the series go downhill from there. I plan on rereading it so I can see if I feel differently about it the second time around. I agree with the person who said they started disliking Katniss in the third. I was very disappointed in how she reacted to what happened to her. I also felt like the ending was rushed, like the author didnt have time to think it through and was trying to beat a deadline... I'm not sure if thats the case or not. Its very rare that a book disappoints me or leaves me feeling so irritated but this one definitely did. I still recommend the series bc the first book is so great and everyone reacts differently to the ending. But overall I was let down. I'm curious to hear from people who enjoyed the storyline overall and how they felt about the book ending the way it did.

****SPOILER ALERT****

I felt like people started dying unnecessarily. I was crushed when Finnach died, literally crying about the loss of his character. From there is just went down hill. The way Katniss had reacted to Peeta being kidnapped, the whole Peeta going crazy- all irritating. And Prim dying seemed cliche, (of course all of Katniss' hard work would be for nothing, she couldnt save her sister regardless) but it didnt bother me. I HATED the way Gale/Katnisss responded to it though. Gale didnt even fight to save their friendship and he supposedly loved her more than anything. They completely gave up on each other, after everything! Disappointing. I was happy she ended up with Peeta and the line the author put in explaining it (about she had enough fire of her own etc) seemed to really tie it together...but I wish she had spent more time on the end developing it. It just.... ended. Then flash forward thirty years (exaggeration, I dont remember how much time was supposed to have passed) and they have kids and are still dealing with the trauma of the games? Ugh.
Ok the trauma I can understand, but still the ending seemed so rushed and thrown together to me. I loved Haymich all throughout the series, he was to me the most developed character and seemed to grow the most throughout the story. And Cienna, loved him!! Anyone else feel the same?

[wingshockeygal]

I just started the first book last night. I wanted to read it before the movie came out. It has been on my list for awhile. I'm not sure what I hadn't started it before. I had too many other things to read first I suppose. I loaned the ebook to my mom, who read it over the weekend. She loved it and said she's pretty sure I will also. I'll get back to you all about that in a few days when I'm finished.