Matthew

I had a difficult time starting this book. I recognized too much of the dystopian future it presented, and I kept seeing the events happen before I got to them. Then, too, I'd started reading it simply because others had told me how much they loved it.

But something happened once the Games truly began. I couldn't stop reading, I couldn't wait to return to the arena, and I could't wait to be there with her. Katniss.

I laughed. I cried. I felt my heart catch in my throat. Few books have ever done that to me, if any.

I am no longer loathe to admit...I loved this book and, like Katniss, was “dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.”

I'll admit the first time I tried to read this book I was barely able to finish the first chapter. The setting, the odd cadence of the character's thoughts, even some of the language left me scrambled and confused (not unlike, I imagine, a novice time traveler). But I borrowed it once more and, undisturbed by any deadlines or chores, finished this gem of a novel in a single sitting.

I laughed throughout at the playful banter and gentle way these dual protagonists teased, then tempted one another. I gasped audibly at the sudden introduction of a word that carries great meaning in any relationship. I cried at the absolutely genuine current of emotions flowing between these amazing characters, and my heart simply ached till the very last page.

I'm so glad I gave this book another chance, as it's truly one of the most memorable things I've ever read.

Altered how I see change, progress, and the path forward. Though repetitive, that repetition is instructive in that it demonstrates how pervasive this “thought leadership” is among the elites and those who cater to them.

For better or worse, I see the world so much clearer today than I did when I started the book.

I wanted to like this book much more than I eventually did and that may be due, in part, to my outsized expectations. I'd hoped that reading about the author's spiritual journey would help me understand my own a little better, but too often I found myself getting frustrated at his writing style and in some places it overshadowed the many interesting aspects of his transformation.

If you're able to focus more on the building blocks of the author's awakening and ignore the pacing, dialogue, and exposition irregularities, you'll see glimmers of a great story. In the hands of a more skillful editor or perhaps a ghost writer, this could have been great.