This isn't a horrible book, but I do think that in order for it to receive the 3 stars, one must first read the initial Hunger Game series. I felt like the story line was ok, but I didn't care too much about any certain person. Well, I take that back. I did care because ultimately it led to poor Katniss kicking butt and being torn between Gale and Peeta. So, yeah, that was nice. And the story was interesting, how Donald Sutherland turned mean in Hunger Games, so the back story was pretty good. But when you expect the Hunger Games heart pulsing experience, you won't get it. But if you're new to my reviews, you may not know that I don't usually read entire series of books. But, I did read this series, and felt it was my due to be dedicated even to the #.5 book. And I'm glad I did.
To those of you (and you know who I'm talking to) who think I'm under rating Ballad, thank you for still being my friend :-)