The Hunger Games Trilogy

Young Adult Fiction, Suzanne Collins, 2008-2010

I reserve the right to review each book separately in the future.  Right now, I am writing this review as a trilogy because I don't want to bore you, new readers, if you haven't read the series yet.  And, let's be clear, I don't know anyone who's read only one of these books.  They're like Pringles.  Except you read them.

You should read these books in the same way that you should have read Harry Potter.  I personally do not enjoy them as much as HP, but they are about to be a teen movie phenomenon on a somewhat smaller scale than HP/Twilight.  Or maybe bigger, who knows.  But that would be hard to pull off.  So anyway, if you want to be in the know at the water cooler, read these books.

The heroine is named Katniss ("what kind of name is that?" you ask. I don't know.)  She and her mother and sister live in post-apocalyptic-war-America.  In this America, the Capitol is in charge, and to reinforce their power over their states, they force each state ("District," of which there are 12) to send two of their teenagers to a televised battle-to-the-death event called the Hunger Games.  Yes, you read that right--to the death!  It's very dark and exciting.  Katniss has to abandon her childhood friend (slash love interest) Gale to go compete, and then teams up with a new love interest, Peeta, to try to survive the deadly arena.  Many casualties and changes of heart ensue.  I won't spoil the next two books, but suffice it to say that Collins takes young adult fiction to some very dark and dystopian places, full of political intrigue, strategy and battles, and lots more deaths.

Review time:  Super fun, takes a day to read each one--definitely go for it.  Collins does some intriguing world-building and you will definitely get hooked on the story.  Unfortunately, I really disliked the end of the series, but by that time you'll be in it for the long haul anyway, so don't worry about it right now.  (In case you are wondering, I thought the ending was way too dark, and that the third book in general was very poorly paced.)  Shout out to my friend Sasha: you may find yourself in love with some of the boys :)  I'll be interested to hear which side of the love triangle you all pick, readers.  Shout out to my friend Alex: you may really hate Katniss.  If you ask me, she's kind of fun because she's a scrappy action hero girl, but she is annoyingly incapable of emotions or rational responses.

So what are you waiting for? You have until March 23 to get up to speed before the first movie comes out. (look out for Sasha, she's an extra!)

Presumed Innocent

Novel, Scott Turow, 1987

A courtroom/crime/suspense story.  You would think that CSI/NCIS/my DVDs of Ally McBeal would be enough crime drama to satiate me, but you would be wrong.  I picked this up as a vacation read and actually liked it.

It's about this guy Rusty who is accused of murder, but he's a lawyer so the narration is interesting because he captures the finer points of the trial better than your everyman-narrator.  The defense strategy is intricately plotted, and if you're into lawyer-ishness you'll be hooked from page 1.  Of course there are plot twists galore, but what really sold me on this book was each character's shady motivations.  No one in the entire plot is straightforwardly "good", which is pretty cool.  Oh and it's got something for everyone, romance lovers--the whole case is based on an affair between Rusty and the hotsy totsy murder victim Carolyn, his lawyer coworker (the affair was before she was murdered, duh.)  And for you politicos, there's even a heated race for prosecuting attorney!

My major complaint is some latent racism/homophobia, supposedly part of the characters' natural speech, but I just don't like it and am not entirely convinced it doesn't come from Turow himself rather than the characters (this is not just policemen making racist remarks, it's also the way he writes the dialogue for black and Asian characters, among other things).

Other than that, it's a fun summer read.  Plus there's a sequel!  (Innocent, 2010.)  And a movie!  How did Harrison Ford end up on this blog again so soon?  Oh well, Netflix, here I come.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Movie, 2011, dir. David Yates

Let me start by saying that I am incredibly biased on this one.  I have an unabashed love for the Harry Potter books and an only slightly abashed love for the movies (Chamber of Secrets, you abash me, and yet I continue to watch you in ABC Family marathons).  So, yes, I enjoyed the movie a great deal.  Assuming that at this point no one really needs an explanation of what the movie is about, here is just a quick summary of my main thoughts on the final installment EVER of HP.  Note: spoilers throughout.  You've been warned.

Pros:
a. Acting, especially on the part of the main characters, was at its finest of the series.  Not that I have any special connection to Daniel Radcliffe or anything, but just look at the progress he has made over the eight films.  I think the actors pretty much all have a chance to succeed in the real, post-Potter acting world.
b. Special effects.  The movie's big battle scenes didn't disappoint. I was especially impressed with the big "protection dome" that the professors constructed to cover all of Hogwarts, and the ensuing attack from the Death Eaters.
c. A separate entry alone for the fight between Snape and McGonagall.  Grown-up wizard fights are the best.

Cons:
a. The epilogue.  One of my least favorite parts of the books, and now one of my least favorite parts of the movies.  The aging technology they used on the actors was...not aging enough.  As my husband put it, it seemed that the main way they aged Hermione was to put her in a sensible blouse.  Ron grew a beer belly.  Ginny got a mom haircut.  But they all had roughly the same faces, allowing for the disconcerting conclusion that Ginny and Hermione became pregnant immediately post-Battle of Hogwarts.  I guess the victory was cause for celebration, but come on now, keep your pants on until the dead are buried at least.
b. The lack of Grindelwald, and really any explanation of the whole Hallows vs. Horcruxes dilemma that Harry struggles with.  Along with that, the lack of the do-we-trust-Dumbledore-or-not subplot.  There were just some key story elements missing that, in the book, added cohesiveness to the entire plot.  Without them, we got the main action sequences--find Horcrux, destory Horcrux, fight Death Eaters, rinse, repeat--but we missed the resolutions of some story lines I was looking forward to and the whole thing felt a little jumpy.

With that, I close this review and eagerly await the release of Pottermore so that the world of HP will continue and I don't have to feel like my childhood has abruptly ended.

Why People Like Twilight: My official take on it

With the Comic-Con panels this week, so officially begins the upcoming season of promotion for the first installment of the Breaking Dawn movie, which will be released in November.  Like birds heralding the news of spring, so internet commenters will rant or rave about Twilight, mostly nonsensically.  In the past, people have certainly taken on academic-style defenses of what draws fans to Twilight, and others take equally intelligent jabs at why it is a terrible influence on girls, a bad piece of writing, etc etc.  I'd like to take my own (decidedly non-academic) approach to why people (including me) like Twilight.

Plain and simple, it comes down to the force of the love between Edward and Bella.  People often get lost in posts like these by trying to explain WHY Bella loves Edward (and this is where the anti-Twilighters can really have a heyday, because Edward IS creepy and abusive and all those other things they claim he is).  Doesn't matter.  For whatever reason, she is desperately in love with him, more or less from the first time she sees him.  And what draws people to Twilight is that he's desperately in love with her too!  How great is that???  How many people find that their teenage crushes--which we all know are the most violent and inescapable crushes of one's life--are returned with equal force?  Edward and Bella's longing is passionate and yet restrained, which is another facet of the attraction to these books: the longer the consummation is dragged out, the more rewarding it is when it eventually happens.  And boy, do we have to suffer through some drawing out.  But that is why the screaming will be deafening when this honeymoon finally comes to pass.  It's a story of all-consuming teenage obsession/love, finally played out to a happy conclusion.  Everyone can relate to wanting that, which is why the series is so popular.  Done.  Yes, there are flaws in the books and the movies (lots! many flaws!  I do not dispute this!), and if you want to go over all the problems with the writing, the pacing, the characters, anything, go for it--but don't say you can't understand why people like Twilight.  For the fans, the love story is grand enough to absorb all these flaws.

The books were enough to sell the early fans on the intensity of the love between Edward and Bella.  The movies have stoked the flames and turned this into a phenomenon.  The casting was brilliant.  Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are both hot and have both mastered the smoldering stares necessary to communicate the intensity of passion that the readers crave.  Take any stills from the movies of the two of them staring at each other, and you can see how any 12 year old would long for more from them.

I'm about to tackle one other issue that gets bandied around on chat threads: Twilight vs. Harry Potter.  HP fans get all riled up on Twilight boards about how much worse Twilight is than HP.  Yes.  You're right, it is worse.  Now get off the Twilight boards.

They're totally different series.  Just because they are both YA phenomenons does not mean that they need to be evaluated against each other.  Rowling is a better author.  Meyer wrote a better love story.  News flash: HP is about wizardry, friendship, and battles between good and evil, not teenage hormones and undying passion.  (While Twilight may purport to be about vampires, this is my point: that's really a subplot to the love story in terms of what motivates the fans.)  When it comes to Twilight and HP, you can like either, neither, or both--they don't need to be in conflict with one another.  Stop hating on each other and find something new to read.

One final point: an alternate motivation to like Twilight.  Some people who are mega Twihards don't like Edward; they are Team Jacob.  Totally fine.  Unrequited love and/or shirtless Taylor Lautner are equally compelling reasons to love the series, and I am not saying you are wrong.  Just in the minority.