Chapters 7-9

Chapter 7 - they land in District 8 and Katniss visits the Hospital; the attack on District 8; Katniss disobeys orders and goes to fight and Gale comes with her; Katniss has words for the president

Chapter 8 - return to 13; Katniss finds out that one of her cameramen is an Avox; the first Mockingjay propo (I like how they used a line from her Hunger games...way to turn it around!); her 'crew' lie about sending her into battle; Haymitch threatens Katniss to keep her earpiece in. Finnick and Kat watch her propo...which was followed by Peeta; and no one mentions Peeta.

Chapter 9 - return to 12; Mockingjay in the woods; Gale and Katniss in the victors house (I found that exchange to be manipulative); The war of the Propos and Peetas next statement.

I want to write more...but I am so tired that my eyelids are closing. So perhaps a quick list:
I don't know who to believe any more
I wish I knew was Peeta's motives were
Part of me wonders how well Katniss really knows Gale... She didn't pay much attention to his woods ramblings. I feel like every chapter there is something that surprises Katniss about him. Like the only thing that she really and truest knows with him is his hunting skill. They may move as one (like on the 39th level) ... But Katniss misses out on a lot.

*EDIT* Ok, so I re-read chapter nine. And pretty much what I've already said above covers what I think is really important in this three-chapter section. Who do we believe?? Peeta, D13, Capitol. Clearly not Capitol since we already know that they are liars and self-interested.

D13 I thought we could trust. I mean, they are militaristic to the extreme. Their punishment of Kat's prep team did not fit out standards of their crime (but again- waste and stealing are major crimes in D13 where everything is so closely guarded and regulated). But Peeta has a point. Everyone vying for power has their own best interests in mind. They aren't going to share information unless they have to. They are going to manipulate and use whatever they have at their disposal to get what they want.

Peeta kind of frightens me. I wonder what they've done to him. How they've tortured him. How they've manipulated him. He may be a strong person, but I don't think that anyone is that strong. And he can only be what, 18? That is an extremely impressionable age. So much of who you are as an adult is determined in adolescent and early adulthood years.

And Gale...this love triangle keeps getting more and more complicated. When Gale says that bit about transferring their hunting skills to using weapons against the Capitol.... Katniss always thought that he was just talking against the Capitol so long ago in the woods. I feel like Gale has continually surprised her with his outright rebellion. And I feel like it was so manipulative-that moment in Kat's Victor house kitchen. The quote about "Because I'm in pain. That's the only way I get your attention."...so my thought is-is that his real emotion. Knowing that he can never have Katniss the way he wants her (which I assume is still as best friend/love/wife at some point). Is he telling the truth? Can he be honest-to-goodness hurt and at the same time be manipulating her feelings?

What can I say: I hate being manipulated. Just like I can identify with Katniss when she says the bit about "I'm sick of being lied to for my own good. Because really it's mostly for their own good" (p 115). I detest being lied to. And especially, just like Kat, the "for your own good" lies. Just tell me the truth. Back in my freshman year of college, my dad had to have emergency neck surgery. One of my brothers didn't want my parents to call and tell me. Because they didn't want me to worry or something. No-don't do that. Don't baby me. Don't keep me out of the loop. Tell me so that I can make my own opinions, judgments, and learn and grow because of it.