Tag: book movie

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

I figured I would switch it up a bit and review something that was actually really popular when I was in high school. Granted, I never read the book until now, but I did see the movies first, and with another movie coming out, I wanted to read the book before I see it.

Plus, they were selling special editions of the Hunger Games Saga books, and the covers were absolutely beautiful! I figured I would buy them and actually see if they followed the books more or if they left some things out.

Now, I’ve only read the book once, but I have seen The Hunger Games multiple times. So, I’m going to do my best to compare both of them, but this is more going to be a review of the book side, not the movie side.

The book is completely in Katniss’ POV, which I love because her energy is pretty much the same as shown in the movies. She lives in District 12, which is the poorest District to be in. Each District represents an industry that provides for all the others, as well as the Capitol, which is where the rich and famous people live, as well as President Snow.

Here is a List of each District to give you a clearer picture:

  • District 1 – Luxury Items made for the Capitol
  • District 2 – Stone Mining (Makes weapons and trains Peacekeepers)
  • District 3 – Technology, Computers, and Electronics
  • District 4 – Fishing and Seafood
  • District 5 – Generates Power and Electricity
  • District 6 – Transportation and Trains
  • District 7 – Lumber and Paper Goods
  • District 8 – Textiles and Clothing
  • District 9 – Processes Grain
  • District 10 – Raises Livestock for Meat
  • District 11 – Agriculture, Fruits, and Vegetables
  • District 12 – Coal Mining

To keep the peace within the Districts, they select 2 children, one female and one male, from each District to fight to the death in their annual Hunger Games. Every child aged 12-18 will have their name drawn once, but if you are in the poorer Districts, your name might be drawn multiple times if you end up needing food.

Oh, and the whole thing is broadcast for everyone to see. Actually, you are forced to watch it, from what I gathered in the book, no matter who you are. I couldn’t imagine being a mother in that society and having to watch any of my children compete in that arena.

In the book, Katniss talks about the games and that today is the day of the reaping and that this is her little sister Prim’s first time being a part of the reaping, as she is 12. Of course, Katniss tells her that she shouldn’t worry about being picked because her name is only in there once.

However, her name gets picked, and Katniss volunteers as a tribute, protecting her sister from having to endure the Hunger Games. Since she’s in District 12, volunteering only usually happens from the first two Districts. Mind you, the tributes being picked and everything is being broadcast to the Capitol; this is like their Wrestlemania or Super Bowl.

Once Katniss and Peeta, who were chosen, get selected, they have a few minutes to say goodbye, and this is when the movie doesn’t show. Katniss gets visitors from Gale, Prim, and her mother, but she also gets Mage, who gave her the Mockingjay pin, as well as Peeta’s father.

Which I sort of understand why they didn’t include those; I don’t even think you see Peeta’s parents or hear about them at all through most of the other movies, except in the scene where Peeta’s mother yells at him for burning the bread.

Then they are off to the Capitol, where they have Haymitch and Effie. They will do what they can to help get both Katniss and Peeta prepared for what they are about to endure. Also, side note, Haymitch is my favorite character, both in the book and in the movies. He’s also the only living District 12 tribute and now mentor to both Katniss and Peeta.

Anyway, they are at the Training Center for about 2 weeks, and then they are released into a giant dome where the games will happen. So, they get a little taste of what it’s like to be in the Capitol before they are ultimately killed.

Since this is a “TV show” to the people of the Capitol, they have all the tributes interviewed so that they can get to know them. As Haymitch says, “You want to get people to like you.”, which is needed to get sponsors that could help you in the middle of the games.

During the interviews, Peeta also confesses that he’s been in love with Katniss; she doesn’t take it well because she thinks it makes her look weak, but instead Haymitch tells her it makes her more desirable. This is when the beginning of the “Star-Crossed Lovers from District 12” starts to begin.

Throughout the time after the interview and during the games, you can see Katniss warming up to Peeta, but she’s still confused about her feelings throughout the entire book. Which I get and don’t get because of the society they are in; if she were to do something that pissed off the Capitol, everyone around her would be in trouble.

Plus, she also has mixed feelings about Gale; although they are close, she sees him more like a brother than a lover. I’m also not a huge fan of the Gale and Katniss couple. Yes, they are similar, but Peeta understands her a little bit more, in my eyes, just because they both endured a lot of PTSD from the games.

The one thing that got me when Katniss was in the games is that she had Rue (from District 11) as an ally, whom she wanted to protect like her little sister. Unfortunately, she was too late to save her, but stayed with her until she passed so she wasn’t alone.

Overall, the movie followed the book, missed a few things, but was pretty close to other books that didn’t do the book justice; this one did. I really also enjoyed the author’s writing style as well; usually that determines if I’ll read the book or not. I honestly wish I had read it when I was in high school because then it would have made seeing the movie even more exciting.

I will be reading the sequels as well; the only ones I haven’t gotten yet are the two newer books, but I plan on getting them with the special edition covers. I’m also super excited to read and watch the newer movie about Haymitch because he’s just my favorite!

I also must be living under a rock because I wasn’t sure if I could post GIFs!

What did you think about The Hunger Games? Did you end up seeing the movies first before reading the books? Who is your favorite character? Let me know down below!

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – Regretting You (Colleen Hoover)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

I did finally take a break from thrillers! (I know you are shocked!)

This one was actually recommended to me through Kindle Unlimited, and I did know there is also a movie for it. I saw the trailer for it, and when I saw it was based on a book, I wanted to read it before I saw it. I tend to see movies before I find out they are based on a book.

Plus, my friend had read the book and seen the movie and said it was definitely worth giving it a go. Mind you, this was the same friend who recommended all the thrillers I’ve been reading!

Before I go any further, I will be comparing both the book and the movie, so if you haven’t read or seen either one, a spoiler alert is in place!

The book first starts out with Morgan, Chris, Jonah, and Jenny when they were teenagers. Morgan is dating Chris, while her younger sister Jenny is dating Jonah. You can tell that Jonah has feelings for Morgan, and to be honest, they seem more compatible with each other than Chris and Jenny.

Anyway, Morgan finds out she’s pregnant after she graduates high school; Chris and her get married and raise their daughter, Clara, together. It fast-forwards to Clara being 15; Morgan and Chris are still happily married, and her sister, Jenny, ends up having a baby with Jonah, and they are engaged to be married.

It starts back out at Morgan’s birthday, where they are all gathered to celebrate. While they are waiting, Clara is running late because she helped her crush, Miller, get home. He was moving the speed limit sign closer and closer to his grandfather’s house, just so they would be able to get pizza delivered.

Clara ends up calling her Aunt Jenny to tell her all about it, just like any other teenager; they would rather tell anyone else but their parents because, in their minds, they don’t understand what it’s like to be a teenager.

Which is something I used to say to my mother when I was a teenager. Granted, when I look back now, she did understand, to a point; however, she was a teenager in the 90’s while I was a teenager in the 2010’s.

Moving forward to the following day, Morgan ends up watching her nephew since Jenny is going back to work, as her maternity leave is over, since Morgan is a stay-at-home mom. So, Chris, Jonah, and Jenny all go off to work. It’s all fine until Morgan gets a call saying that Chris has been in an accident.

When she gets to the hospital, she sees Jonah there, and she finds out he was called because Jenny was in a car accident. Come to find out, Chris and Jenny were both in the same car that killed them both.

At first, both Morgan and Jonah were confused about why they were in the same car together because they thought that Jenny was going back to work today at the hospital and Chris was going to work as well.

However, after they got calls from the hotel saying that Chris’s vehicle was still there and Jenny’s bag was waiting to be picked up, they found out that Chris and Jenny were having an afair that no one knew about. Of course, Morgan doesn’t want to believe it and tells Jonah not to tell Clara why Chris and Jenny were in the car together.

As a mother myself, I understand exactly why Morgan wanted to keep that information hidden from Clara. She always thought of her dad and aunt so highly, and if she found out that they died in a car crash because they were having an affair, it would crush her. However, telling her what happened would’ve prevented Clara from acting out against her mother.

Since Morgan didn’t want to tell Clara the truth about what happened, she started to resent her mother. This is when Miller comes into play. At first, he has a girlfriend, but is off and on with her until it finally ends; that’s when they start getting closer, not just as friends, but more.

So doesn’t Jonah and Morgan- Jonah finally confesses that he’s always had feelings for her and that he knows deep down she did too as well. Of course, Morgan is too stubborn to admit them, but over time she finally does. Clara ends up catching them kissing and thinks that her mother and Jonah were having an affair, and ends up convincing Miller to have sex with her for the first time.

Which I give props to Miller because he asked several times before they got ready to do the deed, and she just told him yes. Of course, Clara wasn’t ready, and Miller was more mad that any time her mother pissed her off, she would use him to get back at her. Which any other guy would just leave and not talk to her about it, but he ends up staying with her and comforting her.

Finally, both Morgan and Clara sit down and talk about what really happened between Jenny and Chris, not to mention that the “baby” Jonah and Jenny had, Chris was actually the father. They really had a heart-to-heart about it.

Now, the movie does follow the book fairly well; the only thing that it missed, which I’m glad it missed, was the film project Miller and Clara were working on. I honestly didn’t really care about it when I read it, but the prom video Miller made for Clara was perfect.

Overall, both the book and the movie were really good. I honestly loved the mother-daughter relationship and them both learning how to cope with not only the death of their loved ones, but also having to learn to move on without them in their lives.

I did watch the movie with my mom; she didn’t read the book, but she liked the movie as I did. We both ended up crying at the end too. I actually preferred the movie over the book. The book also was slow getting into it, and it did take me longer to really get into versus other books that I’ve flown right through.

What did you think about the book? Or did you see the movie first and then read the book? Let me know in the comments down below!