So the rest of this book was the absolute opposite of disappointing! I literally couldn't stop after each part like I had planned. I did contemplate giving this book only a four and a half rating because I wasn't so impressed with the first part of the book, but overall it really deserves five stars. I see now how everything had to be set up, and really was necessary for the actions and emotion to shine through like they did in the rest of the book (I just wish part one was shorter, that's all).
After reading the whole book, I am glad that there wasn't another Games. I don't think that could have been pulled off a third time, and still been able to follow up with the end of the rebellion and tie up all the loose ends so nicely.
I enjoyed that Gale was more a part of this book than he was in the first two. It helped to develop his character further than just Katniss' childhood friend. I never really felt the whole Katniss-Gale thing (it just seemed like Dawson and Joey all over again) but I was able to open up a little more to the idea after his character became more dynamic.
One of the things I didn't expect from the book was how damaged Peeta became from the torture. I was very unsure in the beginning just what was happening to him, and why he was always on TV going against Katniss. I assumed he was just being threatened to do so, but to have him transformed so darkly in much more of a permanent way added some depth to the plot and created a beautiful struggle his relationship with Katniss that I didn't expect.
I know I haven't commented so much on the politics or the actual war element of the book, but if you've read some of my other entries, you'll understand how much I loathe and detest politics, so I breezed right through that with a smile on my face, hungering for the next part I would like, and as such, I have no comments now.
I have to say that I felt cheated when right at the seemingly most exciting part of the story, all of a sudden the reader is wrenched away from the action. It made me even more thirsty for an ending (which was really not necessary by this point), and I enjoyed that unpredictable twist. The one thing I seem to be a little confused about is what happened between Katniss and Snow and Coin? Okay, so Coin was actually the one who bombed the children, pretending it was instead the Capitol. That's why she shot Coin in the end and not Snow? Because it seems to me that Coin could have waited for her punishment until after Snow was disposed of. And what's the deal about Snow and Katniss not lying to each other, and what does that have to do with the whole war? So Katniss shoots Coin, and then is locked away. So she sings?! Hmmm. Whatever.
Actually the only part of this book that made me cry was right at the end when Katniss was grooming Buttercup (Prim's cat) and pulling the thorns out of his paws. It was heartbreaking how even though they hated each other, they came together to comfort one another over the death of a very important loved one. Ususally this sort of thing happens with people, but the fact that it was Katniss and Buttercup, who have always not gotten along, to a humorous extent, was really satisfying.
I loved the ending. I hate feel-good books and movies because they seem so shiny and hardly realistic at all. I was kind of sad that Gale didn't come back with Katniss and Peeta, but of course he had nothing left in district twelve. More importantly, Katniss can't have her cake and eat it too (note to Bella). It was really just the fact that their friendship had to end so suddenly; I felt like there would have been some unfinished business between them, or at least a parting conversation. But maybe that was the bittersweet point. The fact that Katniss and Peeta ended up together (yay!) was exactly what should have happened, but the lack of a happily ever after really drove in the last nail; the impact of the Games and the war and rebellion will never go away, not for years. People don't just wake up one week later the way they were before all the hardships. Things this big and serious really mess with peoples cores, in an inarguably incorrigible way.
Overall, this is one of the most amazing books I've ever read, and definitely a favourite for the vault! ♥
