Words, Worlds, Whorls

Do I even have to say "This review contains spoilers" at this point? I'm the last person on Earth to get around to reading it. Wow, it's about time, right? Yeah yeah, spare me.I definitely couldn't help but love this book. Compared to John Green's reality-based books, this is way more my speed. Dystopian society, teens killing teens, snarky drunkards...yes, this is what I love most in fiction. All I want in life is my own personal Haymitch.Of course, it wasn't without its problems. Having it be in first person sort of gave away the fact that Katniss would survive to the end (although if I didn't know two more books followed, I may have feared for her life once the Games were over and she found out The Capitol wasn't happy with her). Secondly, Peeta often came across as a weak and near-useless character. Just because you have a strong female protagonist does not mean your male characters have to be weak and moronic. It turns out in the end that the opposite is true, in fact, but I swear if Peeta plays the damsel-in-distress to Katniss' HBIC, I may wind up genuinely hating him (just as much as I would a weak female character who is an actual damsel-in-distress).My last major problem was the way Katniss reacted when they got back to The Capitol. She always struck me as a down-to-Earth, straightforward character who doesn't stand for any nonsense. So how is she able to be such a great actress? Out in the Games, it was believable but back in civilization somehow I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief about how great and convincing an actress she is.A few people noted the simplicity of the writing as being a major turn off. Yes, the writing is almost formulaic but let's remember this is a series that was written for teenagers. I have a feeling the love triangle aspect is going to become more prominent in the following books and that is definitely going to sour my reading a little, but I'm also eager to get my hands on them so I can find out what happens next.And hey if you ever need a laugh, just read some of the 1-star reviews for this book. I couldn't stop laughing at the sheer stupidity.