** spoiler alert ** 
 + Collins is a very compelling writer who forces you to keep turning pages to find out what happens. 
 + The world of Hunger Games is amazingly detailed and twisted and possibly one of my favorite fictional creations. A dystopia about punishment and oppression on the worst level. 
 - White-washing the deaths. Actually, I'm torn on this because I felt Battle Royale glorified in each individual death too much, but Hunger Games also has a lot of off-screen kills for a book all about kids killing each other. Also, very few deaths are really explored. Though Rue's death was gripping. It just feels very sterilized otherwise and doesn't quite capture the horror of the Games the same way Collins captures the twisted reality of her world. I get that she explains it away by the Gamemakers not wanting to give away the killer's strategies, but when she has Katniss re-watch it, it feels very tame. I'm not sure how I really feel about the compromise. 
 + PEETA. I love this character so much. The self-depreciating attitude, the hopeless love, the surprise cleverness, the inner rebel, the pragmatist, the fail. So complex and so wonderful. 
 + Haymitch and Cinna. Great contrast of the people who must help the Tributes and have to find a way to keep themselves together although they know how fucked up everything is. Also Effie since you get the feeling she's not quite as callous as she first comes across but is simply used to accepting things as are. 
 - The triangle. I DESPISE THE TRIANGLE. I find it pointless and it's one of my biggest complaints with the book. That Katniss spends time wondering how Gale would handle things all while Peeta is doing everything he can to get them through this together drives me insane. It is forced and merely put in for the sake of the stupid shipping teenagers. I like Gale. But after establishing Katniss as not really one to think of love and an overall smart character, her indecision feels really fucking stupid. I know I'm going to get more of this in Catching Fire and I'm not happy about it. 
 - The climax. This represents my other main issue with the book. While Peeta is shown to be a bit of a gray character in killing the girl early on to keep the trust of the Careers, Katniss stays mostly pure, despite constantly thinking about killing other characters. She kills, yes, but in vengeance and only once directly. Collins goes out of her way to ensure Katniss never kills in defense or in cold blood. After building up a huge confrontation between Cato and Katniss, Cato ends up mauled to death and Katniss kills him only to put him out of his misery. I hated this climax. It could have been salvaged had Cato died after Peeta and Katniss tag-teamed him to knock him into the wolves. But no, Collins wants to emphasize the brutality of the Games and the audience and how it's all entertainment and how this kid has to suffer to death. I'm sorry, I didn't feel for him. He had no redeeming qualities and it really dragged down the climax. I WANTED KATNISS TO KILL HIM. This letdown was on the level of what happens to Flagg in Dark Tower. Sure, people can argue lamp-shading or the banality of evil but honestly sometimes people just want to see a good main vs. villain FIGHT. Grr. 
 - Katniss is too pure for a game about murder. She really is. It feels... off. She never really has to confront someone she doesn't want to kill. Everything is done for her so the gray that the book pushes never quite goes there. I blame this on the YA nature of the book. Yes, elitist of me, I know, but for a series as dark as Hunger Games, Katniss really needed to be more gray. 
 - That most of the second half of the book is Katniss healing Peeta. Granted, I love this because I love Peeta and I love developing the relationship. But again, for a game about death and murder, this was way too long a respite and felt misplaced. All the two do is eat and talk and deal with his wound and hunt. The feast was nice but afterward, they simply had too much time alone. It was unconvincing. 
 + The mockingjay theme. I just love it. 
 - The mutant werewolves. Where the fuck did they come from? This better be explained in Catching Fire. Then I can take it off my list. They just felt really tacked on and sent to ensure Katniss did not kill Cato in cold blood and also to make us feel bad about Rue and Thresh and all them again. Also, how the hell can the Capitol generate mutant werewolves from dead Tributes but can't even heal Peeta's mauled leg? I call shenanigans! 
 + I did like the end because I love fucked-up love and I love the build-up to the reveal. 
 + The fucked-up love of Katniss and Peeta. I felt for the boy, and I just love the miscommunication, lies and misdirection that follows the two throughout their development. Normally, I would hate all the kissing and snuggling and general romance tropes, but the concept behind it gave it that edge of wrongness that made it quite unique. That and you just have to root for poor Peeta whose happiest moment of his life was probably being chosen for the Hunger Games because it at least gave him time with the girl he loved. Adorable. 
 + I like that everything does not end on a happy note but on a note of fear and uncertainty. It really makes you want to pick up the second book. 
 Overall, Collins' writing style, Peeta and the world are what make Hunger Games. I still think it's a great book, but I lament that its YA nature holds it back from really driving home its message. I will completely recommend it in any case.