I'm pretty late to the party with this one. In fact, I'd had no plans to read it at all, because I don't particularly care for young adult literature. I'm an adult, and I prefer to read books that are targeted toward me. But I saw this on sale cheap, so I picked it up.I thought the author's writing made everything extremely vivid. I had a good mental image of District 12, and Katniss's family. I cared about her, and her friends, right away. I did find the tense a little bit distracting, though. The present tense can be very powerful when done right, but the only instance I've ever seen in which it strengthened the novel rather than distracted from it would be The Handmaid's Tale. In this case, I really think it was a mistake to not write this book in past tense.
I liked Katniss. She's clever, but still has some of a sixteen-year-old's emotional naivete. She has a temper, and I like that because it's something I completely relate to myself. I liked Peeta instantly. I kept wanting to hear more from him. I felt she was deluding herself all along that he was trying to manipulate her when it was incredibly obvious he was exactly what he appeared to be: a very nice boy. But given the situation they were in, her misgivings were completely understandable.
I raced through the entire second half of this book with a sense of dread, sure that I would find the ending upsetting but unable to stop myself, because I CARED about these characters. I did predict a plot twist that happened very near the end, because I realized that plot twist was necessary in order for it to be a decent story. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't go into further detail on it. Although I was able to predict it, I would have been disappointed in the book if it hadn't done it. The conflict it added was necessary, and I was glad to see how Katniss was able to overcome it.
I'll definitely be picking up the next book as soon as I can. I have to find out what happens next.
