Part 1, Chapter 1:
And it's not me.
It's Primrose Everdeen.
I have to agree with FD that the book starts out extremely broad. Like, Collins CLEARLY goes out of her way to give us ample descriptions of almost all the major aspects of District 12: Katniss, Gale, Prim, The Seam, the class divide, the Hob, Haymitch, Effie, the reaping, the Hunger Games. EVERYTHING in this chapter is pretty much exposition, with the exception of Gale suggesting that he and Katniss run off into the woods together. And I guess what sucks about that is that by giving SO MUCH exposition in the first chapter, you really neglect details. Like, I have almost no knowledge of Katniss' physical appearance, based on this chapter. District 12, I still can't picture in my mind even after reading this book twice before.
The end of the chapter though is when the book really starts to get good, and I appreciate that, because sometimes in novels like this, there's SO much exposition that goes on for far too long, and it really makes the opening a chore to read. But by having the book start off with a bang, having the conflict already ramped up to the highest level by having Katniss' sister, not Katniss herself, get picked for the reaping, that's a good plot element right there.
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.