The Hunger Games Trailer!!!

Yes, I've tweeted about this already, but this is just SO very exciting that I just had to post about it too! Yes, The Hunger Games trailer has finally been released and it looks AMAZING! See for yourself if you haven't already, but unless you're living under a rock or something, you've probably watched it like 10 times already - I know I have, hehe! But one more time doesn't hurt. :)

EPIC much, y/y? As you may remember, I was positively blown away by the books (see my reviews here, here & here) and while I doubt that the films will measure up to the books, I'm still suuuper excited to see the films, which is quite extraordinary about me since I hardly ever get excited over films, hehe. But this I'm just DYING to see.

I just love the feel of it ... Things are not quite as I pictured them, but I still love the look of District 12 and the Capitol and the Reaping and everything! Can't wait to see how Haymitch and Cinna are portrayed - those two really are two crucial characters. And err I'm not overly impressed by Peeta and Gale but Katniss looks incredible.

Roll on, March 2012 - I cannot wait!!!

Who else is excited? Judging by my Twitter news feed, pretty much the whole world is loving it, yay! :)

ps: Have you heard that China Glaze are doing a Hunger Games nail polish collection? Read all about it here. Isn't it such a clever idea? The shades as such aren't my preferable ones (I prefer subtle nude colours myself), but I still think this is fabulous and I'm loving the names!

Review: MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins ***

Hi there! As you can see, there will be no IMM as I only got one book this week and it seems a bit silly to feature just that (although I've done it before). So I've decided to save that for next week and post a review instead!
Things are still pretty boring around here, but that's because I'm just finishing up the book I'm translating. It's due in a week (massive eeeeeeeek, still so much to do) so I have to focus on that to make it happen, which means I have to neglect blogging and reading for the time being, sorry. But I promise to be back very soon! :)

Anyway, moving on to the review ...

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge... The thrilling final instalment of this ground-breaking trilogy promises to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

As you may remember, I absolutely LOVED the first two installments in The Hunger Games trilogy (my reviews here and here). The Catching Fire ending was spectacular and I couldn't wait to read Mockingjay – there was just so much potential, but I'm afraid that Mockingjay left me a tad disappointed and I made me go ''HMMMMM …'' instead of the usual ''WHOOOA''.

Why, you might ask? Well, I'm afraid I can't answer that without SPOILERS so please don't read any further if you don't want to know what happens in the book. Consider yourself warned!

So you're OK with spoilers? Right, well, the main reason why I didn't enjoy the book as much as I expected to is that it just felt too … different. Nothing like the other two books, which had a strong psychological element to them, but this one was far too military to my liking. It reminded me of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – another book where everything changes and it's all about war. Mockingjay certainly portrays the physical and emotional effects of war very convincingly and realistically, but somehow the book just felt too different from what I was used to.

Another thing this book has in common with HP7 is that everyone dies. That's not a massive surprise when there's war going on, but I felt that these deaths were brushed off too quickly … For example, Cinna was one of my favourite characters and I was convinced he was still alive and I kept waiting for him to show up – but he never did. I really disliked how death was never properly explained and it really touched me the most. Overall, there were too many important deaths too quickly and the author just made them feel unimportant when I was like, HELLO, something major happened here, why aren't we paying it more attention?! I honestly didn't like that at all and I would've prefered more respect to be paid to the deceased characters that I grew so fond off (Finnick & Prim among others). I know this is nothing new for Collins since the deaths before (e.g. of the tributes) were always quickly brushed off, but those were some random people and this were actually important characters ... But I guess that's my problem since I'm too sentimental whereas Collins handled this the proper way without dwelling on what you can't change.

Not only did the story feel different, but the characters were changed too, which was to be expected based on what they've all been through and I suppose that made them even more real. But somehow I couldn't warm up to them and I just felt like I was following the whole thing from a distance rather than being engrossed in the action like in the previous two books, which was a shame. I honestly can't explain it, all I can say is that it was all too different. It was a logical shift from the previous books, but I struggled a bit to adapt to it.

As for the ending … I've always liked both Peeta and Gale so I didn't really care who she ended up with, they were both nice guys (well, for the most part). I was surprised by Gale's move and sorry that their story ended so abruptly – this was again another thing I wanted more closure and explanation on. I suppose the ending was nice and bittersweet (I'm talking about the epilogue here, the scenes before that were quite horrendous, yes), but not quite as mindblowing as I expected.

On the plus side, the novel was typically realistic - perhaps even too much so if you're squeamish like me. It's brutal and not a single gory detail is spared and there's no place for sentimentalism. As I said before, these books are definitely not my typical reads, but they're just so well written that they just suck you in, take you on one hellouva ride and then don't let you go easily once you're done with them - oh no, these are the kind of books that stay on your while for a loooong time ...

All in all, this was an OUTSTANDING series, it's just the final installment that didn't really live up to my very, very high expectations, but I still think it was a spectacular and a very powerful read, just different to what I expected. You'll find a lot of people who were completely blown away by the conclusion and thus I urge you to give this series a go if you haven't already as it's most definitely worth reading!

overall rating:
plot: 3/5 | writing: 4/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 3/5

Review: CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins *****

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to her district, hoping for a peaceful future. But Katniss starts to hear rumours of a deadly rebellion against the Capitol. A rebellion that she and Peeta have helped to create.
As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless Katniss and Peeta can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying...
The terrifying sequel to The Hunger Games.

As you may remember, I recently jumped on the hugely popular Hunger Games bandwagon after immensly enjoying the first book in the trilogy. I was really surprised by how engrossed I was in it and I couldn't wait to read more. Luckily, the second book didn't disappoint in the slightest - in fact, in a way I perhaps enjoyed it even more than the first one!

Catching Fire opens shortly after The Hunger Games ends. I'm afraid I can't review this without discussing the plot so PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THERE WILL BE MINOR SPOILERS in this review. So yes, Katniss and Peeta move to the Victors' Village and Katniss soon learns that The Capitol is very, very angry with her due to her stunt with the berries, which appears to have provided some uprisings in various districts ... Before Katniss has the time to figure out what she will have to do in order to keep her loved ones alive, it's time for the Hunger Games again ...
It's also the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games, which means it's time for the Quarter Quell aka the HG with a massive twist that occur every 25 years. Like the previous two Quarter Quells (25th and 50th anniversaries), this QQ features a cruel twist too and honestly, it couldn't have been worse! I have to say it was terribly inventive though and I have to give props to the author for coming up with such a crazy arena! The games were just SO damn twisted on so many levels and I was kept on the edge of my seat and reading to see how it will all end ... And then the ending happened! It was nothing like what I expected - suddenly everything changed and the book ended with a MASSIVE cliffhanger!!! The last line literary made me go, "SAY WHAAAT?" and I'd probably go crazy if I didn't have Mockingjay (the last installment) sitting on my shelf, heh!

Honestly, these two books have been nothing short of FANTASTIC and although I was a bit sceptical about all the neverending praise of the series at first, I can now see that it's totally deserved. This series is just so clever and so different from what I normally read, so much more brutal and raw, it's just so well written and so action packed that you just cannot put it down, regardless your reading preference!

Absolutely gripping stuff and I cannot wait to finally read the last book to see what happened to EVERYONE after the You Know What! I'm reeeeaally busy these days and don't have much time to read, but I'm taking Mockingjay to the holiday with me next week so I'll be able to read it in one sitting! I fully expect an EPIC conclusion, something rather extreme (oh yeah, there's a lot of potential for that right now!) but I'm a tad worried since I've seen rather mixed reviews of it - people seem to either love it or hate it so I wonder which side I'll be on ... Expect my review after I return from the holiday (a couple of weeks from now) and in the mean time just pick up a copy of the first book if you haven't already - you're guaranteed an amazing & brutal adventure that you won't soon forget!

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 2/5

In My Mailbox #57

Hey and welcome back to another installment of IMM, hosted by The Story Siren. I didn't do an IMM last week so here are the books I got in the past two weeks (all purchased by me):

After watching the adorable trailer, I just couldn't resist ordering BEING JAMIE BAKER by Kelly Oram - plus who could resist an amazing cover like *that*?! Well done to the marketing department, I totally fell for it. :)

Then I also bought the whole HUNGER GAMES series - as I said in my review of the first book, I listened to the legally available audio book and I was so impressed by this series that I immediately ordered all three books. I got the UK covers because they're all available in paperback, but I'm not particularly impressed neither with the US nor UK covers, not my cup of tea, but luckily the stoies between the covers are fantastic!
I don't know why my copy of HG has Peeta on the cover when I ordered the one with Katniss, but oh well. Peeta is fantastic and all, but I really like Katniss, such a kickass girl.
I'm almost done with Catching Fire now and jeeez, it seems even better than the first book!!! Not the best thing to read while you eat though - I couldn't put the book down today so I kept reading during breakfast, but I nearly lost all my appetite when the squirrel mutts attacked the gang, eeek! But whoa, what a book!

That's it from me, see you all next week with some more great books! :)

Review: THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins *****

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

With all the hype surrounding Mockingjay, the final installment of this dystopian trilogy, I finally jumped on The Hunger Games bandwagon too. I've seen nothing but rave reviews for this series all over the place, but I wasn't convinced if this was my kind of read - I mean, a reality show about kids killing each other off, are you kidding me? But then the first audiobook was legally available on some site for a week and somone kindly linked it in their blog (I forgot who it was and where it was, but thank you so much!) so I decided to download it to listen in the car ... And the rest is history. A few chapters in and I was totally hooked!

I'm sure you all know (plus it says above in the summary) that the book takes place in the future where North America used to be, but now it's called Panem and it consists of the Capitol and twelve districts, who couldn't possibly be more different. Through Katniss's eyes we first hear about her district (number 12), which feels nothing like the future, where the story is supposed to take place, but far more than the past, the Middle Ages or so. Everyone's poor and struggling and they hunt and live off fruit and veg, not tablets like you'd expect. District 12 is the poorest district and just like the rest, it's controlled by The Capitol. The story opens on Reaping Day and Katniss sort of chooses to become one of the 24 Tributes of The Hunger Games and so she is immediately whisked off to The Capitol to prepare for the games. The Capitol is a different world all together - people there speak differently, they can have any colour skin they want, they dress and act strangely. There you really get the sense that the book takes place in the future since the society is similar to ours, just far more advanced.

That was the setting, now moving on to the Hunger Games as such. Boy oh boy, what an insane idea, choosing 24 kids, placing them in the arena and making sure they kill each other off until only one remains? This is the Capitol's way of displaying its power over the districts and the inhabitants of the Capitol love this stuff! The people from the districts mostly hate it, obviously, but they're not allowed to question it. So on reaping day, two Tributes are chosen from each district, a boy and a girl. Then they're assigned a prep team, who will make sure that Tributes look their very best for all the interviews and everything before they are send to the arena to kill each other. The person who stays alive will go down in history and receive amazing prizes.
Everything seems like a normal reality TV show and the whole time I was thinking that naaah, surely this won't actually happen, surely they won't have to kill each other??? But yep, it happened big time. The actual descprition of the Games is quite gruesome and cruel and at times revolting as no details of the killings are spared. It's not always easy to read, but it's like a trainwreck, you just can't look away and you're desperate to know how all of this will end!

The story is narrated by Katniss herself and she is an amazing kickass girl! She's incredibly strong and capable and inventive, definitely a fantastic role model for young girls (as opposed to a certain Bella we all know, ahem). I really enjoyed seeing everything through her eyes, although I at times wishes we could have a third person narrator too as I wanted to know what was going on with the other Tributes as well as outside the arena. But anyway, the characters in this book are fantastic and really well portrayed! I loved Cinna and Haymitch and Peeta and Gale and Rue and pretty much everyone! However, contrary to most people who have read the book, I'm neither Team Peeta nor Team Gale. I quite like both guys and I couldn't possibly choose a team yet, but we'll see what happens later on, hehe.

Gosh, I could go on and on about this book, but I don't want to say too much - it's a book you have to experience for yourself. It's amazingy well-written, fast paced, original, powerful, but also vile and gruesome and oh so much more!
Do yourself a favour and get a copy, even if you think this is not your cup of tea ... Believe me, I didn't think it was mine either as this book is bajillion times more gruesome and violent than the ones I normally read, but I still loved it. Admittedly, at times it was difficult to read as I'm a vegetarian and all the talk about hunting and eating animals and wearing fur and leather *really* put me off (yeah, I'm crazy like that :p), but I eventually learned to accept it and focus more on the rest of the story, which is amazing. After I finished listening to this audiobook (it was legally available, I swear!!), I bought myself all three books because this series is a keeper. I'm almost halfway through Catching Fire and I'm still loving it - I cannot wait to see how it all ends (but please don't ruin it for me :p)!

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 4/5