I never read this series, and I’ve only seen bits and pieces of this first movie. I surprised myself by how much I liked this book! I kept wanting to go back and see what happened next, even though some moments were almost painfully tense. There are certainly some elements of this dystopian world that feel unbelievable, but much of it rang disturbingly true. If I had more space and time here, I could draw a lot of parallels to Panem and present day America, especially in how we separate people based on class and race. I did find some of Katniss’ character frustrating, especially the whole “she doesn’t realize the effect she has on other people” thing. This feels like a tired trope, similar to when the dorky shy girl thinks no one could like her, until she takes off her glasses and suddenly realizes she’s desirable or lovable.