I was not completely sure what I was thinking when I decided to read a companion novel to this popular series. There were some questions that I wanted to know an answer to, but in hindsight, I think it probably wasn't really something for me.

The thing is, that I can get annoyed when people start over-analyzing something, which most certainly is the case in The Panem Companion. There are a few interesting pieces like, where in America are the different Districts located and what do they all do, but a lot of the book is actually taken up either by fan theories (which you can find online by the truckload) or metaphors which are apparently planted into the smallest details of the story.

Not for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The author tried provided a fuller, richer and more complete picture of the nature of Panem and the people that live there from The Hunger Games. This is the Panem from the books and not the movie. According to the author this land was North America but not . It was also figured it took two hundred and forty to nine hundred ninety nine years to deteriorate to this place as Panem to rise in the Hunger Games. Katniss lived in the Appalachian Mountains and every decision she makes is a product of that place and it’s culture. Also the time the books spend in most of the country of Panem itself plays a central role in the story. I couldn’t really get into this story . I will say the author had a passion for The Hunger Games. But the author didn’t prove any theories in this book from proof from the books The Hunger Games. Sp it just didn’t really mean a lot. Just theories with no proof.

Seen at my blog, Scott Reads It I expected The Panem Companion to be a quick, short fun analysis about Panem and The Hunger Games. I had already read The Girl On Fire and I was looking for something Hunger Games related to pass the time. Unfortunately The Panem Companion wasn't exactly a great book to read in my free time and it soon became a chore to read. If it wasn't so short, I would have DNFed faster than you can say Mississippi. There is spoilers for The Hunger Games in this review! The Panem Companion's goal is to expand on The Hunger Games and provide further insight on it's world. The problem is that The Hunger Games is a pretty straight forward series and doesn't need much explanation. V. Arrow looks way too much into the text and is fishing for something deeper. For most of the book, Arrow was searching for meaning in such simplistic, obvious things that have no deeper meaning. It reminds me of when my English professor would ask us the significance of such arbitrary details. Not everything is a metaphor for something deeper, most things are supposed to be taken literally. Did Suzanne Collins really write THG to discuss sexuality? I didn't think so yet the author spends pages discussing the importance of sexuality in this series. I think alot of the topics covered in this book are ridiculous and don't really pertain to this series. There is too much extrapolating and inferring on V. Arrow's part. I don't mind theories as long as they are properly supported using evidence from the text. This book claims that Peeta's father could be Prim's baby daddy, I'm not even kidding! I couldn't make up something that ridiculous and nonsensical on my own. The author's proof was virtually non-existent and whatever proof the author had was pretty meaningless. I know it wasn't intentional but the whole Prim baby daddy gave me a good laugh. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I disagree with most of what Arrow said. He kept on alluding to the fact that Peeta is feminine, he doesn't say it exactly but he kind of casually indicates it. Sure Peeta isn't a killer but how does that make him feminine? The author also calls Finnick feminine multiple times which was pretty repetitive. V. Arrow is entitled to her own opinion but she needed to back up her ideas better because her evidence was weak and underdeveloped. Then towards the end is where I felt like tossing my kindle across the room. The author claims that President Snow wasn't evil and that he was a product of his environment! That is such B.S., Snow killed thousands of people and didn't bother him in the slightest bit. The author instead places the blame for Prim's death on Katniss's shoulders for volunteering as a tribute. WTF! That makes no sense at all, that is so invalid! Overall, The Panem Companion was way too academic and tedious for my taste. It can't help that V. Arrow's arguments are weakly supported, ridiculous, and just pointless. This book is supposed to be serious but it's hard to take such nonsense seriously (*cough cough* Prim's Baby Daddy!). Also this book was extremely repetitive, the author kept on mentioning how Katniss doesn't describe people thoroughly at least 100 times. If you've read The Girl On Fire, I wouldn't really bother with this companion because many of the topics in this book are duplicated. The Girl On Fire is a far better analysis of THG and it was way more entertaining. Thank you to Smart Pop for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review, this did not affect my opinion or rating of this book at all.

Originally posted at Nose in a Book (blog)This is the type of book you read and then want to go re-read the main books over again because you missed some major points. This blog is a huge fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy so I was quite excited when I heard that this book was coming out. I love and adore books that go deeper into books I have read. Now, yes, I understand all books I read don’t need background and research, but certain books, such as The Hunger Games do.Arrow goes on the path of looking into as much as she can in a short period of time, and yes, she covers a lot. Arrow discusses various different districts, such as 4 and 11, and also discusses gender roles, Panem in general and certain characters such as Cinna. Arrow also includes maps and graphs to keep the reader engaged throughout the book, along with drawing many parallels that may have nothing to do with The Hunger Games but are too similar to not at least discuss.It is clear throughout reading this book that Arrow has a passion for not only pop culture, but also The Hunger Games as a whole. Many reviewers have stated that this book is dry. I think reviewers are overlooking the fact that this is a compelling critical analysis of a book series. Maybe, I’ve read too many boring history textbook in my undergraduate career, but I found this to be a very compelling read. My only pet peeve, and reason I didn’t give this five stars is personal preference. I am not a fan of when authors’ use “I” in professional work; however, Arrow’s writing style and talent almost made me overlook that and give it five stars, because it was that good.

Just as this was getting interesting, at page 6, and we were discussing the sinking of continents and loss of arable land that could have mitigated the formation of Panem, my e-galley jumps from page 6 to page 23. And I was enjoying it! :-(