Scott Reads It!

Seen at Scott Reads It!I have been a Hunger Games fan ever since 2008 and I remember when THG wasn't the global phenomenon it is today. In fact I remember recommending THG to a few of my classmates and I remember them telling me it sounded stupid and ridiculous. **Fast Forward 4 Years** The same people who told me that THG was stupid, went to the movie on opening day and claimed that they were huge fans of the trilogy. Just because you saw the movie doesn't mean you are a huge fan of THG trilogy. Many of these self-proclaimed die hard Hunger Games fans that I know haven't even finished the entire trilogy. Sorry for completely digressing but I just had to unwind about the fake THG junkies I know. There will be spoilers for Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games Trilogy. I have read numerous anthologies in my life. What do all of these anthologies have in common? Every single time I read an anthology the essays or stories are either extremely entertaining or extremely dreadful. The Girl Who Was On Fire also seems to suffer from this common issue. Some of the essays in this anthology seemed like they would never end and I felt so tempted to skim or skip these essays. I wasn't really interested in reading about the political values displayed in The Hunger Games at all and the essay on politics was extremely tedious. Another essay which I disliked was "The Game Theory" by Diana Peterfreund because this essay felt very extraneous. I didn't not enjoy reading about the mathematics of games and how rules affect game play. The only part of Peterfreund's essay that I enjoyed was the allusion to Quidditch. The rest of the essays were much more entertaining to read especially the essays written by Carrie Ryan, Ned Vizzini, and Terri Clark. It was not a surprise that I really enjoyed the essays by Ryan and Vizzini. Ryan's essay on "Panem et Circuses" was extremely thought provoking and provided a meaningful analysis of Panem. "Panem et Circuses" provided a powerful view on how the media controls society. Is the reader any better than the people of Panem? The people of Panem tune in to watch all of the Hunger Games, if they didn't watch THG the Capital would have a considerable less power. The people of Panem give the Capital more power by watching kids fight to the death. Is someone who read The Hunger Games any better than a viewer from the Capital? Afterall both the reader and the Capital citizen are interested in The Hunger Games for similar reasons. Vizzini's essay was a true eye opener and revealed the connection between Kurt Cobain and Katniss. Who would have ever thought Cobain and Katniss were so closely linked? Other memorable essays include "Did The Third Book Suck?" and "Gale: Knight. Cowboy. Badass." which were extremely fun to read. The Girl Is On Fire isn't exactly a must-read but it is an entertaining book. I really enjoyed a vast majority of the essays and I'm glad that the essays were more than just "Team Gale" or "Team Peeta". If you're looking for a thought-provoking book that goes beyond the mindless THG Teams than this is the book for you. It is a bit disappointing and ironic that the "Movie Edition" lacks any essays regarding the movie. Even though I haven't heard of a majority of the authors in this anthology, I do look forward to looking into reading books by some of the authors featured in this anthology.