I first read The Hunger Games and watched the movie in middle school, but I never ventured further into the series until a few months ago. With the Sunrise of the Reaping book released last year, I figured I would read the series since I needed something new to read. And I’m glad I did because this series is amazing! There is a reason why this series was so popular in the 2010s and why it is still beloved today!

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The Hunger Games (4.5/5 stars)
Reading The Hunger Games as an adult, the book holds up. The characters are well written and interesting, the plot is engaging and the message about politics, control, and culture is eerily relevant. There is plenty of tension and drama that keeps you reading.  Suzanne Collins immerses us in the world so effortlessly and writes so effectively. I know she must have documents dedicated to worldbuilding because it feels spotless. Not a word is wasted. I enjoyed the time spent in District 12, the time spent in training and in the Capitol, and the time in the arena. The pacing is great.

I love how the story does not entirely rely on the plot but the characters as well. The Tributes for the 74^th Hunger Games are a great bunch of characters. I like how Foxface is similar to Katniss, and Katniss understands her. The Careers are very compelling characters as well and developed just enough to wonder about their lives back home. Rue is obviously amazing! She is fierce and sweet and a beautiful mirror of Prim. I enjoyed seeing Katniss and Rue’s relationship develop. And I love Peeta of course! He is soft and sensitive, but also strong! I like how he is a charismatic speaker but doesn’t feel like a cocky jerk or a womanizer. The inner dialogue Katniss has about Peeta is so funny and feels very 16-year-old girl. Katniss is a strong heroine without being too over the top. She feels relatable, and her motivations are understandable given her world—everything this does is for survival.

The world-specific language is explained well and easy to understand. Collins does not talk down to her teen audience. The deeper societal issues are explained appropriately, not shoved in your face and overexplained or vague and weak.

This book is a great introduction to the world and still feels complete if you read it on its own. This truly feels like a masterclass on how to write a great book.

Catching Fire (5/5 stars)
I loved this book! Since it was my first time reading it, I was so invested! This feels like the perfect sequel, with new characters and additional worldbuilding and no filler.

This book starts with time at home with Katniss adjusting to her new life in Victor’s Village. I liked how her PTSD is written; it feels realistic that she is not perfectly healed. She is still so young at 17, and the audience gets to grow with her. The Victory Tour, especially the scenes in District 11, was well written and sows the seeds for the future rebellion in an organic way.

The scene of Snow coming to visit Katniss was eerie. I like how Katniss is trying to figure out what is going on but she can’t help but be herself. I hated that the Hob was burned down and everyone was displaced. But it does a good job of showing how things are progressively getting worse. The wedding planning provided some brevity while showing the Capitol being controlling.

I knew that Katniss got Reaped again, but it was gut wrenching to read. Just to imagine how she has had no time to recover or process is heartbreaking. But at least we get amazing new characters. It’s interesting to see how former Tributes have coped. I love Finnick, Johanna, Beetee, and Wiress! One of my favorite scenes is when Katniss says she wanted Beetee and Wiress as her allies and Haymitch is like ‘of course you would.’  

The time in the arena is so intense, and I love how the setting is very different to the 74^th Hunger Games, with all new dangers and slightly different survival skills needed. I hated reading about the mutts and poison fog, just one thing after another. Just like Katniss, the audience is trying to figure out what is going on.  

The last few chapters in the arena were so intense and engaging! I was wondering ‘what is going to happen? Like they don’t die right? Multiple Tributes survive, right? How is she going to accomplish this?’ I was on the edge of my seat at work, drinking in every word of the audiobook. This book is the perfect amount of drama, tragedy, moving the plot forward, and expanding on our knowledge of Panem and the characters.

Mocking Jay (3.5/5 stars)
This book was good, but it was hard to read. It was so sad, like grotesquely sad, in some places. Wow.

Learning about District 13 was interesting, how they have their own rules and regiment. Wild to think they had been underground for 75 years? How did they not run out of food, water, oxygen, or space? It’s wild how some things are so advanced in Panem and some things are so primitive. Like the medical care can basically fix all of Katniss’s wounds and burns, but most districts don’t have food or heat and can’t travel. The genius of Collins’ writing, truly.

 It feels realistic how Katniss slowly gets more involved with the rebellion, as she visits the Districts, becomes more convicted, and wants to take an active part in the war. She is so strong, yet vulnerable, so young yet so mature. The juxtaposition of Peeta and the Capital saying let’s just settle for peace, and District 13 pulling and planning for war is a great plot point.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Johanna and Katniss were training together, that was nice to see their friendship develop. It was heartbreaking to read about Peeta being hijacked. Peeta is full of conviction, compassion, strength, and love, so to see him forget himself and change into a scared, hateful person was horrifying.

It was interesting but also frustrating to read about when Katniss and her unit were trying to infiltrate the Capitol and get to Snow. Every twist and turn the Capitol felt just an inch behind the rebels and then an inch ahead of the rebels, and it made me wonder how did the rebels win? I wish some of the scenes had been shortened since it felt like forever they were navigating pods. There were a lot of combat scenes, which aren’t my favorite.

The pacing felt a little slower in this book and my biggest complaint is the ending. I don’t think it was explained why shooting Coin ends the Hunger Games and solves all the problems. Maybe I missed that part because I was confused as to how everything just gets magically fixed in the end. Where were the negotiations, treaties, and the terms of ending the Hunger Games? There was combat, there was bloodshed, there was a battle of intelligence and plenty of strategizing. It was a real war, and it felt like a real war. But where was the peace agreement? It felt a little rushed at the end with the deaths of Coin and Snow just haphazardly fixing everything.

Prim’s death was super sad, but I do understand why the choice was made to kill her. I think narratively it made sense and it worked. But why did Gale get to live? How could he have possible managed to kill and escape all of those Peacekeepers on his own? I guess if he died it would have felt like Katniss was stuck with Peeta instead of getting to choose to be with him. But if Finnick had to die, why did Gale get to live…

War stories aren’t my favorite, so this book was a lot harder for me to get through. I loved the worldbuilding and character development, but this felt more plot driven. It was a good book and necessary for the overall story. I’m sure when I read it again, I will glean more and have a different perspective.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (4/5 stars)
I really liked this book! Diving into an entirely different world and story was refreshing and kept me engaged. Snow is a well written character, and I liked him as a narrator. I liked the variation in settings, as we see Snow as a student, a grandson, a kid, a lover, a Peacekeeper, and an adult. We see him hungry, we see him afraid, we see him vulnerable, and we see him calculate and manipulate.

Learning about Lucy Gray and the Covey was fascinating. I love their family unit and culture and that we get to see their performances. I think this lore adds a lot to the story, and I like how Lucy Gray is her own person and has her own ideals and beliefs. The other new or previous characters are also so interesting! Tigris is so sweet and amazing; I love her! It is heartbreaking to think about what happened in the past 65 years, the poor woman. Dr. Gall, what a freaking crazy lady aghhh! I love all the students/mentors and how they have their little quirks and characterizations from Snow. And sweet Sejanus, the only normal person among them! He was so wonderful and I loved him!

There are so many things I love about this book, and one is how we can use our imagination and Collins’s amazing writing to try to figure out how Panem and the Games have transformed over the past 65 years. I love how we get this origin of how the Games used to be in a lame little arena with less coverage and little spectacle, to in the 74^th Games where everything is high-tech and cultivated, orchestrated and on display. We are seeing history be written in this book!  

My teeny complaints were how several Tributes died before the Games, it felt a little convenient so that things would be easier for Lucy Gray to win. But I understand it was a way to show the Capitol’s neglect. My other complaint is the ending, it did feel a little rushed and confusing. I reread it, but I guess I should have reread it again, because I was still slightly confused about what happened. Maybe that’s the point? Lucy Gray just leaves and you don’t know if she died or ran away or if Snow end up killing her or if she ended up living in District 12 for a long time.

Overall, this was an excellent book to round out the story and the robustness of the world. The character development was awesome, the plot was interesting, and there was plenty of drama and intrigue to keep you guessing and reading.

I never considered myself someone who liked villain stories, but maybe I do? It is interesting to try to fill in the gaps of how he went from student to dictator. Is he evil, or is the system evil? Is he just complicit and that’s why he’s evil, or does he actually hold these beliefs? We see him transform a little bit, so is it in his nature, or it is brought about from his environment? Can we blame Dr. Gall and the other higher ups? This book is extremely well written, and that’s what I think good stories do, they invite conversations and encourage you to reflect, ponder, and imagine. I definitely want to read this book again!

Sunrise on the Reaping (3.5/5 stars)
I love how this book expands on the worldbuilding, and allows us to see District 12, the Covey, the Hunger Games, and some of our favorite characters in a new light. Getting to learn about Haymitch’s backstory with his family and Lenore Dove is interesting. One of my favorite parts is seeing wonderful Mags, Beetee, and Wiress, as well as Katniss’s parents! They are all so amazing.

I think I didn’t click with this book super well because Haymitch as a narrator wasn’t my favorite. I’m not sure why exactly, maybe the way he thinks is not super relatable to me. Maybe it was the audiobook narrator’s voice, or my cynic tendencies, but the way he always said, “Lenore Dove, oh, my Lenore Dove,” was a little grating on my nerves.

I liked the dynamic between Haymitch, Louella, Maysilee, and Wyatt. Seeing Maysilee become more endearing to Haymitch was sweet. I liked the scenes in the training center and the apartment. I was not expecting a subplot of Haymitch being a rebel and trying to destroy the arena. It is wild that the underground rebellion has been going on for 25 years! Haymitch and Plutarch being little rebels. It shows how long things take to change. It’s crazy that Plutarch was able to be undercover for so long, and that he was never killed off by Snow!

One thing that I think this book did well was challenge your expectations and double down on how awful the Capitol is. Like how the Reaping was slightly rigged and how Haymitch wasn’t even called but had to go and how Luella died during the Tribute Parade and they got some random stand-in girl to replace her. This book adds a lot of details to the world, which us fans appreciate!

This book was super dark. It is horrifying to think of how 47, well 48, okay, 49 kids had to die, well 52 if you count Haymitch’s family and Lenore Dove. Not to mention Ampert’s death was just so gruesome. Poor Beetee, I can’t imagine his grief. Maybe the target audience is a little bit older. This book was hard to get through and not for the faint of heart.

One question I have is if Snow hated Haymitch so much, why did they let him win? Why did they send those mutts after Maysilee? Why not let Maysilee win? Because Snow hates girls from District 12? Well then why was Katniss allowed to win? Was that all Seneca’s fault? Why didn’t they send mutts after Haymitch and let the Career girl win? So strange. I mean how much of it is all rigged and how much is luck? It’s wild that there has been a winner from every district? I would love to see the spreadsheet Suzanne Collins has with all 75 winners!

I am genuinely shocked that District 12 doesn’t do better in the games because they seem to have survival skills from where they live. If I was in the Hunger Games, I wouldn’t know how to do anything. But I guess the Capitol rigs it, so District 12 is never able to win and the arena changes and is not always a forested area that plays to their strengths.

There is a lot going on in this book, so I think I need more time to process it. I am so excited to watch the movie in November!

My Rankings
5^th Place: Sunrise on the Reaping – I just didn’t click with Haymitch as much as the other narrators and wasn’t as engaged in the story as some of the other books

4^th Place: Mockingjay – Hard to read with how graphic and horrific it was with the resolution of the war failing to satisfy all my questions

3^rd Place: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – I enjoyed Coriolanus Snow as a narrative and the new perspective of the Hunger Games and the Capitol was really interesting

2^nd Place: The Hunger Games – It’s basically perfect in executive, characters, plots, and themes, but I love Catching Fire a little more

1^st Place: Catching Fire – I love the new characters and the rebellion subplot and how you are trying to figure out what’s going to happen

Let me know what your favorite Hunger Games book is and why!