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bibliobiophile's review
3.0
I hope that the grammatical errors and some muddled language got corrected in the final version since it was actually noticeable and, at times, a hindrance to understanding the point being made in the advance review copy. Overall, I think this book would be great for a parent or teacher or older sibling to read alongside of the books with preteens; this work is a good jumping point to have conversations about media and government control and culpability of atrocities in the world with a younger audience. But mostly it reads like threads on a fandom message board, but tries to include a more academic angle to support the theories.
Edit: I received this as an ARC through Goodreads First Reads for free.
Edit: I received this as an ARC through Goodreads First Reads for free.
mjarmel's review
3.0
I hope that the grammatical errors and some muddled language got corrected in the final version since it was actually noticeable and, at times, a hindrance to understanding the point being made in the advance review copy. Overall, I think this book would be great for a parent or teacher or older sibling to read alongside of the books with preteens; this work is a good jumping point to have conversations about media and government control and culpability of atrocities in the world with a younger audience. But mostly it reads like threads on a fandom message board, but tries to include a more academic angle to support the theories.
Edit: I received this as an ARC through Goodreads First Reads for free.
Edit: I received this as an ARC through Goodreads First Reads for free.
aimmyarrowshigh's review
5.0
I think this is the best Hunger Games study book. Since I love the Hunger Games, I thought it was really interesting, but I think if you're a more casual fan it might seem nitpicking. There is a lot here that I'm not sure Suzanne Collins did on purpose but it definitely makes sense and now when I reread the Hunger Games, I will be thinking differently! :)
I got this book free from the publisher.
I got this book free from the publisher.
urlphantomhive's review
2.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I was not completely sure what I was thinking when I decided to read a companion novel to this popular series. There were some questions that I wanted to know an answer to, but in hindsight, I think it probably wasn't really something for me.
The thing is, that I can get annoyed when people start over-analyzing something, which most certainly is the case in The Panem Companion. There are a few interesting pieces like, where in America are the different Districts located and what do they all do, but a lot of the book is actually taken up either by fan theories (which you can find online by the truckload) or metaphors which are apparently planted into the smallest details of the story.
Not for me.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I was not completely sure what I was thinking when I decided to read a companion novel to this popular series. There were some questions that I wanted to know an answer to, but in hindsight, I think it probably wasn't really something for me.
The thing is, that I can get annoyed when people start over-analyzing something, which most certainly is the case in The Panem Companion. There are a few interesting pieces like, where in America are the different Districts located and what do they all do, but a lot of the book is actually taken up either by fan theories (which you can find online by the truckload) or metaphors which are apparently planted into the smallest details of the story.
Not for me.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
literallytara's review
3.0
Review copy from NetGalley. Review originally posted at The Librarian Who Doesn't Say Shhh!
If you've read The Girl Who Was On Fire, then you have a pretty good idea of what this book is. The Panem Companion is a series of essays on the popular Hunger Games series. While The Girl Who Was On Fire was a collection written by various YA authors on different topics, The Panem Companion is written by a single author. V. Arrow dives in to explore the depths of Suzanne Collins' world, analyzing everything from the geography of Panem to gender roles in the series. There's even a very detailed etymology of every name from the series at the end.
The major flaw of this book is that I feel it tries to work an in-depth analysis around very little substance. Some of the essays felt a little forced, almost like student essays. The book gives very little information on certain topics for good reason -- the topics are mentioned in passing, and aren't crucial to the plot. To write a whole book analyzing these points means making a lot of assumptions and over analyzing a lot of minor plot points.
That being said...it's also fun. I'll take the over analyzing with a grain of tasty, tasty salt. The point of this book is to think critically about the series, to ponder some of the hidden points of the plot. To read between Suzanne Collins' lines (whoa. that sounds like a pick up line). Some of the chapters are better than others, so this would be best enjoyed by reading the sections that interest you. I think any reader could find some of Arrow's points quite interesting. It may even inspire a re-read of the series.
FINAL GRADE: C Not a life-changer, but definitely a neat read. It does have some flaws. And I did have to force myself to keep reading in some of the less interesting chapters. However, I love what Smart Pop is doing with these types of books that take a deeper look at some of my favorite series (next up is a book about Ender's Game!).
Required reading: Required for fans of The Hunger Games or The Girl Who Was On Fire. Also required for any teacher who uses The Hunger Games in the classroom -- you will probably find some essays/info in here that will help in teaching various aspects of the novel.
Library Recommendations: A definitely buy for both middle school and high school libraries, since kids will definitely want to check this out. Even if they don't read it like an adult might, they will enjoy the map of Panem. Consider buying a copy for your professional collection if any teachers use the novel in the classroom.
If you've read The Girl Who Was On Fire, then you have a pretty good idea of what this book is. The Panem Companion is a series of essays on the popular Hunger Games series. While The Girl Who Was On Fire was a collection written by various YA authors on different topics, The Panem Companion is written by a single author. V. Arrow dives in to explore the depths of Suzanne Collins' world, analyzing everything from the geography of Panem to gender roles in the series. There's even a very detailed etymology of every name from the series at the end.
The major flaw of this book is that I feel it tries to work an in-depth analysis around very little substance. Some of the essays felt a little forced, almost like student essays. The book gives very little information on certain topics for good reason -- the topics are mentioned in passing, and aren't crucial to the plot. To write a whole book analyzing these points means making a lot of assumptions and over analyzing a lot of minor plot points.
That being said...it's also fun. I'll take the over analyzing with a grain of tasty, tasty salt. The point of this book is to think critically about the series, to ponder some of the hidden points of the plot. To read between Suzanne Collins' lines (whoa. that sounds like a pick up line). Some of the chapters are better than others, so this would be best enjoyed by reading the sections that interest you. I think any reader could find some of Arrow's points quite interesting. It may even inspire a re-read of the series.
FINAL GRADE: C Not a life-changer, but definitely a neat read. It does have some flaws. And I did have to force myself to keep reading in some of the less interesting chapters. However, I love what Smart Pop is doing with these types of books that take a deeper look at some of my favorite series (next up is a book about Ender's Game!).
Required reading: Required for fans of The Hunger Games or The Girl Who Was On Fire. Also required for any teacher who uses The Hunger Games in the classroom -- you will probably find some essays/info in here that will help in teaching various aspects of the novel.
Library Recommendations: A definitely buy for both middle school and high school libraries, since kids will definitely want to check this out. Even if they don't read it like an adult might, they will enjoy the map of Panem. Consider buying a copy for your professional collection if any teachers use the novel in the classroom.
tarynwanderer's review
4.0
Certain popular books just cry out for deeper analysis. What does the United States’ obsession with the Twilight series mean for our perceptions of women and of healthy relationships, for example? Why have the Harry Potter books held such a grip on not just children, but adults, for literally a decade?
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy is perfectly deserving of critical analysis–its statements on race, justice, economics, war, and media are thoughtful without being preachy. Written by V. Arrow, a Hunger Games superfan and critical reader, The Panem Companion is a great introduction to some of the deeper themes and sociopolitical commentary found in THG.
While other reviewers may have found this book dry, I went into it expecting a compelling critical analysis, and for the most part, that’s exactly what I got. I also thought that Arrow’s voice was wonderful: informative without being condescending, funny without needing to try too hard, sensitive without pandering. You can tell Arrow loves THG, yet is also willing to analyze and critique it, something that many fans aren’t necessarily able to do.
My favorite chapters had to do with the socioeconomic and racial demographics and histories of Panem. They were in-depth and well-thought out, yet also fairly readable for someone who is perhaps new to critical race theory. I thought the chapter that dealt with Katniss’s race was especially well-done. It acknowledges the “controversy” of Katniss potentially being a non-white heroine (though represented by Jennifer Lawrence, a white actress, in the movie version) with a level of nuance and understanding that I had not previously read. I loved the conclusion Arrow came to, as well–that while Katniss may very well be racially white, in the social and political structure of Panem, she is definitively ethnically non-white. It’s a fair way of using the information given to us by Collins, while still acknowledging current racial inequalities and disparities in a thoughtful and significant way. Kudos, V. Arrow, kudos!
To read the rest of this review, please visit Bookwanderer!
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy is perfectly deserving of critical analysis–its statements on race, justice, economics, war, and media are thoughtful without being preachy. Written by V. Arrow, a Hunger Games superfan and critical reader, The Panem Companion is a great introduction to some of the deeper themes and sociopolitical commentary found in THG.
While other reviewers may have found this book dry, I went into it expecting a compelling critical analysis, and for the most part, that’s exactly what I got. I also thought that Arrow’s voice was wonderful: informative without being condescending, funny without needing to try too hard, sensitive without pandering. You can tell Arrow loves THG, yet is also willing to analyze and critique it, something that many fans aren’t necessarily able to do.
My favorite chapters had to do with the socioeconomic and racial demographics and histories of Panem. They were in-depth and well-thought out, yet also fairly readable for someone who is perhaps new to critical race theory. I thought the chapter that dealt with Katniss’s race was especially well-done. It acknowledges the “controversy” of Katniss potentially being a non-white heroine (though represented by Jennifer Lawrence, a white actress, in the movie version) with a level of nuance and understanding that I had not previously read. I loved the conclusion Arrow came to, as well–that while Katniss may very well be racially white, in the social and political structure of Panem, she is definitively ethnically non-white. It’s a fair way of using the information given to us by Collins, while still acknowledging current racial inequalities and disparities in a thoughtful and significant way. Kudos, V. Arrow, kudos!
To read the rest of this review, please visit Bookwanderer!
kaitmary's review
5.0
Originally posted on Victor's Village
Companion books are a tricky subject. Most of them come from professional companion book creators who look to make a quick buck by tossing together a weak analysis of other people’s work and pissing us of by claiming all their ideas are original. Or the books are aimed at the casual fan, thus feel totally predictable and bland to anyone who’s taken part in our online community. Either way, there’s a huge disconnect between the writers and the fandom.
The only book that we ever really liked after more than a couple chapters, after much convincing from fandom friends, was The Girl Who Was On Fire, a series of really smart essays from popular authors about the books (and later, the movie). Still, we were skeptical when the publishers behind it said they’d be making a full-on analytical companion… until we saw that the author was V. Arrow.
For those of you who don’t know V., she is a very passionate, very active member of The Hunger Games fandom. She’s been a panelist of Hunger Games Fireside Chat. She’s talking about the series on Twitter, Tumblr, and hell, even LiveJournal! And nobody even uses LiveJournal anymore! …Anyway, there are a lot of people paying attention to what she has to say. True, we once accused her very popular map of Panem of logic-ing us to death and ignoring the possible speed of futuristic hovercrafts, but after seeing some recent, more official maps of Panem… we could go for more logic. Either way, V. has street cred. Lots of it!
Lucky us, we were given a chance to review the book four months early! So now, instead of rambling to death, we present… OUR REVIEW OF THE PANEM COMPANION BY V. ARROW!
Let’s start by saying this is NOT a book about the movie. It’s about the book series and that point is made very clear. That still leaves us with loads to dive into! Because V. is active in the fandom, this book is not a 200-someodd-page lecture about obvious themes. She certainly talks about important themes– racism, classism, sexuality, parallels between the books and real life, character origins, etc.– usually in more detail than what we’ve seen in the past.
However, she also talks about the nitty gritty fan details, some of which we don’t agree with (like Prim being Mr. Mellark’s child or a possible Finnick/Cinna relationship), but there’s plenty of other “fanon” that we believe in too. So really, there’s something for everyone. V. not only admits that these ideas are part of the fandom, she quotes and references other fans’ thoughts. It’s super gratifying to see an author who recognizes they’re part of something bigger than their own opinion.
On a scale of 1 to 10 between “This was written by a chimp, apparently” and “I’m dying, this is a textbook”, we’re going to just this companion a SEVEN. V. is a lot smarter than us, to put it lightly. We’re big on very simple vernacular, but she pulls out the big kid words and plenty of research. At the same time, anyone with a ninth grade education should do just fine, because the language isn’t off-putting and usually helps validate each topic. We never thought “Urgh… I can’t even read this because my brain is working too hard to find any joy in it.” And we think that about books far more often than we’d like to admit.
There’s a reason ya don’t often take us seriously: We goof off and use words like “shizz”. V. doesn’t because she is a professional, dammit! But she also does it without boring us to death. Don’t let the intro scare you– it’s the part that reads the most like a term paper, but it’s much smoother sailing after that.
We really enjoyed The Panem Companion. It’s unapologetically smart and refuses to trivialize the series or its fandom. You just don’t see that around these parts anymore!
If you’re not into companion books at all, that’s cool! We get it! But if you’re going to read one, we suggest you go for this one.
Companion books are a tricky subject. Most of them come from professional companion book creators who look to make a quick buck by tossing together a weak analysis of other people’s work and pissing us of by claiming all their ideas are original. Or the books are aimed at the casual fan, thus feel totally predictable and bland to anyone who’s taken part in our online community. Either way, there’s a huge disconnect between the writers and the fandom.
The only book that we ever really liked after more than a couple chapters, after much convincing from fandom friends, was The Girl Who Was On Fire, a series of really smart essays from popular authors about the books (and later, the movie). Still, we were skeptical when the publishers behind it said they’d be making a full-on analytical companion… until we saw that the author was V. Arrow.
For those of you who don’t know V., she is a very passionate, very active member of The Hunger Games fandom. She’s been a panelist of Hunger Games Fireside Chat. She’s talking about the series on Twitter, Tumblr, and hell, even LiveJournal! And nobody even uses LiveJournal anymore! …Anyway, there are a lot of people paying attention to what she has to say. True, we once accused her very popular map of Panem of logic-ing us to death and ignoring the possible speed of futuristic hovercrafts, but after seeing some recent, more official maps of Panem… we could go for more logic. Either way, V. has street cred. Lots of it!
Lucky us, we were given a chance to review the book four months early! So now, instead of rambling to death, we present… OUR REVIEW OF THE PANEM COMPANION BY V. ARROW!
Let’s start by saying this is NOT a book about the movie. It’s about the book series and that point is made very clear. That still leaves us with loads to dive into! Because V. is active in the fandom, this book is not a 200-someodd-page lecture about obvious themes. She certainly talks about important themes– racism, classism, sexuality, parallels between the books and real life, character origins, etc.– usually in more detail than what we’ve seen in the past.
However, she also talks about the nitty gritty fan details, some of which we don’t agree with (like Prim being Mr. Mellark’s child or a possible Finnick/Cinna relationship), but there’s plenty of other “fanon” that we believe in too. So really, there’s something for everyone. V. not only admits that these ideas are part of the fandom, she quotes and references other fans’ thoughts. It’s super gratifying to see an author who recognizes they’re part of something bigger than their own opinion.
On a scale of 1 to 10 between “This was written by a chimp, apparently” and “I’m dying, this is a textbook”, we’re going to just this companion a SEVEN. V. is a lot smarter than us, to put it lightly. We’re big on very simple vernacular, but she pulls out the big kid words and plenty of research. At the same time, anyone with a ninth grade education should do just fine, because the language isn’t off-putting and usually helps validate each topic. We never thought “Urgh… I can’t even read this because my brain is working too hard to find any joy in it.” And we think that about books far more often than we’d like to admit.
There’s a reason ya don’t often take us seriously: We goof off and use words like “shizz”. V. doesn’t because she is a professional, dammit! But she also does it without boring us to death. Don’t let the intro scare you– it’s the part that reads the most like a term paper, but it’s much smoother sailing after that.
We really enjoyed The Panem Companion. It’s unapologetically smart and refuses to trivialize the series or its fandom. You just don’t see that around these parts anymore!
If you’re not into companion books at all, that’s cool! We get it! But if you’re going to read one, we suggest you go for this one.
emarleene's review against another edition
2.0
This book wasn’t exactly what I had expected it to be. It claims to be a Panem Companion (unofficial to be exact), but to me it didn’t feel like a companion at all. It felt more like a long list of unbelievable theories from a fan of the series. I expected a lot more talk about Panem, some history and well…a Panem Companion rather than a whole book of theories written by a fan (who also seems to put down other fans for some reason).
It’s also a big long to be a companion novel in my opinion since it’s almost the same length as the first book in the series.
The book is at time quite interesting though, and I like the theories about how Panem came to be and how long it took etc.
It’s also a big long to be a companion novel in my opinion since it’s almost the same length as the first book in the series.
The book is at time quite interesting though, and I like the theories about how Panem came to be and how long it took etc.