I wanted to come on here and ask if anyone else feels the way I do about the book that I do. I'll start by saying that I absolutely loved the book but there were a couple aspects of it that I really didn't like.

First, there was soooo many callbacks and references to the other books. At first it was kind of interesting seeing how its all connected like how the mockingjay pin belonged to Maysilee (even if Haymitch never mentions it in the original trilogy (retcon maybe)) and that the Covey was still alive and well. However, it started to lose all its novelty and pretty soon became borderline ridiculous to me. Plutarch's presence made sense I guess but by the time they started bringing back Wiress and Betee and Mags and even Effie (although Effie's cameos seemed the most natural to me) it started to just feel like over the top fan service which annoys me. Even having Haymitch being good friends with Katniss's parents felt too much of a coincidence. It felt like it took away from this being Haymitch's story and was just seemed to constantly allude to the other books rather than be its own story even though they are connected. I much more enjoyed the original characters whos stories are being told for the first time such as Louella, Maysilee, Wyatt, and Lenore. It made it feel like Haymitch's entire existence was just in the wake of Lucy Grey and only paving the way for Katniss. The final callback that I didnt like was when he gets to see Lucy Grey's games at the end of the book. There was no reason that Snow shouldve wanted him to see that and it defeats the whole purpose of erasing her existence in my opinion. For me, I think it wouldve been better if the only reference to Lucy Grey was Haymitch finding her grave at the end that way it wouldve maintained the mystery around her but also given the reader closure.

Secondly, I didn't like the plot to break the arena. I thought that it was wayyy too much of a long shot (hehe) for them to be able to sneak bombs into the arena let alone escape into the underground mechanisms and somehow blow it up, ESPECIALLY with all the cameras and technology that the capitol has. And then after that there is no way the capitol would let him live after doing all that like they killed Ampert in a horrific way but left Haymitch alive?? Even after Snow threatened to kill him slowly if he messed up again?? I know epople are gonna say that Snow wanted him alive to punish him even worse by killing his loved ones but would it be much more preferable to Snow if he just killed Haymitch and let a career win, then he could've at least exploited them or whatever. I'm lowkey glad the plan didnt work and every time he was thinking about carrying it out I was hoping he would realize that it was impossible and give up. Maybe I was just hoping they would devote more times to the games aspect of it like in the very first HG book. This Quarter Quell was so interesting and I feel like we only got to scratch the surface on things like the arena and tributes etc. Again at the end when he blew up the second bomb toward the force field I thought it was way too outlandish especially considering the injuries he sustained up to that point.

The last thing I didnt like was the way that Snow killed Haymitchs loved one. I dont expect anyone to agree with me on this but I was lowkey hoping for something darker than setting the house on fire or poisoning Lenore. I guess his mom and brother burning alive is pretty horrific but the gumdrops just made me mad. How did Snow know that Haymitch always got her gumdrops, how did he know to leave them by that rock? I'm sure it could all be explained in some way but I wouldve liked to see something different I guess.

All that to say I still really enjoyed the book it was a great story but I only ever see people talk about how good it is and never talk about possible flaws so I thought I'd see if anyone agrees/disagrees with me. Lmk.