THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY!

One of the largest trilogies of this decade came to a close on August 24th with the release of Mockingjay, the third and final installment of The Hunger Games Trilogy.  I only started to read this trilogy with the first title in the series (The Hunger Games) before my Australian Adventure. Then, I came back, read another book, and read Catching Fire (Book #2) just in time for Mockingjay.  So now, without further ado, my Hunger Games Trilogy review!

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary (Copied from Barnes and Noble): Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Katniss' sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.
Review: One of the times I met Scott Westerfeld, I asked him why he liked to write trilogies.  His answer was suprisingly simple, "It sets up the events in the series as beginning, middle, and end."  Now that I think about it, The Hunger Games served as a great opening to Katniss' world.  We learn all about Panem, Katniss' background, her family, and what the games are about.  Saying this, it was a basic novel with a suprising amount of gore (not nearly as much as Mockingjay, but we'll get back to that later) and your typicall teen romance with Katniss' District 12 opponent, Peeta.  However, this may sound boring and you may think "I want something more than good and basic," but The Hunger Games is fantastic and our heroine, Katniss is by far the most complex thing about this book.  Overall, The Hunger Games sets the stage for an action-packed trilogy which is as entertaining for male and female readers alike.
Grade: A-

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary (Without giving too much of The Hunger Games away): Katniss made it out of The Hunger Games alive but there was a twist involved in her escaping of the arena which has set the stage for a rebellion of Panem. 
Review: Again, sorry if I un-intentionally place any spoilers but I will try my best!  In Catching Fire, we see Katniss' world a little more clearly and get a little deeper into her mind while she tries to balance out what really matters.  The main points I noticed in Catching Fire was the setting of the stage of the rebellion of Panem and also learning a little more about the history of the Games themselves and learning even more about our characters.  Catching Fire was a little more slowly paced than The Hunger Games up to the last 13 or so of the book where things zoomed by so cleverly yet simply that I didn't even want to put the book down from then on.  A great sequel.
Grade: A

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary: The rebellion of Panem is in full swing and it is up to our heroine Katniss Everdeen to either destroy it or help it thrive.
Review: Mockingjay, I felt, went into some technical aspects that I didn't really care for.  However, once the action of the rebellion gets into the novel, things get exciting and quite gory.  In The Hunger Games, children faught to the death, of course it's going to be bloody but in Mockingjay, the rebellion is a full-on war.  There is blood and death at every turn once the true action begins.  This is all great and tastefully written during Katniss' special mission (about the last 1/2 or 1/3 or so) and things get intense and page-turning until the very last sentence. Mind-blowing.
Grade: A