Katie S

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  Rachel R says

  I'm still working on Something Borrowed, as I have for several weeks now. I'm having issues getting into books lately. Like I can't figure out if I want to keep reading something, or start something new. You know what I mean? I'll probably still be reading it when I get to your house. That or Sense & Sensibility. Which I know I can get into.
  I actually have already seen the movie, which is the reason why I'm attempting to read the books. BUT I would like to see it again - it was fantastic :)

  Posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  I bet I will, it just may be a while til I can read it because I've already checked the public and my school library and it's not in either one, so I'll have to try to find a time where I can buy it from Barnes and Noble or something. I think Prim and Rue were really important too, not just to Katniss, but they alsonadded to the whole meaning of the series. They represented innocence and purity and all things sweet and good, which emphasized all the more the Captiol's inhuman cruelty and evilness that they would threaten and harm two people who were so good. Prim was most definitely without a doubt my favorite character in the whole series. I was devastated when she died. And even though I knew Rue's death was inevitable, it made me sad all the same because I really, really liked Rue too. She was probably my second favorite character in the first book after Prim. And I think you're right, that they were really Katniss's main form of motivation, which I think also emphasizes Katniss's capability of good. Of course she's not as innocent or purely good as either Prim or Rue, but the fact that she's a defender of people like Prim and Rue, a defender of the innocent and helpless, makes her a good person too. And yes, that's what bothered me about people who are mainly concerned with a Peeta vs Gale debate, it does just make it a knock-off of Twilight when there's so much more to it, it is SUCH a better book than Twilight is, and I think it deserves it's due. I can understand people debating it a little bit, but when that's the only thing they get out of the book, that's when it gets annoying. Whenever someone asks me if I'm 'team Peeta' or 'team Gale', I usually respond that I'm 'team Prim should have lived!' And that is interesting that life is supposed to become easy for victors of the Games, but ends up not. Although I think part of it might be unique to Katniss's case, since she defied the Capitol in the first Hunger Games she was in. Most people it seems like suffer from neglect and oppression when they stay under the Captiol radar, or otherwise, they become, as you put it, targets of death if they oppose the Capitol. I guess that's another issue, mostly in Catching Fire. Which is worse; dying of starvation, or dying fighting for freedom? And then of course the answer by the end is that it's better fighting for freedom.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  I guess that's just an idea I've been brought up with. That love is completely unconditional, so if it's not unconditional, it's not really love. That's what it seemed like for Katniss, at least. It seemed like the only people she ever loved unconditionally were her father, sister, and maybe Rue, and now all of them have been taken away from her. So I can kinda understand if she can't trust herself to love wholeheartedly again; it just hurt her too much. But still, you know that part of the poem "tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." And I'm soooo glad there was no 'final' Hunger Games!! I guess I never thought of it like that. I was a little disappointed that she didn't end up personally killing Snow, but now I see that that was a really, really good thing. I didn't read into the deeper symbolism of her not killing Snow and what that signified, but now I see that it was for the best. And I think that kinda goes back to what I was saying, that deep down, Katniss knows that taking revenge will only lead to more violence. When she kills Coin, she makes the right decision that will be better for the future of Panem, rather than letting herself kept swept away by her emotions. That book does sound interesting, I'm definitely adding to my plan to read shelf. I guess that makes a really good debate: when did Katniss truly die in spirit? Because I can totally understand where you're coming from. Katniss does say that getting reaped is like signing your death warrant. And the odds are against her, but I still think that she has that not-going-down-without-a-fight attitude. Like when the Careers had her trapped in a tree. She could've given up, but she was able to come up with a plan to get away. I don't think she thought she could win either, but she still had that human instinct to keep fighting and to survive. I think it's one of the questions that never really has a right or wrong answer, but is up for interpretation. I agree, though, that Katniss does have a problem that she feels she has to repay every kindness. Why can't she just accept the fact that sometimes people do things just for the sake of being nice? Although I suppose with the country being how it is as she's growing up, maybe it's not completely her fault. I'm excited to read The Girl on Fire, because I always did try to get more out of the books than "Peeta vs Gale". To me, focusing on that just made it seem more like Twilight, which I don't really like at all. It's good that the content in this book has more, becaue if you ask me, I think the ideas of war, oppression, violence, poverty, hunger, etc. are all more interesting.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  Yeah, I guess a letter would've been better than nothing, but still...that's more like something you should tell someone in person. Like "oh hi, just thought I'd let you know, I'm leaving to some other district for some big job, so I'm never gonna see you again. Bye!" And even if something's easier, that doesn't make it right. And I think that even though a lot changed, Katniss and Gale still do have that "we are in this mess together". The rebels may have offered it to Katniss too, but they don't know her like Gale does. I really hope that the "final Hunger Games" idea did end with Coin. I honestly hope so. It made me so sad when Katniss voted yes for one. I think that deep down, if she thought about it really hard, she would see how terrible and cruel it would be and reconsider. She just let her present emotions and Prim's death control her. And you're right, Snow's granddaughter is completely innocent, a victim to her terrible misfortune of having someone so evil for a grandfather. For all we know, she hated him as much as we did. And all the other children were innocent too. I wish they would see that violence can lead to nothing but more violence. Did they learn nothing of the previous rebellions?!?!?! That's an interesting point that Katniss never regained herself after the first Hunger Games. I think, though, that she didn't really die until the Quarter Quell. She was still fighting in the first Hunger Games, even if she didn't think she had a chance for a while. It was during the Quarter Quell that she fully decided to die to save Peeta. I think that is when she really lost her main will to live. And I almost wonder since she wasn't planning on getting married, even from the beginning, if she shouldn't have ended up with either Gale or Peeta, you know? If she couldn't love anyone whole heartedly, maybe she shouldn't have at all. I think it might have been better for her to just live the rest of her life out with her mom, since they can both grieve over Prim together and they're the only family they each have left. But no, her mom just abandons her...again.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  Yeah, I'm glad that there ended up being no "final Hunger Games". There wasn't one, right? And yeah, the District 8 leader did seem much more capable. And I guess Katniss agreed to another Hunger Games because that's the kind of person she is; the kind that believes that people should suffer because she did, especially since she believes they caused it. I can almost understand that, but the Capitol children were not responsible for the misery of the districts and of the Games. I completely agree with you that Prim makes the story, since throughout the entire series, the number one thing that kept Katniss going was Prim. I really think that was Katniss's best quality, actually. I like Gale too, because he knows Katniss and she's always said that Gale is the ONE person she can really be herself around. That's what I think love truly is. I really think Gale had more going for him than just that he could take care of her family. Although Katniss has a tough exterior, I think that deep down, she's a better person than that and I don't think she would be that selfish or shallow. She liked Gale for who he was too. I'm really, really not a fan of the idea of love at first sight and I guess that's part of the reason I didn't want her to end up with Peeta, who claimed he loved her since he first saw her. I mean, don't get me wrong, Peeta's a really nice, sweet guy and a very decent human being. As Katniss said in Mockingjay, he was probably the only victor of the Games that was deep down a good person. And I think it's really good of him to love Katniss no matter what, but I think he deserved someone who completely and unconditionally loved him back, and I don't think Katniss could've given him that, especially since she went crazy at the end. During Catching Fire, I was actually thinking (or hoping) that Gale would end up with Katniss and Peeta could end up with her friend Madge. To me, they just seemed better suited to each other. Of course, that idea died with Madge. And even though Katniss did end up with Peeta, why couldn't she stay friends with Gale?! I just feel like practically everyone died or abandoned her in the end, even her mom. Everyone except Peeta and Greasy Sae.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  The ending was bad!! There was so much that was sad or left unsaid. I also liked Gale better and can't believe that both he and her mom left her without warning, saying good bye, or even looking back!!!!!! I can't believe the rebels even considered having a "final Hunger Games"!!!! That makes them no better than the Capitol at all!!! Speaking of which, I know that it was a good thing that she killed Coin, who was pretty much evil, but it never says for sure whether the new government was any better than the old one!!!!! But I would've been okay with all that, if only Prim had lived!!!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Alexandra Robbins says

  Yep! Except it's real life. I even mention the Breakfast Club in the book. At least I did in an early draft; I forget if it survived my cutting process : )

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  The book or the series? The ending of the book was such a cliffhanger!!!! Suzanne Collins is an expert at creating suspense. The ending of the series was soooooo sad!!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  Absolutely. I've done that with some other people before.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  No worries. One of the things I like about shelfari is being able to have discussions with so many people, even if they're not your friends. It's interesting to get a wide range of opinions.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Mausiness says

  He had become something unforgivable - Katniss retained her humanity and empathy, even after being in the arena twice. Gale got so engrossed in the uprising he just didn't care about innocents and used his skills against even civilians - something she couldn't forgive.
  
  By immature I guess I just mean the way he pressurised her and then was so bitchy to her because she didn't know her own feelings either. He was possessive, and I don't think they were couple material - they were friends and almost-siblings first, and he just got miffed when someone else entered her life and needed her more than he did.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Saint Francis de Sales says

  Hey. I think it's really cool that we have some of the same opinions about Hunger Games. They're some of the best books I've read in a while. I'd like to continue discussions about them (I so rarely find people who have the same passion for books that I do :)), but I'm not allowed to friend people I don't know personally.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Mausiness says

  Peeta.
  
  I know he's perhaps a bit wet and pathetic - he's not the sort of person who could win the games alone, anyway. And he couldn't even talk to Katniss at school - though I imagine she had an icy attitude to everyone, which kinda puts people off saying hello.
  But he was more solid and stuff.
  
  Gale was immature and just didn't think. He was self-destructive.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  leah w says

  oopsy i love the series :)

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  leah w says

  i look the series :)

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  leah w says

  lets seeeee about a fallen angel pretty much

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )