Since I've been in a mood for fast-paced books, I decided to pick up the thriller Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh. The tag line is "The serial killer isn't on trial. He's on the jury..." This is less of a "whodunit" and more of a "whydunit." There are alternating perspectives between the serial killer and Eddie Flynn, the defense attorney. I found many of the elements unbelievable but still a very compelling read. I gave the book 3 stars.
Next, in preparation for the Hunger Games prequel, I decided to reread the trilogy. I thought it was really engaging and felt it stood up over time. I've heard many people say that Katniss is an unlikable protagonist, but I really related to her. I think her reluctance to be the chosen one is an interesting twist on the trope. I gave each of the books 4 stars.
I read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Damaged Hospital by Sheri Fink. This was an account of a New Orleans hospital during and after Hurricane Katrina. The first part of the story was exciting and vividly painted the bleak scenes of taking care of patients without electricity or running water. However, the second part followed an investigation of whether the doctors euthanized patients. The author goes into boring and pain-staking details about the investigators, politics, and way too many backstories. At over 500 pages, this book really needed some editing. Additionally, the author was incredibly biased and presented her opinion as fact. I gave the book 2 stars.
Lastly, I read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. I feel very mixed about this book. For a good chunk of the book I was enjoying learning more about Snow, Panem, and the early Hunger Games and how different they were in the beginning. However, Snow falls in "love" with his tribute, a girl from District 12, and it felt so disgustingly wrong. He had all the power and I felt the author didn't address the toxicity of this "relationship" well enough. Additionally, the pacing was super slow until the very end which went at a breakneck speed. The last part was definitely the most interesting but I don't really like open-ended finales in books. There will likely be at least a sequel, if not more as Collins left some loose ends. The audiobook narration was excellent. I gave the book 3 stars.
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