After scanning through some of the reviews of this book here, I almost didn't read it. I'd preordered it though, and, I figured, since I had it anyway, I might as well read it.

As a whole, I actually think it was a pretty good book. It wasn't as interesting or exciting as the first two books, but it was still one of those books that was pretty hard to put down once you'd started reading it.

I can say that about the entire book, with the exception of the ending.

I can totally understand the story itself, for the ending. I really hated the ending of the Hunger Games because it was pointless. This ending was heartbreaking, but it was devastating for good reason, and there was sense to it anyway. What I didn't like was, after the huge, shocking, heartbreaking ending (which you'd know when you've read it), it's like the book just refused to end. From that point, I was kind of just forcing myself through the rest of the book, hoping it would just wrap up already, because, honestly, it took FOREVER.

In summary: an interesting story (but not better than the first two), a tragic but meaningful twist, and an ending that dragged on way too long