Well, it’s time for my annual read the newest (to me) Hunger Games book at the same time as the movie comes out so I’m not spoiled by something random on Pinterest. (Seriously, the Geek feed in Pinterest has the most randomly spoilerific things if you’re not caught up on various fandoms. But I digress.)
The biggest thing that kept popping into my head while reading this was why are they splitting it in to two movies? I think I can see the logical split, except that all the action that happens after that is the conclusion to the story, and really doesn’t merit its own segment. Maybe in a mini series, but with a year between? There are days I hate the YA movie machine.
Katniss has been rescued from the Quarter Quell, and brought to District 13, but Peeta has been left behind. It turns out District 13 had Panem’s nuclear weapons, so they’d managed to arrange a stalemate with the Capital, where they’d at least leave each other alone, if District 13 pretended they were gone. They’ve finally gotten themselves in a position to challenge the Capital, but they need Katniss – she’s the Mockingjay – the only person that can rally the populations of all the districts.
But Katniss is a mess. They’ve put just enough of Peeta on television so that they know they’re probably torturing him, she has incredible PTSD, and she really doesn’t know if she’s the person to at least figuratively lead a rebellion. And this is where I think this story is great. Collins could have made Katniss a hero of the ages, right off the bat, and she didn’t. This is such a human story (if a bit on the unremittingly depressing side) – I totally understand why it’s become so popular.