Gregor and the Code of Claw

Here is what I know of Suzanne Collins to be true now that I have read both The Hungers Games trilogy & the Gregor the Overlander series:

She likes to kill people
She writes endearing and wonderful characters
She writes crappy endings

I loved this series, just as I loved The Hunger Games, but like THG things happen that bring to mind a sort of ‘well, what the fuck was that for?' moments. And just like THG when it was over I was completely unsatisfied with that sort of blah ending. Collins certainly has a writing style.

I don't agree that this is good for ages 8 & up. Maybe 12. Maybe 16. Maybe that's the parent in me wishing to keep such darkness, so much death from my kids for as long as I can. For this was certainly dark and mostly full of death. The line I remember the most was ‘A little girl missing an arm stared at them with empty eyes.' It wasn't just the missing arm part that was hard to swallow, but a 12 year old kid recognizing the empty eyes.

I cried. I cried a lot reading these books. I pretty much cried throughout Part 3 of this one. I sat ramrod straight in my seat read. I couldn't keep my hands from intermittently flying to my mouth to cover the horror my eyes were taking in. I can't soothe the hurt. It's like this actually has happened. That these books are history and not fiction.

It be unforgettable, it be.