Mari

I've reached the point of dimishing returns with the Hunger Games series. This book mirrors the other books to closely, hitting major plot points in past books with disappointing accuracy. Some aspects were interesting--learning a little more about the Covey, meeting younger versions of future characters, the "sister" relationship, some new mutts in the games--but not enough to make me remotely interested in reading another book in this world, if it continues.

This harrowing story is written with so much historical context and sympathy that humanized the Donner-Reed Party very well. This book does an incredible job of breathing life into these emigrants' stories and legacies.

Throughout the entire tale all I could think was, "Why? Were things that bad in Illinois that they had to risk everything in the wildness?" Mary Ann Graves said it best in her letter to family back east, "Stay at home--you are in a good place."

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning about the Old West, the wild idea of Manifest Destiny and the people who embarked into vast nothingness to create what they thought would be a better life.