{"id":73,"date":"2010-12-14T10:25:10","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T18:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=73"},"modified":"2015-02-07T21:10:26","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T05:10:26","slug":"mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2010\/12\/mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Hunger Games\u00e2\u20ac\u2122: Chapter 19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the nineteenth chapter of <em>The Hunger Games<\/em>, the weight of the news of the rule change in the Games motivates her to take a new direction in the competition, seeking out Peeta in order to win with him along her side. That proves easier said than done. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <em>The Hunger Games<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Well, this is not what I expected.<\/p>\n<p>I thought this entire story was building up to a moment where Katniss would watch Peeta die or be forced to kill him herself. That discerning moment would be something to frame the rest of the series, or at least the rest of the next book. Like Rue, Peeta seemed destined for death. It was too good to be true to have him end up alive after all this, but now the Game has changed in a way I would never, ever have considered. Peeta can survive??? Oh, now a new thought just popped into my head: what if he makes it to the near end <em>AND GETS KILLED ANYWAY<\/em>. Oh god, <em>this is actually kind of exciting<\/em>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The star-crossed lovers\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Peeta must have been playing that angle all along. Why else would the Gamemakers have made this unprecedented change in the rules? For two tributes have a shot at winning, our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153romance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d must be so popular with the audience that condemning it would jeopardize the success of the Games.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what the insinuation is here, but is there a hint that somehow Peeta knew there <em>might<\/em> be a chance this rule could have even been a possibility? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6why else would Peeta play up the star-crossed lovers role?<\/p>\n<p>I am intrigued.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/relevant_to_my_interests1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-74\" title=\"relevant_to_my_interests1\" src=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/relevant_to_my_interests1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/relevant_to_my_interests1.jpg 555w, http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/relevant_to_my_interests1-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/relevant_to_my_interests1-298x300.jpg 298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This leaves a few key people: Foxface, who is a sneaky badass and I wish she wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t die so she can continue to hide in the bushes and laugh at everyone. Thresh is still around but WHERE THE HELL HAS HE BEEN. No, really, <em>is he also hiding in the bushes behind Foxface<\/em>. Like what on earth has he been doing <em>for hundreds of pages<\/em>. Secret weapon maybe? Or maybe he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s waiting until the last minute and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll kill Katniss and book two will suddenly switch to his point of view. HOW EDGY WOULD THAT BE.<\/p>\n<p>I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t write words.<\/p>\n<p>Moving on. The only other two people left are Cato and the girl from District 2, who will inevitably work together to <em>OPPRESS EVERYONE ELSE<\/em>. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like Cato. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hopefully get beheaded. Right??? That would be pretty awesome, I think. Maybe the Gamemakers have a special weapon that allows the earth to open up and eat people? Look, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think you guys understand my deep desire to see this happen in some form of fiction of film. <em>Way to disappointment me, Suzanne Collins<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The next day (HOW DOES KATNISS SLEEP AT ALL DURING THIS), she heads off to find Peeta. Realizing that his injuries must be serious from Cato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sword and the tracker jackers, Katniss heads to find a water source. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only way he could have survived all this time alone. The lake is not a good choice, the pools are too stagnant, so she knows the stream is the only place he can be. There, she finds evidence that he was there: blood stains on the rocks alongside the stream.<\/p>\n<p>And then JESUS CHRIST THIS IS KIND OF AMAZING:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You here to finish me off, sweetheart?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>I whip around. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s come from the left, so I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pick it up very well. And the voice was hoarse and weak. Still, it must have been Peeta. Who else in the arena would call me sweetheart? My eyes peruse the bank, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing. Just mud, the plants, the base of the rocks.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Peeta?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I whisper. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where are you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no answer. Could I just have imagined it? No, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain it was real and very close at hand, too. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Peeta?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I creep along the bank.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t step on me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>WHAT THE FUCK<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I jump back. His voice was right under my feel. Still there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing. Then his eyes open, unmistakably blue in the brown mud and green leaves. I gasp and am rewarded with a hint of white teeth as he laughs.<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the final word in camouflage. Forget chucking weights around. Peeta should have gone into his private session with the Gamemakers and painted himself into a tree. Or a boulder. Or a muddy bank full of weeds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>THIS IS SERIOUSLY FANTASTIC. Possibly the best thing in the entire book. Oh my god, Peeta is AMAZING. And get this: he learned all this from <em>decorating cakes<\/em>. Like, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so absurd and sensational and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even care. It is goddamn wonderful.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Peeta smiles. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Collins high-fived Jesus after writing this line and he most certainly high-fived back.<\/p>\n<p>Katniss goes about helping Peeta out of the mud and cleaning him and his\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6wound. Oh, his wound. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s caked thick in mud, so badly that getting his clothes off is an exercise in and of itself. But she does manage to do what she can and then she slides his pants off in the least romantic way possible and OH GOD WHAT.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I can see the tear Cato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sword made in the fabric over his thigh, but it in no way prepares me for what lies underneath. The deep inflamed gash oozing both blood and pus. The swelling of the leg. And worst of all, the smell of festering flesh.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>YEAH, NO THANK YOU. Like, how is she going to heal this, if at all? The burn medicine isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to work and neither are the leaves Rue gave her. (They do end up helping with some of the pus, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still not going to heal the leg.)<\/p>\n<p>I do like the interplay between the two characters, who realize they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to kill each other anymore. And even if they jokes are particularly fantastic, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice to have SOME dialogue. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Rue was the first bit of actual speech we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d read in a good while.<\/p>\n<p>Katniss keeps Peeta talking to distract him from the gravity of the situation: he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s malnourished and his leg is, for lack of a better phrase, fucked up. She can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get him far down the stream to find a good place to hide. They duck into an outcropping of rocks that form a sort of cave. But the situation is far more grim than she expected.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>His forehead\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s burning up. Like the medicine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s having no effect at all. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m scared he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to die.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Actually\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I get what Collins means, but isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that the exact opposite meaning of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153out of nowhere\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6he has a high fever from the infection. Logically, the fear of death seems pretty reasonable, so it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come out of nowhere. Right?<\/p>\n<p>Still, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an unsettling thought for Katniss, who is woefully ignorant in this area. And Peeta knows she feels this way and tries to tell her about what she should do if he dies.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping his words. This is probably overdue since he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right, we are supposed to be madly in love. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever kissed a boy, which should make some sort of impression I guess, but all I can register is how unnaturally hot his lips are from the fever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly the worst first kiss story of all time, right? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worse than yours. BRING IT IF IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NOT.<\/p>\n<p>Romance bores me. Is it ok if I say that? I generally don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really care about it, so I do like that this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really played up as this huge emotional moment. (Well, for Katniss. I feel like Peeta was totally stoked.)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I step out in the cool evening air just as the parachute floats down from the sky. My fingers quickly undo the tie, hoping for some real medicine to treat Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leg. Instead I find a pot of hot broth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>REALLY HAYMITCH. <\/em>What the hell are they supposed to do with that?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Haymitch couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be sending me a clearer message. One kiss equals one pot of broth. I can almost hear his snarl. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to be in love, sweetheart. The boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dying. Give me something I can work with!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Haymitch, you are so charming.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say, trying for the special tone that my mother used only with my father. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dozed off again, but I kiss him awake, which seems to startle him. Then he smiles as if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be happy to lie there gazing at me forever. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great at this stuff.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not faking it?<\/p>\n<p>I am not too excited to spend chapters with Peeta hitting on Katniss and meaning it while she proves to be completely oblivious to it all. Oh well. Can we get back to Murder Fest 2057?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/thgch181.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-75\" title=\"thgch18\" src=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/thgch181.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"437\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/thgch181.jpg 437w, http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/thgch181-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the nineteenth chapter of The Hunger Games, the weight of the news of the rule change in the Games motivates her to take a new direction in the competition, seeking out Peeta in order to win with him along &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2010\/12\/mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-19\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,488],"tags":[28,24,27],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hunger-games","category-the-hunger-games-novel","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-mark-reads-the-hunger-games","tag-suzanne-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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