so this is my theory?

[Helen]

Okay, I honestly don't believe that a five year old can understand whatever "true love" is. So I think that Peeta had a crush on this girl, and it escalated so far he convinced himself he was in love with her. That's why he believes that Katniss is perfect in every way because anything else would be a letdown. I also think he did this because he didn't have a very strong female figure in his life and he chose Katniss. I dunno. I've been annotating The Hunger Games and this is what I came up with.
And on a side note I call bullcrap about "Team Peeta" or "Team Gale" Are we going to turn this into that? Really? But I don't think that both Peeta and Gale can live if Katniss has to choose one. Peeta says he can't live without her and while Gale may be stronger than Peeta I think it's too much heartbreak for them to handle. My bets are on Peeta dying no matter how much I love him. Either way I think it's going to be extremely unlikely that there won't be a couple of deaths in this book.

[Casey]

I agree with the whole "Team" thing going on. It's stupid but oh well!
I think there will be deaths but I don't think it's going to be Peeta who dies. i think it'll be Haymitch. And i think Katniss will choose Peeta and Gale will just be a friend/brother form in her life, you know?
But that's only my opinion...

[Sylvia]

You are right there, Collins really didn't provide Katniss with a choice which really disappointed me...which was apparant in the whole book i.e. Katniss just let everyone make the choices for her, except for when she made her last kill! It's a shame really, Katniss was so strong throughout the first 2 books but I guess trauma can do things to you like that!

[Steve]

I just finished the book a couple of days ago. No spoilers, but I was a bit surprised by the choices made by some characters. Of course, the first two books showed us that Collins was not afraid to 'kill off' just about any character. Not 100% satisfied with the end, but I don't know where else Collins could have gone without making the end very dark indeed. I'd still gladly recommend the trilogy.

[Sylvia]

No your right the end did have to be dark and very realistic in the fact that war is not about smelling the roses and skipping in the park...I just thought it would have been nice for Katniss to have been more assertive in choosing for herself that's all.

[Lindis]

Well, yes I think that a five year old does know what true love is. It's more pure than what an adult or a teenagers might be. It's a simple love. They just know that they love the person and they want to be with them, and be nice to them. But at any age, what Love means, is influnced by what we see and what we are taught. Peeta's mom did seem like kind of a rag, and I agree with you that Peeta didn't have a good female role model, but that dosen't mean she didn't show love. We just don't know what it was like in his home. I'm not saying your wrong, this is just my opinion, what I think.

I totally agree with the team thing! For me this story really wasn't "all about the love" like Twilight was. It was a story about survival, making choices, learning who to trust. For me the "love" in the story was not all that important. But yes, I was cheering a little bit for Peeta. There was just something that I didn't like about Gale.

And to me the ending was pretty realistic. I don't know anyone, including myself that wouldn't crawl up into a little ball and whither in self pity for a little while after what Katniss had been through. Even the strongest charachters have flaws, and it's the ones that do, that to me are the most realistic. It still had a happy ending, for me. Katniss lived, got married and had kids, and helped make the world a better place along the way. : )

[[deleted user]]

Helen wrote: "Okay, I honestly don't believe that a five year old can understand whatever "true love" is. So I think that Peeta had a crush on this girl, and it escalated so far he convinced himself he was in lo..."

i agree with the team stuff, i think that is what ruined books like twilight. i like all the characters because they all have different personalities and cant really pick one, concertering we dont really learn much about Gale in the 1st book as we do about Peeta and vis-vera for the 3rd book. we should like the book as a whole and not pick i "team" it just messes the book up

[Erin]

EXACTLY. These "teams" only divide fans and cause drama that is not necessary or appealing.

[[Coco]]

Just like Twilight :) I'm still mad about Finnick and I read the book over a year ago.