On Multiple Editions of Books

Every now and again, books will get new covers. This can be annoying if it happens in the middle of a series, and your covers end up not matching. But that has been spoken about a number of times. What I was to talk about is when covers change once the series has finished.

I can understand why publishers decide to do this. Time goes by, and they want to introduce new readers to the series - readers who were perhaps several years too young when they were first published. Like Harry Potter, for example. This makes sense to me.

What doesn't make sense is when publishers choose to release new editions within a very short space of time. Let's take The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Continue reading On Multiple Editions of Books

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (review copy) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the previous books in the series. Do not read any further if you plan on reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and don't want spoilers.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge... The thrilling final instalment of this ground-breaking trilogy promises to be one of the most talked-about books of the year. From Amazon UK

After being reminded how amazing this series is when I finished Catching Fire, I immediately picked up Mockingjay and got stuck in*, and all I can say is wow!

I really don't know where to start. I cannot believe how much happened in this novel. I would be reading at later points in the book, and realise what Katniss was talking about happened earlier in Mockingjay, not in another book. Seriously, so much goes on, and it spans quite a period of time, I'm amazed it all fit in one book. And as you would hope for the finale in such a spectacular series, there is action and suspense like you wouldn't believe! And there is no way I can really talk about any of it without spoiling the story, because it starts right from the beginning.

Katniss' journey in Mockingjay is probably a lot more chaotic than in previous ones. The range of emotions she goes through, the thing she has to witness and experience, the choices she has to make, the goals she achieves - it's just phenomenal, especially when you think that she is just 17 and has been forced into this life. She might just be one of my favourite protagonists, I love her!

As the book is the finale, things are resolved. We find out if Katniss chooses Peeta or Gale. We find out whether the Capitol is beaten or not. Did Mockingjay end how I wanted it to? I'm not sure, simply because I couldn't think of an ending I wanted. This series is just so complicated and so real, I couldn't picture an ending. But my god, what an end to the series! I really don't know what to say. I absolutely loved it, and I think Suzanne Collins is just a genius. This has got to be one of the best series ever written.

*As a lot of bloggers were all posting their reviews around the same time, I have held mine back. But I did read Mockingjay closer to it's release date.

Thank you to Scholastic for sending me a review copy.

Published: 25th August 2010
Publisher: Scholastic
Buy on Amazon UK
Buy on Amazon US
Suzanne Collins' Website
The Hunger Games UK Site

My reviews of the other books in the series:
The Hunger Games on Ink and Paper
Catching Fire

Other reviews:
So Many Books, So Little Time
Empire of Books
The Crooked Shelf

Continue reading Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (review copy) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the first in the series, The Hunger Games. Do not read any further if you plan on reading The Hunger Games and don't want spoilers.

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to her district, hoping for a peaceful future. But Katniss starts to hear rumours of a deadly rebellion against the Capitol. A rebellion that she and Peeta have helped to create. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless Katniss and Peeta can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying... The terrifying sequel to The Hunger Games. From Amazon UK

Seeing as I had received my review copy of Mockingjay, but hadn't yet read Catching Fire, I thought I should get a move on sharpish. I absolutely adored The Hunger Games, but for some reason, wasn't all that enthusiastic in picking up Catching Fire. But now I've read it, I wish I hadn't waited so long! This book is so amazing, I am quite literally speechless.

As some people on Twitter will know, when I first started reading, I wasn't pulled in right away. I still had reservations for unknown reasons - probably scared it wasn't going to match up to the first book. I have to say, although it was never boring, it did take a while for Catching Fire to pull me in, but once it had, that was it. I rarely put the book down. And it was sooo exciting!

And you know the worst thing? I have no idea how to talk about this book in the detail I'd normally go into without spoiling it. So much happens, so much you don't expect, and it all starts from the beginning! I can tell you that the characters are still amazing. Katniss is just as awe-inspiring as she was in The Hunger Games. Peeta has grown on me considerably; I never disliked him, but I didn't love him either. Now he's just the sweetest guy. But I'm still a big fan of Gale's. He's just so determined to do what's right, he's just amazing.

The action is just as good as in The Hunger Games, but in a different way. I really can't say much more than that. It's exciting, and has you on the edge of your seat, and is just completely wow! And the cliffhanger! Oh my god! The cliffhanger makes me glad that I did wait this long, so I can now pick up Mockingjay to find out what happened. Just amazing. I cannot recommend this series enough!

Thank you to Scholastic for sending me a review copy.

Published: 7th September 2009
Publisher: Scholastic
Buy on Amazon UK
Buy on Amazon US
Suzanne Collins' Website
The Hunger Games UK Site

My review of The Hunger Games on Ink and Paper

Continue reading Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

News: 3,000 Copies of The Hunger Games Given Away at the UK Eclipse Premiere

I received the following email from Scholastic.



Twilight fans queuing in Leicester Square ahead of tonight’s Eclipse premiere have been passing the time by reading Suzanne Collins’ phenomenal book The Hunger Games.

3,000 copies of The Hunger Games have been distributed to teenagers and young adults this afternoon, who were eager to read the book recommended by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. Meyer became a champion of The Hunger Games books after posting a rave review on her website.
“My latest excitement is this: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I was so obsessed with this book I had to take it with me out to dinner and hide it under the edge of the table so I wouldn't have to stop reading. The story kept me up for several nights in a row, because even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it. I've been recommending it to total strangers in Target. And now to everyone who reads my website. The Hunger Games is amazing.”

Further praise followed when Stephenie Meyer read book two The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
“It not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. It’s just as exciting as The Hunger Games, but even more gut wrenching, because you already know these characters, you’ve already suffered with them. Suzanne takes the story places I wasn’t expecting, and she’s never afraid to take it to very hard places. Stunning. You won’t sleep when you’re reading this one. I suggest beginning in the early morning and clearing your calendar for the day.”

Since The Hunger Games was first published in January 2009, enthusiasm for the series has grown exponentially. Even Stephen King “couldn’t stop reading”.

The final installment of the heart-stopping Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, will be published in the UK, on 25th August following a worldwide embargo.
The global print run for The Hunger Games Mockingjay is in excess of 1.2 million copies.

It is one of the most eagerly-awaited books of the summer.
“Fervently awaited” The New Yorker
“The most eagerly awaited book this summer… wreathed in Harry Potter-like secrecy” Wall Street Journal
“Young Adult readers will devour the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy before the school year begins, but Collins’ adult fans may have to call in sick to work. Who wants to focus on the present when heroine Katniss Everdeen is in jeopardy in the post-apocalyptic future?” Time magazine

Continue reading News: 3,000 Copies of The Hunger Games Given Away at the UK Eclipse Premiere

Book News: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins UK Cover

I received some news today from Scholastic - the UK cover for Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, released 25th August 2010, has been released!

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the
bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should
pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either.
Not Katniss’s family, not her friends Peeta and Gale, not the people of District 12.

Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final instalment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games
trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year. From press release.

How awesome is that cover? And how great does this book sound?! I am SO excited! Sorry about the size, that's the size I was sent. But still, awesome!

Continue reading Book News: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins UK Cover

News: The Third Hunger Games Title Announced

News from Scholastic UK Children's Books today:



The following is from the Mockingjay Press release:

THE THIRD BOOK IN THE HEART-STOPPING HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY
BY SUZANNE COLLINS HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED TODAY
THE EAGERLY-AWAITED THIRD BOOK WILL BE PUBLISHED ON 24TH AUGUST 2010

Since the September 2009 release of Catching Fire, the second book in Suzanne Collins' best-selling Hunger Games trilogy, there has been a great deal of internet speculation about the title for the forthcoming third book.

The wait is over. Today we can reveal that the third book will be called

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY
In the series, mockingjays are government-bred mutant birds, the offspring of mockingbirds and jabberjays, created in order to spy on rebels. Mockingjays became the symbol of resistance in book two of the series, and many fans of the books, both in the UK and the US, have been wearing mockingjay badges to show their allegiance with Katniss Everdeen the heroine of the series.
Since book one was published in January 2009, enthusiasm for the series has grown exponentially, with support coming from Stephen King who reported ‘The Hunger Games is amazing’ and Stephenie Meyer who ‘couldn’t stop reading’ book one, and was equally vocal about book two Catching Fire, saying ‘It not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them’.There are over 4,000 fans of The Hunger Games UK Facebook page.
Film rights for The Hunger Games have been acquired by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company - and Lionsgate has obtained worldwide film distribution rights. Author Suzanne Collins is currently working on the screenplay.
Foreign publishing rights for The Hunger Games books have been sold into 35 territories to date.
Exciting, huh? Now I've just got to get my hands on Catching Fire!

Continue reading News: The Third Hunger Games Title Announced

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Set in the future, North America is run practically by a dictatorship, and as punishment for "past crimes" and as a reminder not to go against them again, they hold the Hunger Games: a reality TV show, where all children from 12-18 have to be submitted to take part in a fight to the death - two from each of the 12 districts are chosen, and this is mandatory. Twenty four in all. Twenty three kids will die, at the hands of his/her competition. We follow Katniss as she strives to survive the Hunger Games.

Continue reading Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins