The Hunger Games trilogy
 

Has anyone else read these books?

I started Hunger Games on Thursday finished on Sunday, started Catching Fire on Sunday finished it yesterday and have begun Mockingjay.

I am addicted to them. I want to know what is going to happen. :D

I read that Hunger Games will be made into a movie, releasing sometime next year.

I read them a few months ago - great series! I don't know how I feel about a movie version, though ...

I haven't, but my son loves them.

IMDb simply shows it as "in development," with a possible release date of 2013. Apparently, there is a script and a producer, but that's it -- no cast or director yet.

My son will probably not be happy to hear about a possible movie, though. He tends to be really tough on movies adopted from books he likes.

I love them :D

I listened to them on audiobook and really enjoyed them. My main quibble with them is that they're obviously written for a YA audience -- no big deal but I found the story to be kind of clunky and predictable. Not as well-written as say, Harry Potter, but a really enjoyable story.

I didn't like the ending to the Mockingjay. I thought it was abrupt, like the author ran out of time before a deadline and stumbled quickly through the rest of the story. I did like the first two a lot though.

I'm reading Mockingjay right now. But I'm sure any ending will be better, in my eyes, than the ending to Breaking Dawn (which I thought was abrupt and like WTF was this).

I'm with adpi*violet. My sister recommended the series to me right before Mockingjay came out. Loved the first two books and couldn't wait to read the last. Unfortunately, the last book was poorly written and stumbled through several key plot points. My sister and I were very disappointed with the way it all ended but would still recommend the series.

Grad school has been kicking my butt and I haven't had much time for leisurely reading. Can someone write a general synopsis? Sure, I'm going to google the series once I close this thread but I want to hear from people who've read them. Once I finish school (graduation Dec 18, woot woot!!), I plan to start reading for entertainment again.

Just finished Mockingjay. I guess my biggest complaint would be the whole Peeta and Katniss storyline. I love the ending with them but it was like "bam" here it is. I would have loved a bit more about them. But the reality is the story was over, the war was over. Either way I did enjoy the series, just like I didn't like the ending of Breaking Dawn, but love the series overall.

I didn't like how she finished the story of her sister, either. It was like, and so it is. Ta da. The Peeta storyline sucked. I wanted my Peeta from the first two books back. Totally agree about the Twilight series, too.

I missed the Peeta from the first two books as well. I wanted him back as well. He never truly got "better" and that kind of annoyed me.

A summary.
Post-apolcalyptic America: 13 (well 12) Districts ruled by 1 Capital. Due to a rebellion in the past, the Capital enforces discipline on the districts by making them provide 2 Tributes in the form of children between 12 and 18 to participate in The Hunger Games every year. The children are then thrown in the arena and forced to kill or be killed for the entertainment of the Roman, I mean... Capital citizenry. It's like Survivor done by Caligula. How much more horrifying is it because you could see a TV show like this existing and people watching it? The books follow Katniss who will end up in The Hunger Games because that's how books like this work.

Government is predictably corrupt and Big Brother-esque, there's a huge divide between the Capital citizens and those of the districts. (At least of the ones we see the most of, there are some seen as suck-ups/collaborators) I find the characters interesting though ones that I'd liked early on in the series became seriously grating later on. Then I remember that they are teenagers after all. Katniss isn't particularly a hero, she's just in the right (wrong?) place at the right time and her ability to survive is based in large part due to her ingenuity but also some dumb luck and the guidance and help of others.

Also along for the ride are her mother and sister, her co-Tribute Peeta, their alcoholic mentor, her best friend and sometimes-cousin, and an assortment of other characters ranging from vicious and cruel to tragic to absurd.

Unlike others, I didn't find Mockingjay particularly bad, but I kind of liked the fact that she wasn't entirely capable of handling everything. She's capable, but she's not invincible.

I enjoyed the whole series.

Thanks! Hmmm...sounds interesting. I'm not sure why because it doesn't sound like the same story, but the summary makes me think of The Giver. Did anyone read that in elementary? Anyway, I'm always looking for new books to read so I'm definitely looking forward to checking out this trilogy.

The Giver also fits into Post-Apoc/Dystopian genre.

If you liked The Giver there are two sequels out there too. Not quite as good, but still enjoyable.

I actually liked how Katniss was written. She was a teenager and made stupid teenage mistakes but was forced to be an adult. It was like she was being torn.

I liked Mockingjay, I just wanted old Peeta (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire Peeta) back.

Exactly. She never really got a chance to know what she wanted, and as easy as it is to get frustrated with her (or other characters) that reminder about how she's really just 16 and got thrown into something I certainly couldn't handle would help me regain perspective.

I always felt Peeta was pretty flat. Once he chose Katniss over himself there was never a change in him. At least not from Katniss' perspective. He was always reacting to her.

I read The Hunger Games for my book club. We loved it, and the rest of the club went on to read the trilogy. The second book they say is great but that the 3rd was awful, which is what you all are saying.

I tried to skip past any spoilers above, but as much as the Peeta/Katniss romance story was sugar sweet and predictable... i'll go along with it. Still debating on Catching Fire.

So some of my students had been talking about this book called Mockingjay that they had picked up for their reading class (they are 7th graders), but i didnt know too much about it. I actually, picked this book up after someone suggested it on the reviews for "I am four."

I read the first book the day I got it...read nonstop probably like 5ish hours. I loved the first book! I was shocked to find out that Mockingjay was part of the trilogy. So I decided to continue reading the books. I currently just started Carching Fire, and if I have time tomorrow, I'll probably end up finishing it.

I've not read them, but I've just started getting casting notices for the movies, so a movie series is definitely happening.

Yeah the release date is March 2012, so they better get on it. ;)

BUMP

What?! I never knew there were sequels! I'll have to check them out.

I started The Hunger Games yesterday and finished it. I started Catching Fire today. I did google the series after my last post and even read a spoiler about the ending, but now I can't remember it. I am so tempted to google it again, but I'm fighting against it since I'm reading the trilogy now.

Jennifer Lawrence was chosen for Katniss.

http://www.movieweb.com/news/the-hun...wrence-casting

I just watched Winter's Bone today and can totally see her as Katniss. Great casting!

I think she'll be good, i'm just sad that she's blonde and fair skinned.

They can make her look anyway they want for the movie, so don't despair.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment...r_assures.html

Yeah no, Katniss has an olive complexion, her father is (at least?) biracial and it's more likely that the workers in the Seem are multiracial with a lot of Italian in there as well (based on Appalachian/mining populations in WV and elsewhere). Katniss' mom and sister stand out for being fair and blonde.

It's more like casting non-Asians in Airbender than a case of needing hair dye.

I think it'll be fine. The question of her coloring is less important than finding an actress that has the chops to hold together a movie like this. The other women they were considering, IMHO, would have been terrible in the role. A little make-up and Hollywood magic will do wonders for her complexion. She's a great actress.

I get that. I just object to making a multiracial role a white role. I don't want her wearing biracial makeup, make her look Italian I suppose but whatever. It's still disappointing. And if they make the entire Seem white.. or Rue and Thresh... smh. I'm out.

Hopefully she pulls a Christian Bale and REALLY looks the underfed/ overworked part even if Katniss and her family are better off than the others in the Seem.

^^This. Personally, I really wanted Hailee Steinfeld (the girl from True Grit) to play Katniss :(

Unfortunately, i do agree that she's too young, and at her age if they don't make the movies back to back she'll be, not too old, but too drastically different in looks. At least they went with a young adult actress and didn't try to do the 26 but in 'high school' thing.

I know I'm rehashing a possibly old topic, but it has actually become a serious issue, not because of who they cast, but how they cast.

They've actually been called on the carpet because the casting directors had a Caucasians only casting call for this movie.

In that respect I do question her coloring. No problem if they had it open for everyone and they felt she was the best.

Wow...really? That's tasteless.

http://www.racebending.com/v4/featur...games-casting/

http://www.racebending.com/v4/featur...-hunger-games/

^^ Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that site. Been following the Hunger games as well as the Airbender issue off of Racialicious and ONTD_F. Not sure how I missed "Racebending.com" but there you go.

http://jezebel.com/#!5793478/the-hun...-effie-trinket

http://i.imgur.com/3cYeT.jpg
Effie Trinket (maybe), Rue and Thresh

"Rue's" picture reminds me of how young the character is. As much as I love the story, at times I forget how tragic it was.

So I read all three books in one night (thank you nook...) and I agree that the third book really wasn't as good as the first two. It was really slow in the beginning, and I was not a fan of what happened to Peeta.
Casting wise, I think that they have done a good job so far. I did hear that Kristen Chenoweth was in considerations for being Effie, which would have been WONDERFUL, but I'm excited for who they have chosen (if that rumor is true). On their facebook page, they keep up to date with casting news and who they've chosen for the other tributes, which I like. They've also casted Katniss' mom and sister, as well at a Haymitch!
I might be a little bit excited for this movie, no big deal.

^^ haymitch isn't Hugh Laurie is he? I assume he's not, but it would be awesome.

From the things I have heard/seen, it is John C. Reilly, but it hasn't been announced officially yet.

That'd be interesting.