Just Finished Reading - The Hunger Games

So, the hubby and I have just finished reading the Hunger Games series (aloud. To one another. I shall explain), and I'd like to tell you what I think of it. Leave now if you're deathly afraid of spoilers. I'll try to be vague, but make no promises.

These are them!

Okay, so I started reading the first book, and realized that the story was going to be really compelling. Like, I wasn't going to want to put it down, and was going to have a hard time not-reading it on the 6-ish hour drive to the cottage for the Civic Holiday weekend. Unfortunately, ignoring your husband while trapped in a small metal & plastic box for 6 hours isn't really kosher, so... as soon as I realized that I was hooked, I went back to the beginning, and started reading the book out loud to him, so he'd be hooked too. (This is how drug dealers work, yes?) We powered through it that weekend, started book 2 after my laser eye surgery, and finished book 3 this past weekend.

All of the books would benefit from a good copy edit. But comma splices and sentence fragments (ugh) aside, the first book was a great story.

Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. Some of my problems with books 2 & 3? Increases in the boooooring teenage self-reflexive angst, and cop-outs on the action from the author (juuuuuust when it starts to look juicy, the heroine is injured and wakes up in the hospital. Cheap.) But mostly it's that the stuff I really liked in Book 1 (who will survive the arena? How will the heroine do it? And what about the boy?) are lost in stilted, not particularly inventive, political drama. Bleh.

If you liked Lord of the Flies and/or the first Hunger Games book (uhh... The Hunger Games) I'd strongly recommend reading Battle Royale rather than wasting your time with Catching Fire and Mockingjay. (If you're really curious and insist on knowing what happens, though, I suppose I could fill you in.) Battle Royale is amazing - way better than Hunger Games. And doesn't have any silly sequels for me to complain about. Win win!