Finished it about two days ago, and I did quite enjoy it, but it wasn't as good as the first book.
The Orwellian overtones were greater in this book, although we start to see other influences creep in. I noticed some things that seemed along the lines of the Fallout games (Specifically District 13), and the Battle Royale influence just doesn't go away. It's a darker book as well, with a little more violence (Or should I say descriptive violence) and it's perhaps more shocking with who dies and how.
I can't help but begin to feel that the romances in this book are a bit wobbly. Katniss seems to be caught between Gale and Peeta, but I never felt that she had much of an attraction to Gale - He always seemed more of a best friend to her, and this emphasis on her 'not wanting to upset Gale' seems misplaced to me. She's also, for a character so selfless and clever, incredibly selfish about this, but I guess it might be due to the writing and how 'fake' her love for Gale is. The pregnancy plotline was also, in my opinion, completely ridiculous because it came out of nowhere and makes absolutely no sense. Yes, I can sort of see why it's been put it, but I don't think it was necessary as many of the outcomes for this series would eventually prove it to be false and cause even more trouble for Katniss and Peeta, and that's something they clearly don't need.
I'm not sure where Collins is truly going with this series. As it's teen/YA, I've a feeling we're going to have a somewhat happy ending, but part of me is craving an ending like that of We. The idea that a (now) seventeen year old girl and her badge can spark such a powerful movement is, to me, a bit on the ridiculous side, not to mention the Capitol is suffering from mild Villain Incompetence Syndrome.
So far I'm one chapter into the final part, Mockingjay, and we'll see where it goes.
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