I read The Hunger Games more than a year ago, finishing it despite my strong dislike of its protagonist, Katniss. I made it 100 pages into Catching Fire before I could take no more.

I hoped that watching the movie would make Katniss feel more human to me. More someone I'd like to root for. It did. I resumed reading Catching Fire, and was able to finish it by imagining Jennifer Lawrence in the role. I still didn't like it, exactly. I just wanted to see how the story ended.

I'd heard such dismayed reviews about the conclusion of the trilogy that I expected I, too, would find it unpalatable. Instead, I found myself finally both unwilling to put it down and truly feeling Katniss. Not just being in her head. Not just hearing her mental rundown of the actions she's taking or planning to take, but feeling her. This is what I crave from a protagonist, and I'm so glad to have found that connection at the end.

And what an end it was! I finished with tears in my eyes and goosebumps rippling up and down my arms. It's not an ending without sadness, but it is, indeed, an ending full of truth, love and halting, wary but real hope.