Quenching Your Thirst: The Hunger Games Trilogy

Happy Thirst-day!

On this special edition, I will be critiquing the Hunger Games Trilogy all in one. With so many fans and public awareness, I will simply be stating more about my own thoughts on the series rather than on an individual book.

Name:

      Book 1– The Hunger Games

      Book 2– Catching Fire

      Book 3– Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

YA Genre: Dystopian

Pages:  1163 Combined

Reading time:  1 week

Rating: 3 out of 5

Trilogy Overview:

Well if you haven’t heard about this book or series already, here is a quick overview. Katniss Everdeen lives in a dystopian world where people are being mistreated by the government. As punishment for a battle fought close to a century ago, the government forces 24 kids from the rebellion 

side and makes them enter a game for their life. Everyone has played by the rules the last 75 years, obeying the strict eye of the government.

 Until Katniss comes along.

She defies the government by using her wit and “charm” to overcome the challenges the government poses on her. 

As almost everyone knows there are movies based on these books. The first one has already come out being a big hit and the second comes out in theaters on November 22, 2013.

So read the series before the movie premier and compare the two.

Trilogy Review:

I must say, for a trilogy that has been the in the hype of entertainment for the last few years, I was thoroughly disappointed. After watching the first movie about a year ago, I loved the entire idea of the hunger games,  but now after reading the series I was stunned into an agitated silence. This dystopian feel of the books only showed even deeper in the books. So deep that you began to see how helpless the entire cause was for the protagonist of the story.

When I read stories I don’t look for happy endings, or for a guy to save the girl like in the Disney fairytales. Instead I look for morals from the author. What message is the author trying to send to her readers is a huge part about why I love books, but the message throughout this trilogy was next to nothing but depressing. It gives no hope to our race as humans, basically saying that we are meant to suffer and continue suffering and shouldn’t look for a happier outcome.
Is this really what America wants to see in the next few decades?

Back in the great depression years, America used to fantasize about superheroes like superman and captain america, and now look at what we wish upon our nation and the world. All we can think about is a zombie apocalypse, Dystopian worlds for our future, and aliens massacring the world.

These books are no exception to this way of thinking, and without a message from the author telling us about how we can get past it I will never appreciate these books in the literary world.

Life should be about overcoming the darkness of our day to day lives and instead this trilogy leaves a sour taste in my mouth and words I wish I had never read.

Please let me know how you liked the books, because I did enjoy them while I was reading. It was just the message that crumpled my hopes for the story.

Quenching Your Thirst: The Elite

Happy Thirst-day….Again!

Yep that’s right, this is my second book this Thursday.  Lets just say I’ve been busy catching up on my reading this past week. I’ll also admit that I was way too excited to wait until next week to post this book. It’s a good one!

Name: The Elite

Author: Kiera Cass

YA Genre: Dystopian Romance

Book Form: Hardcover

Pages: 323

Reading Time: 2 days

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

Back of Book:

The Selection began with 35 girls. Now, with the group narrowed down to the Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon’s love is fiercer than ever. The closer America gets to the crown, the more she struggles to figure out where her heart truly lies. Each moment she spends with Maxon is like a fairy tale, filled with breathless, glittering romance. But whenever she sees her first love, Aspen, standing guard, she’s swept up in longing for the life they’d planned to share. 

America is desperate for more time. But while she’s  torn between her two futures, the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want- and America’s chance to choose is about to slip away.

Book Review:

There is nothing greater to me than a book that plays with my heart. A book that gets me so emotionally attuned to the character that I can’t even tell us apart. This is what Kierra Cass does to me in this series.

Being the second book of a trilogy, I thought it was going to be horrible. Usually, these middle books are used to fill in blanks, and get you to the third one. I did get a slight sense that she was filling, but her character and her story overpowered any thing more than a seconds thought on the matter.

This book, along with the first, is exactly what teen girls are looking for. They want the romance, but the hesitant step to dive forward. There is doubt in America’s mind, like most U.S. girls, but there is also an erupting courage. America’s struggle with the two men in her life is a problem a lot of teen girls are dealing with. Should we pick the man we had originally planned a life with, or should we take the person who seems to care for ME.

To be honest, America made me angry in the first one, but I realized it’s only because she hasn’t truly found herself until the very end of this book. I admire her new found strength and her courage to take large steps, and it made me fall in love with this book even more. The last part I will mention is my favorite scene towards the end, when the truth is finally discovered within America, and she decides to take the bold step and speak out.

This book is for all of us hopeless romantics out there, but I will ask you to please read the The Selection first so you aren’t lost along the way. I also didn’t give this a full five because there where still minor things I might not have loved, but overall this book blew me away.

I can’t wait for the third one The One coming out next spring. When I first found out I had to wait that long I grew very angry. I wanted to dive right in to the next book, and here I have to wait another year. Oh well, I should probably work on my patience  anyways.

Feel free to let me know if you like the book too, or if it wasn’t for you. We can’t all be in love with Maxon!

A. Willow

Quenching Your Thirst: Being Henry David

Happy Thirst-day!

Before we get started for the review I just want to say I NEVER would have picked up this book on my own, but for you guys, I broadened my horizons.

Name: Being Henry David

Author: Cal Armistead

YA Genre: Contemporary

Book Form: Hardcover

Pages: 304

Reading Time: 2 weeks

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Quote: “When you’ve lost your past you have to live in the present.

Back of the book:

“How can you move on with your life when you can’t even remember it?

He wakes up in Penn Station with no memory of who he is. All he has in his possession is a  worn out paperback of  Walden by Henry David Thoreau. All he knows is that he’s on the run.

And so he becomes Henry David, “Hank” for short. With the book as his guide, he sets out for the only destination he can think of: Walden Pond. There, while sleeping in the woods and hiding around town, it seems like he can begin again, with new friends and a girl he can’t stop thinking about. 

But when pieces of memories start coming back, Hank realizes the stranger  he fears the most is himself. What’s in his past that his mind won’t let him face?

Review:

As you have seen by my grading (2.5) I was not impressed, but before I begin to criticize the book I would first like to point out its strengths. The book was interesting, I’ll give it that. The fact that a boy can’t remember who he is, not even his name is intriguing, and the beginning description literally feels like a strike to the face.

What made the story good,  was how the beginning and the end weaved together a beautiful metaphor on how to treat life. I found the meaning behind the book the best part about it, but the actual story lacked depth.

The story, at first, was so intriguing I couldn’t put the book down. It was after the first few chapters that it winded down, but nothing seemed to be happening. From chapter 6 to about 15 or so I call those the Dead Pages. There were sparks here and there of interest, something that would bring the book back to life, but they were quickly extinguished.

It was as though Cal was trying to keep the book going, and drag it out to become a novel. I believe that if the book lost 100 pages, it would make more entertaining. It would keep you on the edge of your seat and not dread so long on things teens don’t want to read.

I believe this book is for those who are heading down the literature path. This long, drawn out book is exactly what most literature is all about. It had some intense parts, but overall it was very boring and took me forever to read. If your the type of person who can take on a slow book that has great meaning behind it then I say go for it, but if your like me and want something you want to fall in love with you should pass.

I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts about this book. Every one of us has different styles and maybe this is yours.

As always your thoughts are welcome.

A. Willow

Quenching Your Thirst: The Selection

Happy Thirst-day!

Here is the first book review for the blog, and I’m excited this was the first!!!

Name:   The Selection

Author:   Kiera Cass

YA Genre:  Dystopian Romance

Book Form: Paperback

Pages:   327

Reading Time:   2 days

Rating:   4 (Out of 5)

Back of the book:

“For thrity-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime.

The opportunity to be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she begins to realize that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.”

Review:

A twist of Cinderella meets Hunger Games leads the readers into a very enticing read. With a catering palace, poverty on the outskirts, a game show for the thrill of the country, and a love triangle (do I have to mention twilight?) America Singer is thrown into a confusing world.

To cover the basics I found the beginning to be agonizingly slow, and if it wasn’t for America’s winning personality I would have dropped the book. It began with a staggering quality but once the competition hits  things flowed so quickly it seemed I couldn’t stop until the end. There is obvious drama that comes with any competition between girls, but there is a much deeper conflict at hand.

America must choose between a life with Aspen (Her sort of boyfriend of 2 years) or the rich Prince Maxon. The thing is America has very different relationships with these men. With Prince Maxon it is very reserved. They talk for hours on end and can’t seem to get enough of each others company, but Apsen is the complete opposite. Every time America is with Aspen there is this heated quality of hormones raging through the roof, but they never talk as much as you think a couple should. For a relationship to work you must have a balance, and this leaves the reader to decide who they want to end up with America!

Personally from this book I’m rooting for Prince Maxon. Apen was too much of a jerk in the beginning only seeing her when he wanted to, and every time they were together it seemed as though he really only wanted “one thing”. Whereas Prince Maxon is a gentleman, but he is also girl stupid. That’s right. I wanted to get it through his head that yes a girl needs a friend in a relationship, but she also needs a man to take charge and sweep her off her feet. I mean he is a prince after all, shouldn’t that be easy for him to do?

I found this book to be a very good read, and if it had not been for the beginning, Kiera Cass would have had a 5 Star. She really outdid herself with this book and I would recommend everyone to read it.