firstly, katniss everdeen is an ace lesbian, so argue with the wall. anyways, suzanne collins is a bad bitch and i was literally indoctrinated by these books as a 10 year old. i've read them multiple times since, and even as a 20 year old i'm on the edge of my seat after chapter. banger after banger. yeah it's slow in places, but taking the time for worldbuilding and character development pays off in spades by the end of the games. 

ALL SPOILERS BELOW
my fave parts this time around:

 

---mr mellark visiting katniss, esp after what is revealed later, like you know he's in love w her mother, and you know he knows peeta is already in love w her.

 

 

---haymitch's development from start to finish is sooo good. ending the first book w him, katniss, and peeta as near equals sets up the conflicts of catching fire's first act so perfectly.

 

 

---foxface laughing maniacally about the explosion and the ruined food sent me, idk it was such a nice character moment. personally i'm of the mind that she killed herself in protest (and bc against thresh/cato/peeta & katniss there wouldn't be much of a fight). i think she really enjoyed the fuck you of it all.

 

 

---me crying about rue's death. that's just such a perfect iconic scene.

 

 

---they were in that cave for sooo long. like i was almost bored, but katniss' inner monologue and turmoil made up for it, esp when she goes to the feast.

 

 

---THE FEAST SCENE just hit after hit my blood was pumping. the entire interaction between clove, katniss, and thresh gives brilliant insight into their characters, even with cato's reaction to clove's death. it's hard to develop characters when they don't interact with the mc in first person pov, AND bc katniss is such a skeptical judge of character, but collins is great about adding these objective moments where katniss witnesses something, even if she doesn't consider it long enough to pass judgement, the reader can piece things together.

 

 

---ALSO katniss and thresh's understanding about owing one another, and peeta not really getting it is SO GOOD ugh. this as a parallel to before, when he doesn't want the games to change him and katniss doesn't get it.

 

 

---really enjoyed peeta as a character this time around, and i think it's great to just have perspective as an adult that's not reading for a love story or looking for a love interest. peeta is rightfully hurt multiple times throughout the book, when katniss willingly mistreats or misleads him. not that they're a bad pairing, and i love how katniss comes to care for him, if only platonically, but wow i love their complexity so much. feels very realistic, and not even 'despite their circumstances'-- they are both very well written human characters with flaws, and that complicates their relationship on top of how the games and haymitch are pushing them to act one way or the other.

 

 

---idk it's all brilliant, THEE best ya dystopian of its kind