The Hunger Games Trilogy; Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games (book 1) : This was an interesting book. The premise was completely unique and like nothing I've ever read before, which made it captivating right off the bat. But it was written in first person which sometimes gets in the way of the story for me. Only mildly distracting in this book, but still distracting. I really did enjoy this book, but the ending, however necessary to the next book, was too abrupt for me. Overall, good book.

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Catching Fire (book 2) : This was my favorite of the series. The first person did not confuse me too much because the story hardly ever slowed down. That makes it so much easier to follow. There was also very little of a love story that I feel sometimes gets in the way of the actual plot of the book, especially when the book has so many different things we are supposed to pay attention to and remember like this type of sci-fi. I really enjoyed the twists and turns and this book and how it's fast face helped me understand what was going on so much more than either of the other books. Overall, very good book.

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Mockingjay (book 3) : This was probably my least favorite of the series. The story, in and of itself, was really good. But it's overall story confused me in several places and the first person confused me and took me out of the story way too many times, much more than any book should. I'm still confused on a few points but pretty sure if I go back to read them they will seem the same. The shock value moments were really good, the author has no shortage of talent in that area. But following through afterward was not always the best. Plus, the ending was much too abrupt for the relationships to the main character she'd invested us in. I understand wanting to wrap up quickly as the book was getting long, but it was quite shady and lame, I thought. Overall, good.

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Mostly, what really would have made this series great for me would have been a look into the human psyche that helped explain what it is about killing a person or seeing a person killed that weakens and damages the mind so much. The main character was not just affected by close friends and family deaths, and that was made obvious by each of her breakdowns. But what was it that made her break down? One sentenced described her as "cracking open" on the inside and I though that was a very interesting way of portraying her emotions, but more description of what exactly causes that would have been great. However, I think that could only be described through third person, and we did not have access to that, which is just a part of these books. Still, it would have been nice.