for the love of Mockingjay.

There have been a couple of mixed reviews and thoughts on Mockingjay. But whether or not we loved how Mockingjay concluded, there's no denying the power and the appeal of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Here, are just some of our fellow book worms and book bloggers that got the final installment in the Dystopian Young Adult trilogy on the day of its release, sharing their love and the excitement for the books.

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Kelsey @ Reading or Breathing
I first read The Hunger Games in July of 2009. I picked it up at Wal-Mart on the way to church camp (we had stopped for snacks). I thought it sounded INTENSE, so I picked it up! I spent the whole rest of the ride dramatically reading the jacket synopsis to our passengers...and when we got to camp, I also dramatically read it to all the girls in the cabin (they got it in a different accent). They were even lucky enough to get the hardcore quote from the back cover. I didn't start reading The Hunger Games right away because I was experiencing Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series for the first time, but once I started.........iajdpfiajdpiofjawpifjaweiorjaweirjawOHMAN!!!!! It was one of THE best books I had ever read. I did find it ironic that I read it at church camp because DUDE needs Jesus after reading that one! Haha yeah so.... *trails off* Luckily, the release date for Catching Fire was only a few months away. This, my friends, is why the wait for Mockingjay nearly killed me! I was so used to immediate satisfaction. However, I waited patiently--HELLO, did anyone see the YouTube video of me tricking the Target employee into getting it out of the back for me a day early? It nearly worked too....that damn computer system is just too smart for its own good. Patience was NOT my virtue. You can bet all your books, and your first born child, that I was sitting in the Barnes and Noble parking lot the next morning waiting for the stupid store to open. I don't think I really need to explain how I felt getting the book--that picture is me just seconds after obtaining it.


Cait @ Escape through the Pages:

I bought The Hunger Games in March of 2009. I started it...and then proceeded to let it sit in my TBR pile until September! When I picked it up for the seond time, I read it in two days and fell in love. I picked up Catching Fire the next day. The year long wait for Mockingjay has been slow - I was so excited to find out that Chapters (bookstore chain in Canada) would be hosting a midnight release...but in every province except mine, apparently! Since I worked at 1:00pm on the 24th, I headed in to work early so I could stop at the bookstore to pick up my copy. I ended up running late, but that was not going to stop me (I'd blame traffic or something). Thankfully, the display was right in the front of the store. I grabbed my copy, sped through the checkout (no lines, yay!) and rushed to work. I proceeded to reach chapter 4 on my break, and wish I could have just kept reading =D


Joy @ Edgy Inspirational Romance

Before I started blogging three months ago, I'd never heard of the Hunger Games series. But this summer I kept seeing the same book come up on blog after blog in my Google Reader. There were countdowns and tickers all over the place for this Mockingjay. I began to feel like I was missing out on some major event, and I never like to be left out. But I still wasn't totally convinced. I don't read a lot of YA, and I didn't even know what dystopian meant.
Last week, I decided to give Hunger Games a try. For the first third of the book, I was pretty ambivalent. The story was okay. Nothing to write home about. But I remember the exact moment the game changed (pun intended). When the boy with the bread confessed his love for Katniss Everdeen on national television, he captured my heart along with the rest of the citizens of Panem. And I knew then, not only would I finish this book, I'd have to read the whole series.
One of the advantages of getting to the party late is being able to read all the books back-to-back. I downloaded each of them onto my iPhone, culminating with Mockingjay on Tuesday morning. It's been an amazing ride!


Sarah @ Confessions of the Un-Published
I read Hunger Games last November. It was actually the sole reason I started my blog. So, I read Hunger Games in it's completion on a Saturday and then the following Sunday I read Catching Fire. I literally did not move for 2 days straight. At the time I hadn't heard too much about the series since I wasn't into blogging at that point, but I took a chance and bought both books on Amazon and as soon as I read that first chapter I was hooked. And when Mockingjay came out I woke up early, bought it in-store so I could have it in my hands as soon as possible, and then I proceeded to read it in one sitting. These books are just too captivating to put down.

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When, where, and why did you pick up The Hunger Games? Was it because it was highly recommended by several bloggers? Or maybe a friend of yours? For me, I was actually in my Chemistry class a year and a half ago or so when my lab partner took out his copy. It caught my eye immediately, and so I asked him what it was about. I've never even heard about it before. He told me what it was about, told me he's liking it so far, and the following week, I borrowed it from our library. I fell in love with The Hunger Games because I love the fact that Katniss is such a strong, independent female character. We really don't get to see that kind of portrayal often, so I was really impressed. How about you? What's your story?