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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Not very acedemically rigorous if that is what you are looking for in a book of essays, but a fun and often interesting read. Occasionally I wanted to remind the authors that The Hunger Games is just a work of fiction--a little silly (I think) to use real-life issues to prove the aucurateness of The Huner Games and even worse, the reverse, using The Hunger Games to prove real-life issues.
Overall, this book was greatly disappointing.
A lot of the writers in this volume didn't seem to read "get" the Hunger Games trilogy, of which i am a HUGE fan. It seemed some of them might have just skimmed the books or watched parts of the movie, and then decided to preach about it.
I thought I was going to get insights about the trilogy, or maybe actually read something that was going to make me "think" - I quote that the book is supposed to include:
"How does the way the Games affect the brain explain Haymitch’s drinking, Annie’s distraction, and Wiress’ speech problems? What does the rebellion have in common with the War on Terror? Why isn’t the answer to “Peeta or Gale?” as interesting as the question itself? What should Panem have learned from the fates of other hedonistic societies throughout history—and what can we?"
and in one way, yes, these subjects are covered, but in such a way it makes you scream at the book in frustration.
So why am I giving it 3 stars? Well, because a few of the authors here actually do a good job with their essay, and though I disagree with most of it, I didn't actually hate it & everyone has a right to disagree. I was just very disappointed, that the authors weren't as passionate about the Hunger Games as I am.
A lot of the writers in this volume didn't seem to read "get" the Hunger Games trilogy, of which i am a HUGE fan. It seemed some of them might have just skimmed the books or watched parts of the movie, and then decided to preach about it.
I thought I was going to get insights about the trilogy, or maybe actually read something that was going to make me "think" - I quote that the book is supposed to include:
"How does the way the Games affect the brain explain Haymitch’s drinking, Annie’s distraction, and Wiress’ speech problems? What does the rebellion have in common with the War on Terror? Why isn’t the answer to “Peeta or Gale?” as interesting as the question itself? What should Panem have learned from the fates of other hedonistic societies throughout history—and what can we?"
and in one way, yes, these subjects are covered, but in such a way it makes you scream at the book in frustration.
So why am I giving it 3 stars? Well, because a few of the authors here actually do a good job with their essay, and though I disagree with most of it, I didn't actually hate it & everyone has a right to disagree. I was just very disappointed, that the authors weren't as passionate about the Hunger Games as I am.
I wasn't super impressed, but some of the essays ere excellent.
If you liked the Hunger Games series, I would definitely read this book! It made me think more about the reasoning behind the capital, or even some of the things Katniss did. Like why she chose Peeta and not Gale. I really enjoyed reading this and forcing myself think think more deeply about what was going on.
I really enjoyed this book and think it is a must read for anyone that reads The Hunger Games series, especially teens that read the series. The variety of essays bring up a lot of thought provoking ideas to contemplate and even reread the books for more explanation. It would be great to see kids reading these responses to the book series to get beyond 'Team Peeta' and 'Team Gale' and really get to the heart of the message of the books. The introduction to each essay was enough to get the gist but not give anything away.
This is a must-read for any serious Hunger Games fan. If you read [b:Mind-Rain: Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series|6454516|Mind-Rain Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series|Scott Westerfeld|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328314755s/6454516.jpg|6644746] after you read the Uglies series, this is much like it. It's an amazing collection of essays that makes you realize things in the books you never thought of and makes insightful connections to the real world. If you are going to use any of the Hunger Games books for a formal analysis for school, talking about the things mentioned in the book will make your analysis much better. There was a lot of subtle foreshadowing that I never picked up on among other things. It will make you look at Katniss, the famous "love triangle", the Capitol, and Coin in a new way. If you can't get enough of the Hunger Games, definitely get this book.
Can't wait to use these essays with my students!
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I decided to download this since I loved the Hunger Games series so much, and I wanted some further insight. A few of these essays are solid, decent write-ups of the themes. There wasn't anything here quite new or surprising, but I really enjoyed some of the essays on reality tv, the media representation the Iraqi war in context to the Hunger Games, and the one about Team Katniss (because the love triangle is the least priority in these books...).
There were some really boring essays included as well. They felt off the mark or excessively corny and pandering to teenage readers.
Enjoyable if you REALLY enjoy the Hunger Games, but not necessary reading.
There were some really boring essays included as well. They felt off the mark or excessively corny and pandering to teenage readers.
Enjoyable if you REALLY enjoy the Hunger Games, but not necessary reading.
3.5 stars
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
I actually didn't know this was a selection of essays discussing different themes in The Hunger Games. For some reason I always thought it was a selection of fan fiction written by other YA authors about THG. While I would have definitely loved some fan fiction, I did mostly enjoy reading other author's thoughts on the trilogy. I loved some more than others, in particular Sarah Rees Brennan's Why So Hungry for The Hunger Games?, Mary Borsellino's Your Heart Is a Weapon the Size of Your Fist which looks at how love is used as a political weapon throughout the series and also Gale: Knight, Cowboy, Badass by Jackson Pearce.
Not So Weird Science by Cara Lockwood and Bent, Shattered and Mended by Blythe Woolston were both interesting in the fact they were more studies into the realities of genetic engineering in our world today and then the real symptoms of PTSD and how it's portrayed in the book and which characters show the classic signs. Others like Ned Vizzini's Reality Hunger didn't click with me because, particularly with this one, the author ended up talking about stuff in their own life and I didn't really care. I think Vizzini could have talked about Katniss's media training without constantly mentioning his own experience of being through it.
Overall, it was an interesting read for the most part. I just felt a bit drawn out in some parts when some of the essays started mirroring each other slightly but it was a fantastic insight into how other authors can look and dissect a trilogy that became a phenomenon.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
I actually didn't know this was a selection of essays discussing different themes in The Hunger Games. For some reason I always thought it was a selection of fan fiction written by other YA authors about THG. While I would have definitely loved some fan fiction, I did mostly enjoy reading other author's thoughts on the trilogy. I loved some more than others, in particular Sarah Rees Brennan's Why So Hungry for The Hunger Games?, Mary Borsellino's Your Heart Is a Weapon the Size of Your Fist which looks at how love is used as a political weapon throughout the series and also Gale: Knight, Cowboy, Badass by Jackson Pearce.
Not So Weird Science by Cara Lockwood and Bent, Shattered and Mended by Blythe Woolston were both interesting in the fact they were more studies into the realities of genetic engineering in our world today and then the real symptoms of PTSD and how it's portrayed in the book and which characters show the classic signs. Others like Ned Vizzini's Reality Hunger didn't click with me because, particularly with this one, the author ended up talking about stuff in their own life and I didn't really care. I think Vizzini could have talked about Katniss's media training without constantly mentioning his own experience of being through it.
Overall, it was an interesting read for the most part. I just felt a bit drawn out in some parts when some of the essays started mirroring each other slightly but it was a fantastic insight into how other authors can look and dissect a trilogy that became a phenomenon.