Hunger Games Series

After debating whether to read this series, I bit the bullet.   I was worried about the violence and "gore"; but surprisingly, that wasn't what was disturbing -- it was the government control over the various areas of the country.  I kept wondering if America could ever come to this. The heroine's struggle to understand herself, what she was capable of, and who she really loved was  interesting.  In the end, when she chose -- it was because she realized she needed someone who was different than she ~ someone who could see beauty and gentleness, not someone who could be angry and fight back like herself.  The Wars changed the participants -- the killing, the fear, the memories, the manipulations ~ just as other types of painful life events change us.