I went through this one really fast. Couldn't put it down. Unlike the first book, I was unable to predict a good number of the plot twists. There were some I guessed at a little bit, but not the extent and details.I'm not sure how to feel about her confusion between Peeta and Gale. I think it's because Gale just doesn't have as much "screen time" as Peeta. But I just don't feel anything about Peeta. I know she cares about him desperately, but honestly, I don't. I couldn't care less whether he lives or dies. I do care about Peeta, though.
I've begun finding Katniss a bit frustrating. The behavior which I easily excused as entirely plausible in the first book has begun to really grate on me. Her inability to trust people who I see as obviously on her side really started to bother me. Of course, I'm sure anyone would say that in her situation it's entirely understandable. But I can't get past it, anyway. It really bothered me reading about her contemplating murdering people who were helping her. It wasn't just the more understandable mistrust toward the other tributes, but the head game master, whose name I've already forgotten despite having just finished reading the book literally 10 minutes ago. He SHOWED her that he was on her side early on in the book, yet she kept thinking of him as an enemy throughout the entire book, ignoring what she was shown.
It bothered me that she never thought to try to defy the capitol. In the first book, it made sense not to. In this book, there were already uprisings going on, and she knows the capitol wants them dead, and they're doing everything they can to hurt her. I really wanted her to try earlier on to defy them, to simply refuse to kill the other tributes. I'm sure someone will point out the problem with that is that it's hard to ensure that they would agree to the same. Sure. But nonetheless, I wanted that, because I really felt it was time for her to take a stand against the abuse they were being put through.
I was very satisfied with the ending, I have to say. Very eager to see what's going to happen next. Also, I freaking love Haymitch.
