Three books, four movies.
A total of seven years.

The start of the first wave of the YA Lit movie adaption phase that Hollywood has taken on within the past couple of years.

The Hunger Games

Obviously, it’s popular, and there are many people all around the world who like it. But the real question, the biggest debate of the entire series (at least, in my friend group), is which series is better: the books, or the movies?

Of course, everyone has their own thoughts on what worked and what didn’t. My parents lean towards the books, while my friends tend to enjoy the movies more. From all those I’ve asked, the answers have been pretty much split down the middle.
Personally, it is hard to choose between the books and the on-screen adaptations. I love the first book, but the second and fourth movies are pretty amazing. The third movie was just as sucky as the book it’s based off of, so I don’t really look at or care about that one (sorry not sorry).

Spoiler alert ahead, for those who haven’t partaken in the YA madness.

This is usually what happens to me. The first book of most series I’ve read has been my favorite, with all its world-building and character introductions and beautifully detailed descriptions. I absolutely adore reading the long stuff; it’s a pain in the rear to write, let me tell you, but it’s totally worth it. Building a unique world that is interesting to your readers is difficult to do, especially with all these dystopian novels coming out at the moment. But Suzanne Collins got it right, which is why the first book reeled me in and didn’t let go until Katniss and Peeta were back in District 12 after the games. She gave the characters depth, but not so much so that it felt like they were drowning in the Mariana Trench. Again, hard to perfect, but Collins got pretty darn close.

After the first book, which was pretty hard to beat, the second book comes along. Another games, another group of competitors, another love triangle, and another really mean president. A little repetitive, but the added fact of actual friends in the games and a little extra conflict outside the arena kept it interesting. Again, it kept me hooked from the beginning, and while I wasn’t as satisfied as I was with the first, I did end up staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it, and those were hours well spent.

The third book made me, along with most everyone else I know who read it, cry with anger and frustration. Not literally, of course, but on the inside it was a hurricane, I promise you. It was so repetitive, and the whole PTSD thing that Katniss had going on could only last for so long, and unfortunately, that did not include the last three-fourths of the book. Peeta going insane was certainly a twist, and Katniss killing Coin instead of Snow was pretty fun, but besides that and Finnick’s death (yes, he was my favorite character, and yes, I cried when he died, don’t judge me), I don’t really remember what else happened. That tells you just how boring it was.

The movies were a totally different story. Catching Fire was my favorite movie by far; the visuals were stunning, the nauseating shaky cam from the first film was gone, and the new actors were amazing. Sam Claflin made my favorite character come to life, which I was more than pleased about, and Jena Malone fit the sassy Johanna to a T. The action was balanced well with the emotion, which is hard to do when you want viewers but you also want to stay true to the book, and the ending just stabbed me in the heart with a blunt knife. Overall, I think it followed the book quite well and when it did stray, it wasn’t unnecessarily so; there are some things that are too weird, too long, or just too hard to do in movies that pop up in books all the time.

Next in line comes the fourth and final movie of the series. The most recent installment was nearly 70% action, which made up greatly for the yawn-worthy Mockingjay Part 1. Part 2, while also staying close to the book, made it a lot less emotional and a lot more BOOM and BANG, which I greatly appreciated. Josh Hutcherson was not at the top of his game, but he still did a decent job of playing the poor, tortured, conflicted Peeta, and even made me almost tear up a couple of times. Though the “feel sorry for me my life sucks more than all of yours combined” Katniss was a little boring, my dear Finnick, along with other side characters who I quickly came to love (and sadly mourn) more than the mains, made up for that. The end of the series left me satisfied, and the quick little scene of Katniss and Peeta’s children amped up the feels just enough.

The first movie and the first half of Mockingjay share the bottom slot of my list. The extreme overuse of the shaky cam of the first and the extreme emotions of the third make the hopeful filmmaker in my cry in pain. “I COULD DO IT BETTER!” is something I’m pretty sure I’ve yelled a couple of times during both films, and even my parents agree. They both followed their respective books quite well, which, for the third movie, was why it had no potential to be good in the first place, but the overall dreariness of them both made me want more.

In the end, the movies were all around a lot more flashy, but books always have held a special place in my heart, no matter the series. Even as a prospective director, I am always amazed by those who are able to create an entire world, great characters, and an intriguing plot within three relatively short stories. But now, I’ll ask you. What’s your favorite?