Review: Catching Fire/Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I'm reviewing the final two parts of the Hunger Games trilogy together, as they're so essential to one another that to read one and not the other would be stupid. By the way, I can't review these books without a few Hunger Games spoilers, so don't read on if you've not read the first book yet!

If you look back to my review of The Hunger Games you'll see that I enjoyed it, but felt that it was for the younger end of the YA market, with the gore and suffering taking a back seat and a storyline that's very easy to follow. If you're expecting more of the same from the rest of the trilogy, think again. Catching Fire starts off in a similar vein, exploring the relationships between Katniss, Peeta and Gale, with Katniss and Peeta getting used to life in the Victors Village and embarking on their victory tour. Then, all of a sudden, everything changes gear and it's like reading a completely different book, possibly by a different author.

I've read other reviews and I see that I'm not the only one with this opinion. It has been mentioned that Collins never intended to write a trilogy, which makes complete sense when you look at the three books together. In Catching Fire it was obviously easy for Collins to give us an idea of what life was like for Katniss and Peeta for a while after the games, but then she had to come up with a storyline that could carry on through to the third book. The upshot of this is that it feels a bit disjointed, and while they are both good, the differences between the original storyline and the new one are too great I feel. Maybe I'm being too picky - there's obviously thousands of people out there who have enjoyed the trilogy. I just get the feeling that there was perhaps a few years gap between writing the original book and the last two, and perhaps Collins matured a bit in that time and her writing style changed slightly.

Having engaged fifth gear in the second half of Catching Fire, Collins ramps up the bloodshed, at the same time introducing an increasingly complex storyline. By the time the next Hunger Games are over, we're set up for an explosive third book which in my opinion barely resembles the first at all. We go from the very personal story of Katniss in book one, to a much wider story involving a large cast of characters and the whole of Panem in book three. In some ways it's genius - to take one event in one girl's life and throw it wide open.

Mockingjay is still very much Katniss' story, but her life has changed beyond recognition and she's having to accept some hard truths. It's a harder read, as it's more complex and the whole dystopia theme is much more prevalent. It's also an incredibly sad story. I was crying by the end, and although I salute Collins for creating a satisfactory ending that isn't just 'they all lived happily ever after', I do question her choices of who to kill off. I won't say any more. Get the books, be prepared for something different, and arm yourself with a box of tissues.

Buy Catching Fire and Mockingjay from Amazon.

Image from ScholasticUK twitter via mockingjay.net.

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Okay, so I'm probably the last person to read The Hunger Games, rendering this review pretty useless, but to be honest it didn't really appeal to me at first. I don't like buying into the hype, so when something's huge in the media I tend to avoid it rather than rushing in to see what all the fuss is about. However, I've decided to do this review blog so I thought I'd better check it out. Also, I came across the first book of the trilogy in a charity shop so that decided it for me.

Is it worth the hype? In so much as anything is, yes. It's interesting to watch media trends and wonder just how many people realise what a huge effect the media have on our lives and our taste. Twilight was huge for a while, so we had that whole vampire resurgence, but you only have to go back a few years to see that it was just a repeat of the Anne Rice media train, and Bram Stoker before that. Eventually the market gets over-saturated with vampires, werewolves and the like, so they have to find a new angle, something different that will appeal to the masses. Bring on The Hunger Games - a futuristic dystopia where teenagers fight to the death in an arena. It's like a tailor-made antidote to the intense romance of Twilight - or is it?

I was surprised to come across a strong romantic storyline - I should have known that a trilogy this successful would hang on a love story, but I didn't expect it to be such a large part of the book. I was rather expecting more gore and suffering to be honest. It's certainly not the first time we've been drawn in by the grimy realism of a future where there isn't enough food to go around, where kids will fight over a loaf of bread and think nothing of killing each other. I couldn't help but think of the Japanese film Battle Royale (based on the book of the same name) as I read The Hunger Games, but I guess as in the art world there are no new ideas, only new interpretations of a theme. Whether it's because of being aimed at a slightly younger audience, or just the whim of Suzanne Collins, the gore is kept to a minimum and the general suffering takes a backseat to our heroine Katniss Everdeen's personal experience. This is no bad thing though - if I wanted to read about gruesome murders and a disgusting account of living in the wild I wouldn't have gone to the YA fiction section.

I found the book very easy to read - it's probably aimed at age fourteen or so, and the writing style is of the first person/present tense type that makes it very addictive. With a plot that shoots along consistently at a hundred miles per hour, it's impossible not to get sucked into Katniss' world. It's a world that's hard to live in, tatty around the edges but with a few fluffy moments still. It's a very good interpretation of a sixteen year-old girl and how she thinks as she goes through this extraordinary experience. Okay, so it glosses over a lot of filth and has the odd improbable moment, but that's what artistic licence is for right? It's also another facet of Katniss' character - this strong young woman isn't one to let the bad things get her down, she just won't think about them and they won't seem as bad.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Games were over by the end of the book - I knew it was part of a trilogy and was worried for a while that I might have to buy the other two to finish the story. Collins has done well though - The Hunger Games stands alone well as a story in its own right, while at the same time leaving things nicely open should you wish to continue reading about Katniss. You know what? I think I just might - bring on Catching Fire!

Already read it? Check out my review of Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Buy The Hunger Games on Amazon.