Oh I'm so jealous you're reading it currently!!! I tore through them, they are so engaging. You said it so accurately- BALANCE. Her writing has that. I cannot find any flaw with her writing or this series honestly and I don't even like dystopian fiction, this was the first I loved.

'Clean and succint' is how I thought her writing was when I read it. It was after reading some books with heavy exposition and flowery language so Collins writing style was a breath of fresh air for me; it is easy to read, she presents perfect amount of facts + emotions+ plot twists for my liking. I find her writing style intelligent and her world building extremely IMMERSIVE.

Most importantly, she made me feel so strongly for all characters and their fate- that's huge for me because I increasingly find myself not feeling anything while reading a book. Either shoddy writing or convenient plot twists or unconvincing character portrayals take me out of the experience.

To sum up - I love Collins and I love The Hunger Games 🙃.

I love both Hunger Games and the Eragon/Inheritance series too ! Can't wait to re-read both.

Ikr this is the first I'm reading these books aren't dark?! The one thing I will describe them as is dark. There is a dark undertone running through the entire series when you read it. The background music score captures that very well in the film adaptation too.

Watch the BBC adaptation of 4 episodes pls, the lead actors are so delightful and they changed coupleof scenes, but the climax one is so worth it !

The prose, plot expectation, writing style etc of those 1st 30 pages are reflective of how the rest of the book is. I didn't like the book's 1st few pages either - though my dislike wasn't as strong as yours- and I did not end up liking the rest of the book much.

The book has helped and been beneficial to many, MANY people feeling blue or clinically depressed so I don't want to critique it; it is just not everyone's cup of tea.