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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Being okay with making mistakes

Mistakes or something that everyone handles differently in their lives and I  know that when it comes to me I didn't always handle making mistakes in the best way and I wasn't always smart about it. 

I had a really bad habit of thinking that one simple mistake was detrimental and it would cost me everything  and that thinking put a fear in me that made me leave no room for mistakes in my life ever and that was really hard to do because as a human being you're going to make mistakes is part of being a person and if everything was meant to go perfectly all the time that's how it would be but it's not. 

I would do everything possible to make sure everything went perfectly when they didn't it was like everything fell apart but that was never the case even when I felt like things were going really badly there's never a time where I can say I don't appreciate that time in my life or the lesson that I learned because what am I main things I learned about mistakes is that a lot of the time what you need to do is take it as a learning lesson and move on and try better. 

There's really nothing you can do after the mistake happens besides do your due diligence, try again and learn from it because you can't go back in time and make things better or change how things happened. You can only fix it moving forward. 

I think it's important to understand though that you cannot fix everything and some things aren't meant to be fixed. There are learning lessons in the mistakes that you make in this life whether that is never doing that thing again or doing it a better way or changing you as a person either way there's something to learn from it. 

Obviously I still do not like making mistakes, especially big ones but I handled them a lot differently than I used to.  when I make a mistake yeah in the moment I'm very upset and I don't really want to do anything and I don't have positive feelings at all but once I take the time to fill my feelings I get up, do what I can and I move on from it and I take that Learning lesson to heart. 

I try again if I want to try again I change whatever I think I may need to change I do something before I allow it to make me feel as if I'm lesser than I'm not smart enough or anything negative because that's how you begin to be unkind to yourself for something that is literally in your nature. No matter how hard you try you cannot be perfect, not in the way you look, not in the way you feel, not in the way you do things, it's just not possible and until you understand that is going to be a very hard life.

 

I hope that some of you learn that life is supposed to be fun and exciting and you're supposed to do what you can to enjoy it while you're here and yes make sure you do what you have to do to live a comfortable life but do not forget to be kind to yourself and remember that you're human. There's a way to hold yourself accountable but still have respect for your feelings and your mindset and who you are as a person. Whether you're in school or you're working a job or you're struggling in any way just remember to take the time and breathe and get out of your head and then  do what works best for you so that you can figure yourself out. It's easier said than done but trying is better than doing nothing. 

Anyway I hope this helps someone in this gives anyone the motivation to be a little easier on themselves and remember to stay positive. 

 Thanks for reading! 🌸

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My Favorite Films for Fall

🎃 My Favorite Fall Movies 🎬

My favorite movies to watch when the weather gets cooler, the leaves start changing, and I want to romanticize my life a little bit. ☕🍁

Movie Title

A little description of why I love this movie.

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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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Getting ready for School

I go back to college in 4 days so I've been really busy packing and everything. I am so excited for my new apartment I went for a baby pink and sage green vibe, I love it. There is still so much I have to do like get my hair done, I move in on Friday, I have to do my nails and stuff too, and then I have to get groceries because I cook a lot. Fast food makes me feel like I'm on the verge of death after a while so I have no choice I'm basically a chef. 

I also recently got accepted in the Princess Polly Ambassador Program so if you guys want 15% off use my code: POLLYCOLLEGEMADISONK

Anyway thats what I've been doing an why I haven't posted. I'll get back into a routine once I get settled because I miss posting honestly yapping on here is so fun. 

Talk to you guys soon! 🌸

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