Game of Pages: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Review by Valeria

Discussion by Valeria and Angela

Review:

Where does one even begin with this series.

The freaking social commentary that this book gives us is just bloody mind blowing once you actually stop to think about it.

Suzanna Collins has built an amazing world in which the unthinkable (or is it really) happens. Were we were forced to watch children kill each other for sports. Each year children are put into an area and only one child survives. The paints a picture of how the elite of the world are the only ones truly blind to what goes on and rather enjoys whatever goes on around them. Katniss however, in a true display of selfless love, kind of paints a new picture for the whole world of Panem, that there is people out there strong enough to fight for the most important things in her world. That if one girl can do it. Why cant the rest of them do it too.

And so the revolution begins.

Discussion:

First time you came across the hunger games? 

A:I went to the cinema to watch the movie, because friends told me to.. and I f**** loved the movie!!!

And then I got the books from my parents, so they are pretty much the reason why I'm a hunger games addict now 😂

Thanks mum & dad! 

V: I actually have 2 stories for this one

the "first time I came across the series was when my then best friend told me he really wanted to watch the movie when it was first going to come out. I saw the trailer and was like okay, this seems pretty freaking cool! I need to freaking read the books and watch it! And so I did and here I was, hella into it. 

The TRUE first time I came across the series was when mockingjay (the book) had barely come out and my then boyfriend was reading it.

I remembered this so well around the time catching fire came out and I was rereading mockingjay for the like 11th time.

I remembered how my boyfriend had been reading the scene with the sewers and was telling me all about the world of The Hunger Games and how cool the series was. That I really needed to get the books. Like he told me about the reaping, why people might volunteer for extra entries, how they were treated and the hunger the suffered and how he had just read a scene were a character brutally died in the sewers.

When I remembered this first introduction to the series it was like HOLY SHIT

So I guess I owe a thanks to him xD

Soooo, thanks A!

Favorite character - besides Katniss?

A:Johanna. For sure! I love her and how she thinks. I can relate to that pretty much :) she doesn't care what other people think about her, as long as she is happy with herself :D

Also she has herself and her emotions pretty much under control... that's awesome.

V: Uhm... Effie. Because it takes a lot to make her unhappy, she has a positive outlook on things even when she shouldn't. Shes very much like a child.

What do you think the most important lesson in the hunger games is?

A: We people do anything for amusement... it's just sick... and maybe if we keep doing this, we end up being the same sick as the people who invented the hunger games.... And it once again showed me, that we who have a good life are so blessed... and it's so unfair to the people who have almost nothing....

V: I feel like it speaks a lot about how today we are so invested in media, whether it be the Internet or television. The huge influence that it has on us and in part, the government influence in media itself. 

It makes us question just how far people go for entertainment and if you pay close attention to what people actually post online, and what goes viral, the answer is pretty far.

How long did it take you to finish the series?

A:Ouh good one, I read the books 20 times.... i only remember the last time I read them, it took me a long weekend :) so about 2 1/2 days.

V: Same, I have read the books multiple times but the first time I think it took me about 4-5 days, back when I was hardly reading at all xD

Favorite quote from the hunger games?

A:There are so many good ones... but I have to go with the one from finnick:

"It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart."

I can totally relate to his and that's why I love this quote!

V: I totally agree, it is totally the same for me.

Favorite scene in the hunger games?

A:Ugh that's a though one... but I would say... ugh this killing me... when katniss says: if we burn, you burn with us... these gave me goosebumps...

V: Uhm, I'm going to stick to the first installment and for the movie its going to be when the districts start to rebel after Katniss does the funeral. From the book I think its going to be when Katniss is recalling past victories, only because it shows up just how brutal the games are, before we actually go into the games.

Book or movie?

A:Book for sure, always..! But yeah the movies are awesome too in my opinion, even though so many details were left out.

And I mean look at the cast!!!!!!! 😍

V: Its honestly super freaking difficult to choose for this one. I mean , the books are of course fucking amazing, we get the most out of them. But after Francis Lawrence took over the franchise, I mean, he is KING.

One character you identify with the most?

A:I kinda relate to katniss and johanna... because they both have some characteristics that I find in myself... katniss thinking about every step and trying to everything under control.... to not let emotions get in her way... same kinda goes for johanna (look question 2).

V: Johanna. I mean, I am obviously not a bad ass but when she starts to point out that they cant hurt her anymore because they already hurt the people she loved, that got to me. Like it isn't hurting YOU that gets to her, its hurting those around her that did. And I feel that. I get it. Like Snow pointed it, its the people you love most, that destroy us.

Peenis or Galeniss?

A:Peeniss for sure. Peeta always looks out for his loves ones and sacrifices everything... gale became a robot with the war... his bombs maybe killing primrose gave me the rest...

V: HA! When I first started the series I was totally team Galeniss

Shut up, I know. It wasn't until the second time I reread the series that I analyzed and realized how much I actually disliked Gale as a person and how Peeta was the ultimate goals in the end. 

Whats your district? Would you volunteer?

A:I can't tell.... I always thought of this so many times... each district has their parts why I see myself there and some parts why I don't... so I would be in all? 😂

It depends.... volunteer just for fun, no way! But if my little brother would get picked, I wouldn't hesitate!

V: District 1 because I love gems and where I live in the U.S is actually underwater xD BUT the closest district is actually District 1 sooo I'm not that far off. 

I am an only child, so helllll no, I wouldn't volunteer for anyone. Sorry not sorry. I wanna live. 

Would you survive? What would you say a skill would be?

A:Me surviving would depend on my opponents... my ego would say " yes of course " but I think in the most cases I would die...

My skill? I don't have any useful skills for the arena 😂  nah kidding, I think I can't tell because I never tried anything that I could use in the arena so I don't know

V: This is why I wouldn't volunteer for anyone, I have NO skills and I would die! I have a shitty memory so screw remembering what will or will not kill me. I have bad throwing skills so knives are out of the question. I am a very cold person so I would in fact die of hypothermia easily. I honestly don't see myself surviving. The only think I could remotely be good at is if I wasn't seen at all (I'm tall as fuck, so that's impossible) and I am able to take a crack at a persons head, I have a stomach of steel... Well, not really, what I mean is if I see blood or a cut, I wont be passing out or freaking out, I can stay relatively calm. Shock typically happens HOURS after a fact.

Review: A New Hope: The Princess, The Soundrel, and The Farm Boy by Alexandra Bracken

Rate:

4/5

Goodreads Description:

The galaxy is at war.

Although the Rebel Alliance has won a few battles against the Empire, hope is fading. The Empire is about to unveil the greatest weapon the galaxy has ever seen--the Death Star. The Rebels' only chance to defeat it now lies in the unlikely hands of a princess, a scoundrel, and a farm boy....

Review:

So I totally went the Audiobook way because lately I have been obssesed with audiobooks and life is so much easier with them!

I am so glad that I did!

It has music and effects and in my opinion the male reader sounded a lot like Han (it could be the speed at which I read it)

Of course this book is VERY incredibly similar to the movie 

SO YASSSS

I originally wanted to read these when they first came out but it isnt until NOW that I finally got to them 

As soon as I finished reading the book I was like YAS I gotta watch the movie.

There are a few details, mostly when it comes to feelings that are added to the book, which I feel like made it a whole lot better.

This is probably the best way to read the books without reading the original ones.

As much as I have watched the movies, specially the original trilogy, I had never really thought of the age difference between Leia and Han until now

Like WHET

Sure its not as weird, its only a 10 year difference but its still odd to me just now that I think about it. 

I also did some more research and found something interesting

That Leia could possibly be 2 years older than Luke !

Yes they are twins but things work differently in space

Here is the research

The actual paper can be found there and you can download it to read it yourself. Hella confusing the first time but its worth a read. 

Recommend it?

FUCK YEAH

The audiobook is freaking amazing I totally freaking recommend it too

Review: Black Earth- The Holocaust as History and Warning by Timothy Snyder

Rate:

5/5

Goodreads Description:

A brilliant, haunting, and profoundly original portrait of the defining tragedy of our time. 

In this epic history of extermination and survival, Timothy Snyder presents a new explanation of the great atrocity of the twentieth century, and reveals the risks that we face in the twenty-first. Based on new sources from eastern Europe and forgotten testimonies from Jewish survivors, Black Earthrecounts the mass murder of the Jews as an event that is still close to us, more comprehensible than we would like to think, and thus all the more terrifying.

The Holocaust began in a dark but accessible place, in Hitler's mind, with the thought that the elimination of Jews would restore balance to the planet and allow Germans to win the resources they desperately needed. Such a worldview could be realized only if Germany destroyed other states, so Hitler's aim was a colonial war in Europe itself. In the zones of statelessness, almost all Jews died. A few people, the righteous few, aided them, without support from institutions. Much of the new research in this book is devoted to understanding these extraordinary individuals. The almost insurmountable difficulties they faced only confirm the dangers of state destruction and ecological panic. These men and women should be emulated, but in similar circumstances few of us would do so.  

By overlooking the lessons of the Holocaust, Snyder concludes, we have misunderstood modernity and endangered the future. The early twenty-first century is coming to resemble the early twentieth, as growing preoccupations with food and water accompany ideological challenges to global order. Our world is closer to Hitler's than we like to admit, and saving it requires us to see the Holocaust as it was -- and ourselves as we are.  Groundbreaking, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, Black Earth reveals a Holocaust that is not only history but warning.

Review:

This book is nothing else but brilliant

I am complete and utterly speechless over this book and I can not stress enough how important it is to read this book RIGHT NOW

The topic is a hard one, its a black stain in humanities history and one that so many struggle with. 

But with the times as they are, it is essential not to fear knowing about it in order to prevent another tragedy similar to this.

Its not an easy book to read, not at all, its lengthy, extensive and full of so much content that is is hard to swallow. 

But its worth it

Recommend it?

Yes

Review: The Burning World by Isaac Marion

Coming February 07, 2017

Buy links below

I recommend you check out my review for Warm Bodies first before reading. (Link in the name)

Rate:

5/5

Goodreads Description:

Being alive is hard. Being human is harder. But since his recent recovery from death, R is making progress. He's learning how to read, how to speak, maybe even how to love, and the city's undead population is showing signs of life. R can almost imagine a future with Julie, this girl who restarted his heart—building a new world from the ashes of the old one.

And then helicopters appear on the horizon. Someone is coming to restore order. To silence all this noise. To return things to the way they were, the good old days of stability and control and the strong eating the weak. The plague is ancient and ambitious, and the Dead were never its only weapon.

How do you fight an enemy that's in everyone? Can the world ever really change? With their home overrun by madmen, R, Julie, and their ragged group of refugees plunge into the otherworldly wastelands of America in search of answers. But there are some answers R doesn't want to find. A past life, an old shadow, crawling up from the basement.

COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS

Review:

There is a point in a book that no matter how slowly you read it in order to enjoy the taste of it longer, like a good wine, you just can't put it down and have to see it to the very end.

This book is deep, there is so many underlying messages, at leas there were to me. 

Maybe it is because of the times that I see them, more so than any other day

(Election week, more specifically Nov 9)

There is a message I got above all others from this book, personally

Sometimes it is better to not be able to remember the past.

We always thought of R as being a romantic being. 

In the figurative sense.

He saw the world as no one in the modern world sees it today.

Finding the beauty in the most basic aspects of being human and the basic services of the modern world.

Not just being human, but what it means to BE human.

The book (Warm Bodies) was nearly poetic, in a sense, considering his lack of verbal language until he falls in love with with Julie.

However in this book we discover that he isn't as perfect and possibly dreamy (in the sense that he changed because of love). That he was exactly as the people who brought the modern world and plunged it into darkness.

Heck, Ill say it. 

He WAS one of the people who did.

He did some fucked up shit.

Even as he is transitioning into being human he has dark thoughts, almost a fear of turning back and also discovering who he truly was.

Then we touch the political undertones of the book, as they face what could be their biggest problem, bigger than the Undead.

A corporation forcibly trying to take over and enhance their power in some sort of way using methods that are probably as twisted as can be.

R was thought of in such a positive light, like look at this man, how great he is. What he is doing not just because of love but for himself. He wants to better himself for him. This book grounds him, puts him in a light of  "This could be anybody, he did what anyone would do, look after himself. This could be you"

In the end, it isn't just the ones that did good that saved themselves, that regained their LIVING status back, its anybody. The world isn't fair. This book doesn't paint you a world were at the end of the day the good people win. At the end of the day, anyone can win. It paints the picture of one thing: At the end of the day, its every man for themselves, god damn the consequences and anyone who gets in the way.

And its those consequences that the group now has to face. They are now going against that.

This is a book that you can simply enjoy if you read it and think of it as an intense world enlarging.

But if you take the time to apply some of the things in The Burning World into our modern world, try to see the similarities and the difference, to ANALYZE it and think it through, the you find this to be nothing short of a genius piece.

Recommend it?

entirely and 100% stand behind this book and gladly recommend it to all who read this and I see

Buy link:

Buy Book Here

So currently, Isaac Marion is having a spectacular rewards system for those that pre-order through his website

if that doesn't sound good enough how about this

IT IS THE CHEAPEST PRICE YOU'LL FIND FOR THE BOOK!

Yeah, not even amazon or the book depository will have these prices (unless you buy the UK paperback)

I completely recommend you guys  buy through his website over any others and heck, maybe you'll get some extras!

I have already pre-ordered, sadly its a UK paperback so I get no rewards

 So feel safe when I say go buy this book, I'm not doing it for myself.

Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Rate:

5/5

Goodreads Description:

R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse. Just dreams. 

After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a burst of vibrant color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that R lives in. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world...

Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead and the blurry line in between.

Review: 
This is actually one of the first books I reviewed but never got around to posting
Let me start with the first thing
Some think of this book as being Twilightish due to the whole UnDead guy falling for the human girl and it changes him forever
And then the book itself was released in the midst of the Twilight saga movie releases.
That is about as far as things go here
Julie is a freaking bad ass, a no fucks given gal that is not afraid to shoot a zombie between the eyes, hell, maybe she even enjoys it. 
The book is truly beautiful.
The way the book is written almost has a philosophical feel to it.

For an author, in this case Marion to write about missing (and in that making it beautiful) the most basic human instincts is just outstanding.
This needs to be highlighted, it truly does because the most basic instincts, we really take them for granted (most of us), like being able to enjoy the taste of a meal, being able to grab something or someone without struggling. Having memory of the things you have done. To have emotions over things.
R makes us appreciate that and personally as I read the book it was all like snap, I don't know what its like to be high but probably had a similar reaction. It was honestly beautiful. 

Julie makes one be grateful for the things we have now in the modern world. Simple things, like a warm meal, showers, transportation, heck, even friendships, the liberty of friendships and going to school and the freaking supermarket.
These are all things that we can honestly take for granted, of course, if you have ever gone without any of these you don't really take them for granted. But most people do.
It is almost as if we feel entitled to these things, we don't think that we will ever be without them and therefor its almost by law that we get these. 
That not getting these things or any other basic lifestyle things is just freaking impossible and downright unthinkable.

I was going to go into a whole example of vegans in here but then that is actually a whole nother topic that was just going to get political
This book honestly pulls thoughts out of you, makes one appreciate the little things.
Final thoughts: I'm so glad I get to have control of my own body and to feel for things even if I feel pain back at it again with the being morbid, vale

Update: 11/7/16
Okay so I actually have been reading the sequel to Warm Bodies, The Burning World and shit, while Warm Bodies made you beautifully realize how great it is to be human. The Burning World is all like a slap in the face like BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE!
Although with the elections tomorrow who knows, our life might look a bit like The Burning World, without the zombies
Not going to update this after I know  who wins.
Marion is seriously underrated and sure as fuck does not get the credit he deserves.
Thankfully I have turned some friends into Marion fans so that's 2 more peeps in the world that know whats good.
So cheers to that

Recommend it?

Totally
Yes
If you have seen the movie and thought it was girly
Don't worry, this totally isn't xD This is one bad ass book that needs to be enjoyed by all

Review: Think Happy by Karen Salmansohn

Rate:

4/5

Goodreads Description:

Stay happy—no matter how much life throws at you!

Happiness expert and Oprah columnist Karen Salmansohn presents a collection of 50 inspirational inner peptalks to boost your confidence, attitude, and mood. These peptalks are different than affirmations because they’re feisty, fun and memorable--and will thereby stick in your brain like a catchy song. You’ll naturally want to keep repeating them, thereby changing your neural pathways so you’re inclined to think positive thoughts, which lead to positive habits, which lead to a positively happy life!

Whether you’re feeling stressed, need motivation, are dealing with haters, or need to turn your tale of woe into a tale of wow, THINK HAPPY’s instant peptalks and whimsical illustrations will grump-proof your brain so you can move forward with optimism, resilience, and plain ol’ fabulousness.

Review:

Its a beautiful book, its short and to the point which makes it better.

When youre feeling down nothing is better than a quick pick me up.

Particularly because the things that could be stressing someone out is the lack of time to do things that are necessary. Like work or bills or school or anything.

Anything and everything can be stressful now a days

This wonderful book was packed with color and that in it self is a sure pick me up.

Recommend it?

Completely, we all have one person in our lives who could use this

Game of Pages: Me Before You

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Review by Valeria

Discussion by Angela and Valeria

Review:

Oh boy

This is one of the few stories that makes me cry continuously.

I bawled my eyes out in the book like no tomorrow

*Insert Dont Forget About Me by Cloves here*

So this book is about Lou and her perfectly average life. Of course that is until she meets Will. After her old job is closing, Lou is hired as a companion for Will, who was left paralyzed after an unfortunate accident. Will is, for lack of a better word, bitter about loosing the life he used to have. However, Lou who hardly lets anything dampen her spirit is set to get through this job in order to help her family.

That is just the beggining of it. This is seriously one of my favorite books. As much as the story makes me cry, I love it. It is realistic!

I have watched the movie about 5 times.

This last time I watched it with my mom

(her first time)

She started crying about 5 scenes before me, and I was like YAS! I have broken the curse but yeah 

That didnt happen for me

The adaptation was actually really good in my opinion, the acting was great and feelings were just as shattered as they were in the book.

Discussion:

SPOILERS AHEAD

Who do you like more, Will or Lou? 

A: Lou, she's very cute and funny and she doesn't care what other people think of her she just lives her live.

V: Okay so there is a little bit I like of each one of them but then I went and thought Lou but as I really analyze things I feel like I like will more. Will is more realistic, in the end he proves that sometimes love isn't the answer to everything, just because you have someone you love, it doesn't actually mean that the whole world will be okay, that you can destroy anything that tries to stop you. He is realistic. As morbid as it sounds. 

If you could go on holiday with will, where would you take him?

A: well it's hard to say... Because yeah most places he couldn't go... But I would say let's do a world tour, let's see what beautiful places earth has to offer.

V: It IS so hard to say, I mean personally, tour places that he hasn't been to and well, that he could see, even if its simply via helicopter. I personally would love to tour Europe but I feel like that is something that would be painful for him to have to relive, so only places he hasn't been to.

What scene made you cry first? Book and movie.

A: None.... Not that I didn't think it was sad or that I don't like the ways they act in the movie. i love the book it's great and the movie too! But i'm just not a person who can cry easily... I haven't cried in years, so yeah i don't cry when things happen in real life so I don't do for a book or movie either :/

V: Oh gosh, I can't believe Ang didn't cry! How are we sisters? HOW !!

 I first started crying when in the island Will starts telling her how he hasn't changed his mind, how he is still in pain and meeting her was great and everything but it doesn't change how he feels about his life. 

what would be your reaction, if you one day wake up and you're in a wheelchair?

A: scream, I would definetly scream. 

I don't wanna say anything wrong, and I can't really say much about it... Me personally, I would be so devastated, to not being able anymore to do so many things with my legs, or arms or any part of my bone. i already hate it when I break my leg and being disable for a few weeks, which is actually nothing... So I really admire everyone who's in a wheelchair and still is happy and enjoys life! These are the strongest people I know and I'm just weak!

V: I mean I feel like this is one of those things that  you really can not prepare for and you really don't know how you will react. Sure in some cases you do know that you might eventually end up in a wheelchair due to some medical issues. So yeah, I don't really know how I would react if that was my case. I have very positive days and very negative days so maybe thats how it would be for me. More negative than positive though. Thats just how I am. Very Will-ish, Realistic-Negative.

What do you think about will's decision? And would you have accepted it? 

A: on the one hand, i don't get it.. Why would he give up his life, make the life of other ppl miserable by dying... But yeah imagine he would say okay, I won't kill myself. He would be unhappy, each day of his life and with him everyone around him would know and feel it. And in my opinion, that's way harder.. But in general i'm against suicide, except someone is so ill, that he only has a few more days, weeks to live and all this is horrible pain.... 

V: Okay, as a stranger, yes I can accept it. As Lou, I would've hard the hardest time accepting it, this is someone you love, someone you wont be able to talk to or hear their voice anymore and this is something that they are deciding. It almost seems selfish. As Will, anything anyone else things is selfish. It is his life, his choice, and only he truly knows how much pain he is on and just where the bar has ended.

Do you think the parents could have changed his decision, if they actively tried more? 

A: nope. When someone has made up their mind about something like this, and even planned it for a very long time, then you have no chance changing their mind... And like I already said, maybe you can change it to not killing himself, but not to being happy again... 

V: I really don't think so. This isn't just something that only Will knows how he wants to approach it but something that is purely his decision because only he knows just how hard it is and it is HIM that has to be dealing with it. His parents, as hard as they tried, just had no chance from the point Will made his decision.

Would you wear the bumble bee tights?

A: yes and no. In my opinion, the bumble bee tights symbolizes Lous character perfectly. She doesn't give a f**k about other peoples opinions and she just wears what she wants. I love that and I am kinda like her in that way. But the bumble bee tights themselves are not my taste, but yeah everyone has a different taste :)

V:  Are you kidding me?

FUCK

YES.

I love tights! I am not as outstanding as Lou enough to wear funky outfits with tights all the time. If I live somewhere colder I totally would. But I live in Los Angeles so daily or even weekly tights arent an option. But bumble bee tights are easy enough, I would ROCK those babies! The thing I DO like to put myself out there with is colorful bags or wallets xD 

So that was that

THANK YOU FOR READING

and I (Vale) Apologize for all the spoilers BUT I did warn !