Mockingjay

Mockingjay Plot Summary

 Hunger Games series finished...the trilogy took me about a week and half or two to devour.  The final book was just as easy a read as the other two were.  The rebellion is highlighted in the finale and it is violent and bloody considering this is a teen book, but some of the ways people die is kind of awful.  The last year of fighting once again brought about a type of hunger games scenario, run through the maze killing everyone in your way, the last ones alive win. This means that it is easy to lose 2 hours in a big fight scene and not realize it because you just want to find out who comes out in the end.  I will have to say there is a lot of death all around the board and I know this is hard on the main character, but I find it interesting that a 17 year old girl spends so much time in a drug induced haze to avoid her mental anguish.  Hahahaha sorry just kidding most everyone is like that at 17 no matter their circumstance, what I found interesting is that the author drew pretty obvious attention to the affects of drug use.  It took this thought, and the end of the final book to see the cliché author metaphor, while obviously a fictional story this was a book that had a strong ring of reality running through it, only a few tweaks to the circumstances could bring this to modern day. (not the killing kids thing but the war thing).  On first finishing the book, I was disappointed it didn't have the ending I wanted: I wanted a happy story book ending (which the author tried to remedy with the epilogue..bleh) but in real life there are no story book endings.  There was very little happy to be drawn from this series it was a story of a death and politics and how manipulation gets you what you want.  I enjoyed it not for this depressing reason, but because its comforting to see someone standing up for what's right not what's easy. Its how good stories start; with a hero.  None the less it could have used maybe a little brighter ray of sunshine somewhere before the epilogue.

Good for sensitive guys  if there are any

Rating~~3 

Catching Fire

Catching Fire Plot Summary

Yes, that's right I have finished another one!  All that's left is the final book in the trilogy and I think I will move from series' for a bit.  I'm sure its getting old.  Anyway, this book further proves my theory of disliking sequel.  The book got considerably better in the end, but in the beginning all I could think was really? We are doing this again?!  It also had a very twilighty feel in the beginning with the main female character being "caught" in between two beautiful awesome men. Oh to be so lucky...not saying she doesn't pay an enormous price that I wouldn't want to pay but none the less a place most women would want to find themselves.  In the beginning they could have changed her name to Bella.  After he finally makes a decision it becomes less so and the story gets interesting.  The games are just as evil especially considering the group of  victors expected to fight.  The clothes are marvelous as usual and  the games while horrifying was interesting.  Its nice to have a popular book no revolve completely around someone's relationship.  Don't get me wrong there is that mushy feeling stuff in there a lot but not quite so obviously dramatic.  While I was not particularly crazy for this book it did it's job; build up to the finale and make me wanna finish the series.  I'm told the last one is really good and I hope to see some rebellious and foolish choices along with maybe some more stellar clothes! =)

Good for hard-ass Bella fans mostly

Rating~~3

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games Plot Summary

**Major Motion Picture**

P.S. readers I do try to set up my synopsis link to the authors sites.  With the HP books this was not possible so I had to scour the internet for something neutral and wikipedia won out most times.  With me moving on i'm trying to revert back to the author sites so yall will have the chance to look for sequels or other works by that author

So in a mere 4 days I have succumbed to the requests of my FB friends and my one lonely vote on my blog  poll and read The Hunger Games.  I will admit that I wanted to see the movie but, felt that I should read the book first and I am so glad I did.  After reading books that I  already knew how the ending came about, I forgot how good a new story can be.  Routing for whichever side you want to win and staying up until the wee hours of the morning  promising yourself it will stop when you finish this chapter.  Due to this temptation and lack of sleep I finished this book in three days!  I loved it in a sick and disturbing way.  What these people do is gut wrenching and how people stand by and let this happen is ridiculous.  Not saying that people are not capable of it of course (holocaust) but I like the world of people not condoning the death of so many for outright entertainment.  Alas then there would be no storyline right!  Some of my favorite parts are that the chicks are just as bad-ass as the dudes if not more.  The main character I also love because she is essentially the dude in this whole story: hard, independent, ruthless at times unlike most girl vs. boy stories.  The action is good and mostly continuous and, even when there is a lull, the story is so intense I don't get bored or even really notice the lull.  Overall great read and while I despise sequels I do look forward to seeing what happens next to the bad-ass 

Good for future apocalyptic action adventure chick

Rating~~1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows $$POILER$

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Plot Summary

Note: the $ sign indicates the sentences with spoiler information
It's done the final review for the Harry Potter series has come.  This is the second time i'll be writing this because of a borrowed computer and the first shot at this was completely deleted and this system immediately saved it so all gone...As always my motto the movie sucked and the book was marvolo-us (ha ha right).  Action, magic and mystery all my favorite things.  I LOVE finales they pack in all the good stuff up to the last chapter and this was the same way no more boring back ground info because the story doesn't keep going, this is it!  I find it interesting as a whole that this teenager has taken all this in stride and everyone is ok with that, the whole town could hate a 15-17 year old and want to kill him is a horrible thought.  In saying that I will be completely hypocritical and say I that I was
$-slightly disappointed in the end of the book I know everyone likes fuzzy cuddly endings but this was
$-building up for 6 books all his family was already dead I think he should have kicked it i'm sorry but him $-magically back to life is kinda annoying.  It was his destiny to go out with a bang not come back and
$-live 20 years and have kids, kinda lame.  Otherwise, I like to see personal conflict and a large conflict in the main cast I  think its nice that the kids aren't impervious to the massive pressure they are under, and it is not  just glanced over as a minor detail.  I am sad to say that many of my favorite characters died in this book which upset me slightly, not gonna lie.  Some of them tortured not in a literary graphic way but, enough to avoid this as a bedtime story. The whole story was like the maze from book four, you go in different directions all the turns lead to something different and at the end it was so much bigger than you thought.  I enjoyed the ending whether or not I agreed with the outcome or not, especially how the whole story was summarized so that I understood the whole story in a non cryptic way.  It can get a little confusing in the end trying to tie all the shreds of information together otherwise. Maybe I just forget all the threads and this helps me remember whichever it is greatly appreciated it.

Good for older kids like the last few

Rating~~1

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Plot Summary

Duh duh duh duhhhhh!!!!   The second to last book, and the last of the HP books I have actually read, no matter how long ago.  The book was pretty great other than the awful but necessary ending.  As the story itself  goes I really enjoyed it, lots of action and some puzzle working, though one of the main conflicts is maddining, if I didn't already know the end (which is why the book usually comes before the movie) I would be livid with the whole of this book.  Not in a bad way,the build up to the final is awesome so much so I even sat and read in the middle of the afternoon until I finished it. There was only like 200 pages left but the point is I sat down and just read.  I forget how nice it is to sit and read on a nice day.  I do wish that I remembered how I felt after the first time I finished reading HP 6; before I knew how the whole story went down.  Yet another reason that TV is evil, it sucks you into a movie  series and you want to finish watching the movies but it then ruins the book.  On an off note the editor of this book must have fallen asleep on the job. I lost my groove several times trying to figure out the context of a word. Maybe I just don't know enough about a Brits word usage to realize twilit is in fact a word and used in 2 different tenses. Not the only mistake but one that stopped me several times while reading sad day. Anyway this book may be tied with HP 4 for my favorite HP and am looking foward to the final chapter. I'm almost glad she didn't cop out for the money and fame by keeping the series going after its prime.  I will warn readers that Harry takes and even deeper plunge into the dark side so if there are parents reading this keep this in mind for the young 'uns reading.  Death and torture in MILD doses.

Good for the darker HP fans  

Rating~1

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix Plot Summary

To start with I want to bring attention to the survey I have posted to your left! To my few, but awesome readers I would ask that you pick a book and give me a push in one direction or the other of what to read when I finish the HP series.  So I have FINALLY finished the LONGEST Harry Potter book.  I'm sad to say it was somewhat of a chore to get through entire book.  In all fairness I was sick for three days and didn't feel much like reading, so maybe I lost my groove and it ruined the story for me.  Now saying that and being a glass half empty kind of person I am going with it was so-so.  There were definately good parts in the book but I feel there was way more filler than neccessary.  With the combination of the new defense teacher and the ministry being huge tools we didn't need 300 pages telling us how huge of a rusted hammer (cheesy, but eh) these people were.  I am hoping all this information may become useful in the books to come otherwise kind of a waste.  I think the biggest problem I had with this book was that Harry was kind of me..me..me.. to everyone whether he deserved it or not.  Of course he is a 15 year old so I guess that is typical just midly annoying.  The book started getting better towards the end  when the action and information became available.  Now, this is where the books start getting very dark and twisty.  In the early books they always ended with a happy care free feeling, that ends in this book, now Harry enters the world of a powerful Voldermort and a less than sure future. 

Good for PG kids and up

Rating--4