The Hunger Games Trilogy review

First things first... Under the cut there are spoilers. 

I am going to talk in detail about what happened in all three books. If you haven't read them then don't read anything past the next sentence.

I will say one thing about these books, they are fantastic.


I feel in love with the characters, despite the fact that many of them seem so unloveable. It didn't matter that Katniss was unfriendly and manipulative. Because we were in her head we got to see all her insecurities, her confusion and reasoning behind her actions. There's a bit of naivety about her that makes her endearing.

I really, really like her and I think that's down to well written first person narration.

Because I only finished Mockingjay yesterday the wound is still quite fresh and I'm thinking about all the characters who have come and gone over the three books. My heart hurts at the thought of what happened to Prim. She grew so much as a character, from a scared little girl to someone quite level-headed and brave.

I was driving home yesterday and I thought of Finnick and almost broke into tears (they're threatening now). He was an amazing character. Handsome, tourtured, clever, in love.

The characterisation was great. Each character had depth, flaws and all. That's not something I've come across in a book (or series of books) in a long time.

Throughout each book I was hoping Katniss would end up with Gale. I don't know why because I like Peeta but because of the games his and Katniss' relationship seemed so forced. I suppose Katniss took his love for granted until he'd been hijacked and she realised she really did want him to love her.

I feel like I could ramble for ages about each of the books but I don't think anyone wants that. I just want to get across my love for this series, the emotions it stirred in me and how I'm still on the brink of tears.

The scene that really got me was in Mockingjay, at the end where Katniss is at home and Buttercup, Prim's cat, joins her. Katniss crying and Buttercup wailing about the loss of Prim made me cry. It baffles me how so much emotion and hurt can be portrayed in so few words.

I suppose I was a little disappointed with the ending. Maybe because I never wanted Katniss and Peeta to end up together. I thought Peeta's hijacking would leave the door wide open for Gale. But Katniss was right, she didn't need someone like Gale to survive. She needed someone strong and gentle like Peeta.

I'd love to know what you all thought of these books, because I bloody loved them! I do think Catching Fire was my favourite of all three but Mockingjay stirred something in me and affected me more than the others.

I generally steer well clear of YA fiction but I didn't even realise this fell into that category despite the fact that Katniss is 15(?) when she's chosen for the first games. Maybe I should read more YA.