ambyr

I loved the first half of this book. I found it tense and gripping, and District 13, for all its somewhat-cliched nature, felt like the most "real" of any of the societies depicted in the series.

Unfortunately, as we left the shadow-battle of propaganda for the front lines, things started to fall apart. Early in the series, the Hunger Games were an allegory for war: how it dehumanizes, how it fascinates us, how it holds societies together and tears them apart. Here, war is an allegory for war--and I like my allegories a little better disguised. I want strategies and tactics to make strategic and tactical sense, not to exist merely to build toward a point.

I think I'm glad I read the series, but it's definitely not on my "to-be-reread" list.