After back to school night, I came home to the most pleasant surprise: my copy from Amazon had arrived! Despite being absolutely knackered, I opened it about 10:30pm, and read it anyway. When I finished it... here are my thoughts:
1. Suzanne Collins did tie up all the loose ends. There's nothing to finish, no story, character, or plot to revisit. She tied everything up, and there are no plot holes. 1st star.
2. The characters are nicely rounded. Despite the book being told in first person, Katniss is not the only "main" character. The book is still deeply introspective, but Katniss is deeper, richer, and grows to be a likable character. She realizes who she is, what she wants, and the reader sees what they want for her in the future. Gale, Peeta, Prim, and the other characters are also nicely rounded out this time around. Even the more minor characters are likable. The villains are true antagonists vs nemesis, which makes them realistic. This is "real life" instead of "super heroes." Life in microcosm. 2 stars.
3. There was a lot of emotional appeal. I was torn about how it played emotionally. For its teen audience, I guess this is OK. Sometimes I wondered if this was more than needed. This will be great for the silver screen. Much of what happened in the book was a gigantic emotional appeal of "spots"--advertisements--promos (propo--propaganda) for either side of the revolution. "Tell me how to feel." One of the gigantic themes of the book is "Don't mess with how I feel". Real or not real? It plays on the philosophical idea that "reality exists in the mind" and that sanity is a state of mental clarity.
4. The book had a lot of action, jumped around in location, and went places. This was fine. It kept the reader waiting, wanting, and reading... Another star.
All in all, I give the book 4 stars. A good, solid finish to an excellent series. It had 2 plot twists I was not expecting (which is always good!) and tied up the series well.
1 comment:
I can't wait to read it!! It sounds so good.
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