Put simply, the first half of this book is a comparative drag, with only Snow's (very brief) drop-in on Katniss' house having much real tension. Yes, laying groundwork blah blah blah, but it didn't really do much for me in the moment. Once we get into the bloody chaos (and secret plans...) of Katniss' second Hunger Games the book definitely revs back up though. Worth reading, but too much of it is just a bridge to later material for me to give it a full 5 stars.