I feel much the same way, Steph.

And, while what the Capitol did to Peeta is pretty fucking horrific, for some reason the worst thing for me was Finnick's death, after he had just gotten to marry Annie. And I know that wasn't specifically planned the way Peeta's hijacking was (meaning, the scenario in which Finnick was killed wasn't designed specifically for Finnick; it was just general evil Capitol bullshit.

Somehow Finnick's death was way more emotionally wrenching for me than Peeta's hijacking.

Steph & Anne,

I completely agree. That's why I wanted to see something regarding them re-establishing their relationship. You would have to start all over again, right? And be fearful.

Re: Steph's comment: I was really disappointed that we didn't get to see how Annie was doing. I almost feel like his death wasn't "real" because we didn't really see the impact of it, if that makes any sense. I am hoping someone is taking care of Annie because she really needed help. Maybe Johanna is doing so.

Man, I still can't buy it as a "happy" ending, because ...

For me, it makes it more realistic because despite having the kids and living relatively peacefully, there were huge costs to everyone.

But knowing that Katniss can look at her kids in a moment of uncomplicated happiness, and that they're growing up in a world which is at least a little better than hers was a child seems a) like the most you can hope for, and b) a symbol of hope .

But in lots of ways, it's the most tepid symbol of hope possible. Especially for a YA book. Like her personal happiness separate from kids doesn't seem probable or even like a possibility. So depressing.

I've started reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I don't know Spanish well enough to read a novel but I have a feeling this book uses a lot of idioms and the translator struggled to create a reading experience that would feel the same in English. I hope I get used to it soon because I keep feeling like I'm reading subtitles.

The other thing I'm struggling with is wanting to look up Julian Carax to see if he is a real author or just a character created for this book. I was about to log on to Google when I asked myself, 'why does it matter?' so now I'm giving myself some time to ponder whether or not I want the answer to that question before I continue the book. Would it matter to you?

I didn't even consider the idea that he was a real author, huh! I think it would make him even more interesting if he were based on truth, but it certainly doesn't make him less interesting if he's not.

I've started reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I don't know Spanish well enough to read a novel but I have a feeling this book uses a lot of idioms and the translator struggled to create a reading experience that would feel the same in English. I hope I get used to it soon because I keep feeling like I'm reading subtitles.

My friend J just read that in Spanish for our "books" book salon, I can ask her. Oddly enough, for our war theme, she's reading Hemingway right now and it's driving her crazy because she says a lot of the character dialogue is directly translated from Spanish.

I'd love to hear what people think about it, because my aunt gave me another one of his books for Christmas, on the strength of how much she loved Shadow of the Wind, and I could not get into the one she gave me.

Was it The Angel's Game, Jesse? I want to read that one; it's set in the same world. I loved The Shadow of the Wind.