The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I'm going to assume that you've heard about Suzanne Collins' bestselling series, the Hunger Games. And so, I won't bother to tell you about it.

I read this series in September. I got lucky; the first two books came from the library at the same time, and I received Mockingjay the next week. No waiting for me!

The good:

This world Collins' created is, not wonderful, but very believable. She's an incredible writer and I really loved how she created Panem. As a setting, it's terrifying. The thought of a world like that, where the Capitol sacrifices the Districts' children like that is horrifying.

    Katniss is such a strong protag. Not something that we usually find, but she was perfect. What I loved most about her is how unlikable she is. Really, she's not a very likable person. There are only a few things that stand out about her: her love for her family, her loyalty (ie. willingness to go to the Games for Prim) and her strength.

Gale and Peeta: what a struggle. Throughout the whole series I wavered back and forth between them. I think that straight up as characters, I liked Gale more. He was able to survive (not that Peeta didn't) and he was always there for Katniss. But then there was the boy with the bread. I loved that aspect of it; that she remembered him for what he did so many years ago.

I really sympathized with Gale. Can you imagine watching the girl (or guy) you love playing romance with another boy?

I think that, in the end, Peeta was what Katniss needed. Gale didn't understand what she went through, and she needed someone who had that.

The bad:

Finnick Odair. He was, hands down, my favorite secondary character. He suffered through so much, so much heartache, but he was still strong. His relationship with Annie was beautiful. And then he died. I sobbed through that part. I cried when Annie had their baby and it looked like him.

Prim: yet another death. I hated it.

The whole love-triangle thing. How did Suzanne expect us to choose between Peeta and Gale? I almost didn't read the epilogue because I didn't want to know who Katniss choose.

President Snow, brilliant a character though he was, freaked me out. I don't enjoy reading about creepy old men.

These books hit my list of top ten read in 2010. I haven't covered nearly all I could say about them, but this is what I've got. Read them? What did you think?