Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Hunger Games

I understand why people love this book, it really does have great themes and for an early YA book, it handles heavy themes very well. With that though, the entire time I was reading this I was just wishing I could watch the movie.
I know, I know, everyone always thinks the book is better and really I shouldn't be thinking about the movie while reading but almost everything that was in this book was translated into the movie (and better done). What wasn't put in or changed simply felt like a good change such as the entire Avox chapter that felt nearly thrown into the book just to add to the Capitol's cruelty.
But this feeling of not liking extra content tacked onto the book is not a problem because if I enjoyed reading the book I would've been happy for that extra content. What it really comes down to is the writing. I simply did not enjoy how this book was written whatsoever. It was just so incredibly dull. We never get to really hear Katniss' thoughts, she's very closed off in a lot of ways. And yes, that is because her personality is closed off but this ends up making this book feel dull as it just simply describes things she does.
This even comes into a factor when she is in the games. She is simply surviving for most of it. You can't convince me that the games are a fun thing to watch for anyone, it just seems so freaking boring as nothing happens for ninety percent of the time other than people walking around collecting supplies.
Even when there are action scenes, they happen so quickly that it feels nearly like the author knew she had to put them in and so just threw them in.
Again, this all comes back to us being so closed off from Katniss' inner thoughts that it just felt like I was just reading words on a page for most of it, I never truly got into the story.

Anyways, rant over, this book really isn't terrible I just know it can be so much better - and is in the movie ;).
3 stars.

Content Warnings

briony_2010's review against another edition

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adventurous sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Content Warnings

judeb0x's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

doodleoodz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I was excited to start this series (I know, late to the games) after not being allowed to read it when it came out and forgot I owned it. I loved the emotions behind it, I love how Katniss's turmoil is written out and described. I couldn't put it down, such a great read and glad I can enjoy it as an adult.

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