Meredith's comments (member since Jan 14, 2009)

Meredith's comments from the Gather Yourselves Together group.

YAY!! I'm glad you liked it, Chels. I'm eager to see what you think of book 2.

Hey everybody, I'm moving across the country this month, so I'm going to try to get the book once I'm settled. It'll be a few weeks, but I'm really looking forward to reading it!

Ha ha! I love your comment about the book club. Ditto. Obviously, it's fun sometimes when book characters do something impossible, but that shouldn't be a requirement for a great book. Honestly, there are things that frustrated me in these books, but the lack of rebellion from the teenagers was not one of them.

I just finished! I had forgotten how angry Katniss gets at the end. Man, stop making your head suffer, girlfriend! It's not your head's fault! Plus, she's pretty hardcore. I can't believe she was going to kill them all with just a syringe full of air! Woo!

That being said, I think the last part of this book shows how much she really cares for Peeta. Does she love him? Absolutely. In a romantic way? Er...I don't know if I'd go that far. I think she still doesn't know herself. How can she decide how she feels when people keep trying to kill her?!?! But I completely believe her when she says that she needs Peeta and that if she has to go back without him, she won't be able to go on.

I also am worried for Peeta. I think he'll probably live, but I'm worried that he'll be changed by torture. I recall Katniss and Finnick (off topic: how great is Finnick? LOVE!) talking about how people don't win the Games by accident, except maybe Peeta. On some level, he really is "better" than the other victors. I don't know if that's actually the word for it, although it is the one they use, but he is different. You know that, in the end, if it weren't for Katniss, he would not have won. He fought and killed, but it was to protect her, not himself. He really is very selfless. Which is why I love him. I just hope he doesn't become bitter or anything!

Whoops, this became a Peeta lovefest on accident. Oh well!

SPOILER ALERT!!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ CATCHING FIRE, DO NOT READ THIS POST!

Well, I have about 10 pages left of the book, but I totally want to address something here that I can't in the Hunger Games section because it would be considered a SPOILER!

All the complaints about how Katniss and Peeta don't stand up to the capitol. They're only 16!!! I think in this book especially, you really see just how much power the capitol really has. If Katniss or Peeta had rebelled more openly or consciously against the capitol, they would have died. Period, the end. There is no way that either one of them could do it on their own. Even with the two of them working together, the only reason their trick with the berries didn't get them immediately killed was luck.

Just look at the rebellion that Haymitch is a part of. It's widespread, has the help of people in power, has been planned carefully for quite some time, and still has a pretty good chance of failing. Two teenagers are not going to be able to bring about a great change on their own. That's a fake thing! I, for one, was very glad that the adults are actually the ones running the show in the rebellion. The characters who are, for all intents and purposes, still basically kids (albeit kids with oodles of crappy life experiences that probably matured/aged them), should not have to overthrow the capitol on their own. Obviously, I think that they should be involved, but I'm glad that there are some reasonably competent adults in the book.

Well, this is only somewhat cathartic, since not everyone from the group can read it yet, but there ya go. I hope it makes sense!

Okay, I'm back, with comments about comments! I didn't feel at all as though Katniss was stringing both guys along. Peeta, maybe a little bit. Gale, not at all. I'm pretty sure that the thought of Gale never crossed her mind at all until she was faced with imminent death. After all, she's only 16! She does string Peeta along some, but really, it's to save both their lives! So it doesn't seem as bad to me as it would if this were a romantic comedy. Honestly, as much as I enjoy the love triangle aspect of things, it's not the most important part of the book.

As for their grand rebellion, after reading the second book, (and hopefully this isn't really giving away any spoilers), I think this book is really focused on survival. The idea of rebellion is hinted at throughout the book, but for me, it's a tease to keep me coming back for more in the future. So for me it's :

Book 1-survival. The crappiness of the world is really laid out so that we know why it's such a struggle to survive and why one should want to rebel against the system.

Then, the other books are (hopefully), the story of that rebellion. I really think of it as an epic story, that couldn't really be told in just one book.

I also found the ending to be very abrupt and incomplete. When I first read it, I didn't know that it was the first in a trilogy, and I kept thinking, How in the world is she going to resolve all of this in the pages that are left? The closer I got, the more I realized that she probably wasn't going to. And when I read the last page, I was all, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

And I think that When we were Orphans sounds great!

I have comments about your comments, but just real quick, I think Walker had picked a book for October. We could do a Neil Gaiman for November, though. I have heard from some ladies at work that Neverwhere and Good Omens are good ones to try.

Hee! I totally do get dibs on books a little. I think it's mostly just because I'm at the library all the time and checking the status of my account and stuff all the time. I could technically line jump, but it's definitely discouraged and I never have done it. But keeping my eyes open and pouncing on a book before someone else does is totally allowed. And sometimes the people in tech services will tell me if we've gotten a book they think I want, so I grab it before it gets put on the shelf. So that's basically what I do. This time, the person who had it checked out must have read it in about a day and then turned it back in, so it came to me! I was first on the hold list.

So, I've started reading Catching Fire again. Eee! I had forgotten how utterly creepy Pres. Snow is. Collins is good with those creepy little details, such as the smell of blood on his breath. Shivers! I'm excited to read the book again.

Ha ha! I like Katniss much better than Bella, but point well taken.

My big thing with the cliffhanger is "But what about Peeta?!?!?!?!?!" I'm sure he's fine, right? He's got to be fine? What if he's not fine? What will I do???? (I love Peeta a lot, in case you couldn't tell.

I did not catch that district 13 was probably still around. Good on ya, Becca!

So, even though I love this book, I felt like the ending was a lot more abrupt than the 1st one. It just kind of ended. I suspect that if book 1 had ended like that, I would have more annoyed, less excited about book 2. Did you get that same sense, Becca?

It's always kind of hard for me to judge a series like this, where each book is so dependent on the others. If I don't like it, is it because I'm frustrated by the cliffhanger? Will my opinion on the first book be changed when I read the other books? For example, while reading these comments, I kept thinking, "Oh wait until you read book 2!" That's always the dilemma, though. Because if you don't like book 1 enough, will you ever move on to book 2? You might love book 2, or even retroactively love book 1 if you just gave it a shot, but will you ever give it a shot?

An example of this is the Fablehaven books. I read the 1st one and was not super impressed. I've heard they get much, much better, and are in fact really awesome, but I have no motivation to read on, based on my memories of the 1st book.

Of course, this is something of a moot point for me, since I love the Hunger Games with every fiber of my being (only slightly hyperbolic)!

PS-I talked to Chelsea, and she is kinda far down on the hold list, but she's excited to get and read the book. Then I am sure she will comment!

D'oh! It's checked out! But I'm really thinking of just buying it, so when I do and reread it, I will post more stuff!

I've finished the Hunger Games, and I'm going to try to get Catching Fire tomorrow. I really want to read it again! If I can get it, I will start posting some more specifics here.

Really? I felt like all of the Uglies series was kind of a letdown. The only one I really felt lived up to it's potential was Pretties.

I just finished reading The Hunger Games again, and I loved it just as much this time around. One things that really impresses me is how much Collins was able to make me forget about the big picture. I remember the first time I read it, I was so focused on having Katniss and Peeta survive that when they finally escaped and the capitol was still after them, I was surprised. I guess I should have anticipated that their actions would not be favorably seen, but I was like Katniss, I guess. And when I read it this time, even though I totally already knew what happened, I was still rather breathless with excitement/dread/etc. while they were in the arena, then shocked/appalled when they left and still weren't safe.

I'm super excited for the last book in the trilogy to come out, whenever that may be, so that I can read it and find out what happens!

It does. And I totally agree. I think after I finish The Hunger Games for the second time, I'll go back and read Catching Fire again. I can't remember all the little details!

One thing I really like about Peeta is that he understands why Katniss cares about and needs Gale, whereas I don't think Gale understands that she needs Peeta. Obviously, I'm sure he would like it better if she just loved and needed him, but, like you said, Becca, he wants her to be happy, even if he doesn't figure into it.

How did you feel about the cliffhanger? I can't wait to find out what happens in book 3!

I agree about Ender's Game and the sequels. I like the sequels, but they're so different from the original. It's been about a billion years since I read Ender's Shadow, but I recall loving it, as well. It's the kids playing war games that makes it awesome!

I know! Peeta FTW!!! Here's my thoughts on Peeta vs. Gale. I think, had Katniss never been picked for The Hunger Games, she and Gale would probably have gotten together eventually. But too much has happened and changed for that, I think. Peeta is the one who can best understand what Katniss went through and how she changed. At this point, no matter how much she cares for Gale, she has a bond with Peeta, and I'm not sure she can ever live without him.

I started to see a lot of different dimensions to all of the characters in this book. Haymitch is a great example, but I think Cinna shows his colors more this time around too.

I'm glad you're reading this Becca, because I've been dying to talk about it with someone, and no one I know has read it yet!

Rue is so wonderful. Definitely a sympathetic character. And I agree with you about Cinna, Walker. I didn't hate him, but I had a very hard time figuring him out in the first book. I appreciate some of his actions, but I didn't always understand his motivations.

I agree with what Becca said about Katniss not raging against the machine more. Honestly, she is so focused on surviving, and on helping her family survive that she can't focus on the bigger picture. I refuse to comment on the sequel and what may or may not happen, even though I'm dying to!

With Peeta and Gale, obviously they're both pretty great. But, and again, for reasons that I can't elaborate on, I just love Peeta so much. Dang, it's hard to comment on book 1 without mentioning stuff from Catching Fire!