The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Alright, let's get to it. 

Question number one: What did I think about the Quarter Quell itself?

The Quarter Quell was an extremely smart decision from Snow. I'm not gonna lie, that shook them to their core, and I was like, you know what, Snow? Applause for the theatrics, because that was smart. That was something. That's a smart man right there, because that girl put your country in a rivalry. Like, she stirred it up, and you were like, you know what? I'm about to rock this little girl's world, because she played in my face, and I just don't appreciate it. And, like, I really didn't want to have to deal with this inconvenience at all. He was like, I'm about to put you right back where you started. I'm about to put you right back where I know you don't want to go. Matter of fact, I'm about to traumatize all of y'all, because y'all all seem to have gotten too much dip on ya chip. And so now I'm about to remind you and everyone up in this piece that I run this town and that what I say goes. And if I want you back in that arena, you're gonna go back in the arena, and there's nothing you can do about it. Point blank, period. 

So I thought the Quarter Quell itself was very interesting and very smart on Snow's part. And I also really liked, like, you know, the design of the arena. I just think the whole thing was really smart. It was very clever. 

Question number two: How did you feel about the reveal at the end?

There were a lot of reveals, so maybe the plan was revealed. The plan being revealed, it honestly made a lot of sense, and all the clues came together. I think it was also really smart. I just feel bad for Katniss and Peeta. Also Finnick my poor baby is so much deeper than what's originally revealed and I love Johanna’s character. It definitely wasn't predictable if you never saw the movies, I definitely would have been more shocked. I don't know how to put it but I just also feel like Haymitch and his whole secretive situation is something else. The thing is, Peeta and Katniss both peeped it. Like when they were talking to each other like, “okay, I think we can be honest with each other by now, and neither one of us is planning on coming out of this alive because we’re trying to save the other.” And so they revealed that, you know, Haymitch had promised them both to save the other, and then Katniss was like, “then which one is true? Which promise is real to Haymitch. Only he knows.” Like, this man is always lying. Like, really, how can I trust what he's saying at all right now? And in the end, she felt like she couldn't. And I honestly don't blame her, especially because he specifically promised her to try her best with Peeta. And we all know that Haymitch cares for Peeta, he likes Peeta, but he sees Katniss as an asset. They all do. And so he 100% is always gonna try to save Katniss over Peeta. So I feel like she does have a right to feel betrayed by Haymitch because, like, I asked you to do one thing, and that's to keep Peeta safe for me, and you, your excuse is that you couldn't go back, but, it was just the one thing I asked of you. It was literally my dying wish, I don't know, you couldn't be my friend first? I see how that's betraying, and I know that there's a bigger thing behind all the emotions. This is the weight of the world right now, like, the world's at stake that's probably how Haymitchs sees it and he’s not wrong but, you know, when you're in a traumatizing situation like Katniss was, you don't really think about that. So I get how Katniss is feeling. I think her feelings are pretty valid, honestly. 

Question number three: How do you feel about Peeta now? 

I love Peeta. I always loved Peeta from the very beginning. I love his character. He's probably my favorite character, to be honest. I think he's incredibly sweet and incredibly smart. And I know a lot of people think that, like, all the characters are clever, but one of my favorite things about Peeta is that man can lie. He can lie his tail off. He is so smart, and he can talk. Like, he's so charismatic, and I love that. He can literally smooth-talk the mess out of anybody. I am also scared for him. When I read Mockingjay, whenever that will be, I am going to be so sad to read about how they tortured and traumatized him and stuff. Like, it's like, Peeta you know. He’s the least deserving of it. And it's just hurtful because he's just so incredibly sweet and so interesting. I love Peeta as a character. He’s so complex because he’s a boy with such a big heart YET he is so manipulative but not in a way to hurt people. He uses his manipulative charisma to help Katniss so many times. 

Question number four: Did Gale become even more intolerable, or did anything change your opinion of him?

No. Gale is still exactly the same, and nothing will ever change my opinion about him. Love that he has no clue that Peeta didn't actually tap that though. Moving on. 

Number five: What do you think Katniss actually feels for Peeta versus Gale now? 

Yeah, her feelings for Peeta are much deeper than her feelings for Gale, because especially when they kissed, she described their kiss differently. This is what I'm, like, noticing between Gale and Peeta, is that with Gale, it's, like, sweet. It's something I was longing for, something I never felt like, something expected and anticipated. She’s like I do love Gale, but she always circles back to the same thing. “I never ever have intended to marry him, and I still don't see myself doing that. Never has it ever been my intention to marry Gale. Not once.” She always circles back to that point. 

When it comes to Peeta, for one, I want to say she describes her kisses with completely different types of feelings. Completely. She describes Gale's kiss as sweet, basically. She says with Peeta that that kiss had her hungry. Hungry. Hungry. As in intense. As in longing. As in yearning. As in, I don't even know how to explain it to you, but hungry, babe. Hungry. She said, “a different kind of hunger I've never felt.” This is coming from a girl who has literally about starved to death multiple times in her life. So take that into account. 

I feel like they are going through the Quarter Quell and have gone through the Hunger Games together. This is a life-death experience twice now that they’ve gone through. These experiences are going to keep fueling them to just grow deeper and her once again feeling this need to sacrifice her life for him and vice versa. Katniss's feelings have grown deeper for Peeta in a way that they probably will never be able to get deeper with Gale because of the positions they're in and with the war. There are so many things that apply, and there's so many ways for her relationship with Peeta to continue to get deeper and growing, whereas Gale, there just isn't as many opportunities, and it's probably never gonna happen for him. She may not recognize it right away, or even acknowledge it, but she is in love with Peeta. Whereas Gale, she has a strong love for him, but she's not in love with him. Does that make sense? But yeah, I can keep going on about that forever, anyway…

Question number six: What do you think of Haymitch after learning what he was actually doing? 

Once again, I will say this: Haymitch is extremely smart, and I see why he does what he does, but I think his whole secretive thing he always does, and not telling anyone stuff, he has to also take into account people's feelings. Y'all are a family, and you doing things like that, it hurts people, and I get his intentions, and they may not have been bad, but I just think he doesn't do a very well at taking people's feelings into account, and it's just not fair, especially to Katniss, because of what all she's going through. I feel like his decisions were just a little bit irresponsible. At least not on the part of, not letting her know anything. Also I just feel him making the decision to not go after Peeta, I feel like it was more or less that we couldn't get Peeta, and more so “it's not as important to get Peeta for me because we are in the middle of a revolution. I'm not willing to risk anything to get Peeta”, and this is because he cares more about the success of the rebellion and making sure Katniss can be the Mockingjay than anything else. And I just feel it is a little selfish. I see it, and I understand why he's doing it, but that doesn't make it any less selfish. 

Question number seven: What was your reaction to the last few chapters? 

Okay, in the last few chapters, I was a little irritated with Katniss, because I was like, “girl, how can you not see what these people are doing?” But then again, I get it. It's a high-stakes situation. Yes, girl, I understand you. And honestly, the last chapter was really well written and will keep you on your toes. I specifically love the description of Johanna cutting the tracker out of Katniss' arm. It shows how Katniss really continues to be an unreliable narrator partly because she’s in constant survival mode but also because she doesn’t understand herself. 

This series is so incredibly detailed, and it is so intelligent, and it is just insane to me how someone could have a mind like Collins. You know what kind of thinking you'd have to have to put something like this together? I completely understand why some people are like, The Hunger Games is literally one of the best series to have touched the face of Earth. I get that. I understand that, because it's literally so intellectual. I love it so much. And personally, in my personal opinion, I really do think that The Hunger Games deserves the same recognition that Harry Potter got. Sue me, I'm sorry. Die hard Slytherin though. 

The point is, though, these books are so incredibly intellectual, and to think that there are more book connected to the trilogy, I think that goes back in time to Snow and his storyline. There's also another movie coming out about Haymitch and that whole situation, based on his book. I'm not caught up. I've got literally another three books to go in this series before I'm, like, completely caught up with the fandom.

So anyway that's my thought of book two of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fire. I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to share as well! 

The next book we’ll be getting to is…(drumroll please and thank you): AGNES AUBERT'S MYSTICAL CAT SHELTER!! A 1920’s period based, fantasy, romance, grump x sunshine sitch. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading, until next time!🌸

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Howls Moving Castle

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Okay so I read this book it's called Howl's Moving Castle there is a movie a based off of the book but apparently is a far off retelling of the book so I'm not going to recommend watching the movie before the book at all if you just want to skip the book all together because they're nothing alike. 

Anyway, as far as the book, I absolutely loved it. It was one of those books that are a little off and a little weird and personally I love that in a book it makes me feel as if you get the best of both words because they can be light-hearted and fun but also deep underneath and I appreciate that and a good book. 

So how's Moving Castle is about a girl named Sophie who is an oldest daughter and she initially believes that that settles her fate and she's the oldest daughter of two younger sisters and so she being the oldest means that she will not have a good life that it's just meant to be boring and things like that because that's the fate of the oldest according to Sophie. 

So one day as you know things move along in the book she gets cursed by a witch that is known for her wickedness and she is turned into an old lady and Sophie is so shocked by this that she doesn't initially react she actually flips upside down and walks out of her home and never turns back and she's like well I'm an old lady my life has changed and I get to go do whatever I want because at this point what else am I going to do. 

So she ends up going to house Castle who is a known Wizard and he is known for stealing and
kidnapping girls so she goes up there she basically forces herself into his home where she meets his little Apprentice Michael and his magical fire demon who lives in the fireplace named Calicifer. 

So it is like a found family I love the fact that this book. Found family isn’t my favorite all the time but it's extremely comforting that we get to see an extremely flawed but kind character go through these things that Sophie goes through. 

One of her flaws is that she's extremely nosy and me personally I cannot stand nosiness but it like I said made me appreciate the flaws within a character because it makes it more realistic and human but one of my favorite dynamics of the book is the growing relationship of Sophie with herself and with her fate and with her power and she starts to realize that she isn't who she initially believed herself to be and she grows this understanding of herself that I can really appreciate. 

I also love Howl as a character because he is something much deeper underneath the surface of what the book initially gives us and what Sophie's interpretation of him is at first and we get to know him throughout the book and he is an extremely interesting character that I think a lot of people will love because to me he's extremely funny but he's also much deeper than what meets the eye and I love that in a character. 

All the other characters I also learned to love and appreciate because they add to the story, the plot of this book is actually extremely good and I just enjoyed the fact that it was a little odd the descriptions were interesting and there was a plot twist that I did not expect to be honest and also one of my favorite things about this book is that you get to hear Sophie's thoughts but she isn't necessarily and unreliable narrator but when you actually pay attention to the things that are going around her versus what she's thinking you can see the difference between how she feels and what's actually going on and I appreciate that. 

I really like this book. I 100% recommend that anyone could like it for real especially if you love something that is fantasy romance and light-hearted but deep within and it shows you something within characters that you can learn from then you can appreciate this book. I left out A LOT of details so this barely touches the surface trust me if you think this spoils it pls go read it for yourself. 

Let me know if any of you have or will read it. I'll be more than happy to discuss it with you because I love a good discussion. 

Thanks for reading! 🌸

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The Hunger Games

I recently read The Hunger Games book for the first time and I have to say I really enjoyed it even more than I do the movies. The movies are very popular, they’re starring Jennifer Lawrence and I did watch them a lot, especially when they first came out but I always had an interest in reading the books because I thought if the movies were so good I can't imagine what the books are like. I finally took the time to actually read it and it is so much better than the movies and there are a lot of aspects of the book that I think the movies did a great job at displaying.

 

One of the main things I liked about this book was the fact that we got a great inner dialogue of how Katniss was feeling and thinking. We got this extremely strong but also flawed character which is really nice to see because I feel like authors have a habit of trying to make their main characters especially when they're female as little flawed as possible so that they’re like-able but with Katniss her flaws are part of her and they're part of her trauma and the author doesn't shy away from that.

I love Katniss as a character because even though she is this girl who is struggling and going through hard times because of what the capital is doing to their world and they're living in this dystopian environment she still takes the time and cares for her family. I like the fact that the resentment that she has for the capital along with her mother and Haymitch for example she sees makes her more human because resentment comes with struggles sometimes.

She describes her trauma of her father's death and how she hated her mother and distrusted her for falling into a deep depression after his death, so much so that she abandoned her kids.  Even though I personally believe that her mother deserved the benefit of the doubt because depression is a real thing and I could completely understand how someone would fall into a deep depression and not care about anything else, not even lives when they lose someone that they've loved in that way. I think it makes Katniss real to have that flaw of not being able to  understand what her mother was going through because it shows that she's a young, and little close-minded. 

I think this situation between Katniss and her mother I believe that Katniss can't fully grasp why  her mother abandoned them because of her mental state because Katniss has never loved anyone that deeply and it's interesting to me because it's one of the lessons she's about to learn with her relationship with Peeta.

Another thing I loved was how her resentment for the people around her lessened as she went on in the hunger games. She began to miss her mother and dream of her. She disliked Haymitch because she couldn’t understand how he became a drunk but she realized that they are a lot alike and maybe he became a drunk because he went through the hunger games and had to mentor other kids for up to 30 years and have watched every single one die. At first she she didn’t like Peeta and didn’t trust him but they’re friendship grew and she opened her eyes to see that Peeta's actions were him trying to protect her. She made a lot of people villains because she was angry but by the end of the book she had a new found love and appreciation

for them and realized that the anger she carried were for the capitol and those were her true enemies. 

Another one of my favorite aspects of the story is that even though Katniss tries very hard to come off as to strong nonchalant character who's just doing what she has to do to survive like everyone else when she gets in the arena for The Hunger Games she inherently becomes more human throughout the situation because she starts to feel the weight of being in a place where not only is she being hunted but she has to kill. She doesn't feel like she has room to cry or feel her emotions and one of the biggest emotions she does feel is anger and she refuses to let herself feel anything else but as she grows in the arena and she meets more people she realizes that she doesn't want to be angry anymore. She begins to fear ending up a drunk like Haymitch because she saw herself within him. 

As for the love story with Peeta the romance is aspect of this book is really good to me I like the fact that is pretty obvious that Peter loved her for a long time and Katniss had never known and she always wondered about him deep down and it wasn't until she got into that situation with Peeta of being in the Hunger Games that she realized she paid a lot more attention to him than she thought. They knew each other better than they had thought they did. I like the fact that she's very honest with herself about how she feels even though she may not completely understand herself. She cares for Peter but she isn't in love with him and she can feel herself falling in love with him but she's not going to force herself to recognize feelings that she's never felt before. 

Although I do feel bad for Peter that his feelings are not completely returned neither one of them know that that's not the case they had just recently got out of a situation where they had to survive being hunted and killed it was extremely traumatizing situation and feelings like a relationship is not simple to just figure out as soon as you get out of The Hunger Games. I do understand that he thought thy were real because nobody told him that they were acting to stay safe from the capitol but he also needs to learn that at a time like this romantic emotions aren’t the focus. 

I do believe that Peter owes her the benefit of the doubt because even though yes she was pretending to be in love with him to survive the capital there are very obvious feelings there and it's obvious she cares for him in some way she just might not be in love with him and I think it's true what she said, that he should be a little bit more understanding because before this they were basically complete strangers and just because he loved her from the beginning she doesn't owe that to him and she has someone that she loves and her main goal was to survive and get back to her family.

I think Peter realizing that her feelings were not romantic in the level that his were he forgets that she cared for him in many other ways and that even though the relationship may not be romantic and it's an extremely deep friendship and I don't think that's something he should throw away because of his feelings being hurt. 

My last observation I had to say about the movies. The movies are great. I do love them. I do wish that by the time in the middle to end of the movies where all the big fights were happening I do think that the tributes should have looked a little bit more starved in the movies. They looked well put together and I feel like they could have used some CGI or something to make them look a little bit more malnourished because in the books they barely had food they were starving for days on end.

Overall though I really enjoyed this book and I definitely will be finishing the series and taking my time I 100% recommend this if you like dystopian with a little bit of romance and I like the fact that we're going to be able to see her grow as a character but also the romance within these books grow. 

Thanks for reading! 🌸

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The Princess Knight

Warning: small spoilers 

So I just recently read this book called The Princess Knight. I really enjoyed it. It took me a long time to get around to reading this book because I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it but I'm actually really happy that I read it. It's supposed to be a Legally Blonde plus Renaissance Era situation and as a person who loves Legally Blonde and historical eras obviously that struck my mind but it  took a different twist than I thought it would. 

First though, one of the things I don't like about this book is the fact that it isn't just Renaissance but it's fantasy as well so there are some odd things about it you know? Personally, if I think Fantasy x Renaissance I might think dragons, knights, and princesses but no there's like some sort of magical beings in this book called Draoi. There are kingdoms and there's a war and I don't mind that at all, I really liked that aspect but I don't know if I like the magical part because I don't think it was necessary, I think the book would have been better without it especially because the idea kind of falls on the back burner with everything else going on. Also the names felt so complicated in this book. 

Anyway, the main male character is a very attractive guy to me because he's not like the typical grumpy male who refuses to acknowledge his feelings. You see that in books a lot nowadays. He's extremely caring and charismatic and he falls first and I love that in a man. He is instantly intrigued by her and she doesn't give him a second thought really because she focused on herself and I really like that because it's so rare to see books where the woman isn't completely swooning over this guy who isn't thinking twice about her. 

I love that even though it's a spin on Legally Blonde, the twist of it being in the Renaissance Era makes it even better and I like the fact that things aren't as traditional in this book. One of my favorite things about it was how you see the main character, Clia go through all these changes  that are so important for a young woman to go through and I really enjoyed the fact that yes, she fell in love but she had other things to do on top of that and she wasn't afraid to push her feeling aside to accomplish and prove what she needed to prove and even though some parts of the book she was not being completely honest with herself out of fear I think that honestly made it more real because it's common to feel as if your feelings aren't important. 

I also like the side characters in this book. I liked all the plot twists and overall this is definitely a book I would recommend you read especially if you like strong female main characters but still girly. If you like the men in your books to fall first, definitely read this book. 

I hope some of you read it and if you do let me know what you thought!

Thanks for reading!🌸 

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The Brilliance that is Pride and Prejudice

 One of the best Novels ever Written: Pride and Prejudice 

   Elizabeth Bennet is the main female character of the classic novel Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen who is known for her complex characters. She is one of my favorite characters ever because she represents what it is to be complex, strong natured, witty, full of personality, and full of self respect. I love the fact that she had this insanely rich man propose to her and she refused because she thought his character to be awful. It would have been a smart move for her to accept the marriage because she from a poor family and she would have been able to help them and live a beyond comfortable life but she said no because she loved herself more and she refused to believe that marriage was only a business transaction. Elizabeth would have rather been alone before she married a man she couldn't see herself with. That's not common not even today

Mr Darcy is this character that comes off arrogant, he's not willing to talk and it's obvious he really has no interest in anyone outside who he already knows at all. He's one of my favorite male protagonist because there's so much about him that you do not see in the beginning and it's fun watching him open up because he's in love. Mr Darcy's actually a really fun guy. He is caring and he's selfless and when you get to know his history and who he is beyond Elizabeth's point of view he ends up being so interesting. He is a great example of “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Matthew Macfayden did a great job at representing his shy but sweet nature that's below the hard exterior. Watching him fall in love with Elizabeth in the movie is great and reading about how he talked about her and how he felt in the book made it feel deeper and it made him more human. He is a true YEARNER.

There's so many other great characters in this book that I could sit here and talk about for hours and I could go on and on about so many of the situations that happened, but this is just about the two main characters and why I love them and why this book is just so amazing and I generally think of you love romance that's deep and beautiful you would love Pride and Prejudice. The book is even deeper and in my opinion even better than the movie because it goes into greater detail and you see a lot more and it's actually funny. Overall Jane Austen made history with this book. I'm sure we already know this and I truly encourage anyone to engage in the world that is Pride and Prejudice because it will always be one of my favorite things in the world. 

Do you think you would ever give Pride and Prejudice a chance? Let me know what you think if you've already watched or read it!

Thanks for reading! 🌸

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