The Hunger Games Movie

Okay, I know this is a book blog, but I'm going to review The Hunger Games movie because I just saw it today and I really really loved it. :D

*IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE OR READ THE BOOKS, FIRST OF ALL, SHAME ON YOU, AND SECOND, THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. SO BEWARE!!!*

This is also going to be EXTREMELY long and brought out.

Let's start with the cast. There wasn't anyone who was a disappointment for me. I knew Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark) would be awesome, and they certainly were. I was blown away at the scenes where Lawrence was shaking or crying, and you can see it in her eyes how afraid she is. You didn't see much of many characters; Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne) for example. I'm not sure what I think of him as Gale yet, since he only appeared for a short time at the beginning and for moments during the games, but he's such a major character at the same time. I really liked Willow Shields as Primrose Everdeen, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, Amandla Stenberg as Rue, and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy) and Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket) were good, but I think they could've been better. One of my favorite castings and one of the most surprising was Alexander Ludwig as Cato. My gosh he was amazing at the end scene with the mutts.

I really don't know what happened to Katniss's styling team though. Their names weren't mentioned, when in the book they were, and they become more important as the series progresses. I also wish there was more time to see more of a bond between Rue and Katniss. I'm not a big fan of how they changed how Katniss gets the Mockingjay pin, but it did strengthen the bond between her and Prim. The avoxes are also really minor in the movie, but that didn't bother me.

Now I suppose I'll talk about the different scenes. I loved the reaping scene. How Prim was screaming, how Katniss started screaming too, but knew she had to compose herself, and how Gale had to carry Prim away. The interviews, though you only got a few lines of the other major tributes, I really liked. You got a glimpse at the other tributes, their strategy, and how they fell about the games...and I loved Katniss's dress. Rue's death was good, though I imagined Rue and all the tributes for that matter, to be more dirty and bloody and she didn't scream or wail or anything which seemed unrealistic. I also loved the end; the whole final battle with the mutts and Cato. Oh...and the Katniss and Peeta scenes weren't bad either...like the cave scene. :) I could go on and on about all the scenes that I liked...

I also loved almost all the scenes that weren't in the book.
-Effie saying, "That is Mahogany!" when Katniss stabs the knife into the table. Nice comic relief.
-Haymitch watching the Capitol children play with swords. He was basically watching them having fun pretending to be violent when the same violence ruined his life.
-I loved the scene where Katniss and Foxface collided. Just the expressions on their faces...
-I also loved Cato's ending monologue. This was amazing in my opinion. It showed how he is a Career, he is from District 2, he trained for the games for most of his life, but he's still just a kid. He's afraid and dying.
-The tracker-jacker hallucinations were good, but kinda overdone. If you hadn't read the book, you might not understand what was going on and how her father died in a mining accident.
-I really liked how you could see more of Seneca Crane and the other "gamemakers" (I guess you could call them that) creating all the twists and turns of the arena. For those who haven't read the book, it kinda gives reason to the fire and the mutts that they might not have understood.
-I loved when Seneca Crane and President Snow were talking in the rose garden. "The only thing stronger than fear is hope."
-The uprising in District 11 was just so moving. It leads into the later books when all the districts start rebelling.
-The scene near the end where Seneca was locked in the room with a bowl of nightlock because he basically failed in the aspect that Katniss and Peeta were both close to committing suicide. It was just so ironic and perfect.
-This technically wasn't in the book, but near the end when Katniss is hunting and Peeta is picking berries, and she hears the cannon and then sees the Nightlock, and is terrified thinking Peeta died. I loved that scene.

Scenes that were a disappointment:
-The Girl on Fire scene with the chariots was just too brief. And they totally did not look on fire.
-The berry scene I liked, but it was also too brief. Though I could feel how to Peeta it was an act of love and to Katniss it was an act of rebellion against the Capitol, it just felt way to short for such a major turning point in the series.
-I didn't really like how the conversation in the train home between Katniss and Peeta was toned down. I just didn't feel like you could grasp how betrayed Peeta felt when he realized that Katniss's love was just an act.
-The mutt scene. I was so disappointed because in the book, Katniss recognized each mutt to look like a dead tribute by eye color, fur color, and the collars they were wearing (ex. Glimmer's collar had a "1" for District 1 in rhinestones and Rue's collar had an "11" in straw)

Random tidbits that bothered me:
-Ugh the camera was shaking so much!! Not only during fight scenes, which because of that were hard to focus on, but in the pre-game scenes like in District 12. It was just unnecessary.
-I thought that everyone would look dirtier and bloodier. Katniss, Peeta, and Cato were fine, but other than that, everyone looked like average people off the street who were clean and such.
-The Capitol fashion was a little over the top.
-How every time Katniss and Peeta kissed, they flashed to Gale.
-This kinda goes with the camera shaking, but the violence was sorta toned down too and it seemed like they shook the camera to cover up the fact that it was toned down.
-They cut the lamb stew. How Katniss said it was her favorite part of the Capitol was the lamb stew and how Haymitch sent her and Peeta a picnic with lamb stew, and even in Mockingjay when Katniss is looking around for a can of soup to eat, Peeta hands her a can of lamb stew.
-How they showed the "boy with the bread" flashback three separate times in pieces.
-They took out all of Peeta's witty lines (ex. "Ah yes frosting: the final defense of the dying.")

Random tidbits that I liked:
-The score was subtle, but so fitting.
-God Peeta was so well camouflaged.
-Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith's commentary on the games.
-I loved the relationship between Cinna and Katniss.
-How you got to see what else is happening with Haymitch, Seneca Crane, and in District 12.
-Haymitch and Effie. Not their relationship, but just when they're together.

Overall I really loved the movie. Though there were things that bothered me, they didn't bother me to the extent of ruining the movie for me. It was a really good book to film adaptation, especially considering that the book is in first person and Katniss's point of view and she explains a lot of things as you read to help you understand what's going on. The acting was amazing and the movie was so true to the book.

Excited for Catching Fire!!! 11/22/13

Congrats!! You read the whole thing. In case you haven't noticed, I'm sort of a die-hard Hunger Games fan. ;)

♥Skittlez

It's Not Summer Without You

It's Not Summer Without You is the second book in The Summer series (I think that's what it's called).

(Summary from inside flap)

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.
But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly was the last summer, it should end the way it all started--at Cousins Beach.

10/10 I've realized a couple things. First, sometimes the books I love, people comment on their absurdity (that didn't happen with this particular book), but when they do, I'm lost. It's because I don't think about how believable and event is when I'm reading (which might be a bad thing), especially when I'm reading a really really good book. Secondly, there are many things that make me love a book; the plot, the characters, etc. And, you may or may not know this, but I'm very emotional and cry at a lot of books. But with these books, I find myself smiling and laughing and occasionally yelling at Belly for being so mean to Conrad...in addition to crying. :P That's another dead giveaway that I love a book; it got to me so much, that you could see it on my face.

Anyway, I really can't say whether I liked this book or the first better. I loved how you get to hear Jere's point of view...maybe the third book will have Con's too? I don't want the series to end, but I really really wanna know who Belly ends up with!! (I'm personally hoping Conrad)

Also coming soon...

-We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han (AHH last book!)
-The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

♥Skittlez

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is the first book in The Summer Series

(Summary from inside flap)

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

10/10 I loved this book. I was obsessed with it. But it drove me crazy. Anyway, that's a personal life reference. I love books like this. It's kinda like realistic fiction with romance and drama and complicated feelings, but you still catch yourself smiling while you read it. I really liked the flashbacks and the ending and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one.

Thanks Jellybeans for the recommendation! :)

Here's just a little note: I realize that I've rated many of the books with 10s and 9s and high numbers. The thing is though, is that I base how much I like my books based on other ones that I liked more or less. My ratings out of 10 aren't really based on comparisons.

If you guys really cared about that. :P

Coming soon (or at some point or another):

-Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
-Ordinary People by Judith Guest
-Animal Farm by George Orwell
-The Death Cure by James Dashner
-Divergent by Veronica Roth
-All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
-It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
-Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter (when it comes out, of course!)

♥Skittlez

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

15-year-old Elizabeth Marie Hall awakes to find herself aboard a cruise ship named the SS Nile with no recollection of how she got there. As she and her roommate Thandi explore the ship, both of them begin to remember what has brought them aboard. Liz's bald head and the stitching at the back of her head only solidifies the fact that Liz is truly dead and that this is not a nightmare. The ship docks and Liz soon finds herself in Elsewhere, a place very similar to Earth. While Liz is filled with grief over her own death, she finds out everything there is to know about Elsewhere and meets many new people, but still finds herself longing for her life back on Earth.

9/10 I really really liked this book. It was nothing like I've ever read before...a nice break from all the dystopian/sci fi (though this might be classified as fantasy, I'm not sure) novels I find myself reading these days. There wasn't a whole lot of action, but it kept me reading. It was so weird trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Elsewhere and what life would be like there.

♥Skittlez

The Power of Six

(Summary from inside flap)

I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me...he's one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us--if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another...but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio--and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I'm ready to fight.

10/10 I liked this even better than I Am Number Four, but that was awesome too. I really liked the multiple perspectives and all the new characters that were introduced (I have to say my favorite is Ella, but I love Six and Héctor too). But the end leaves you totally hanging and The Rise of Nine (the next book in the series) doesn't come out until August.

♥Skittlez