Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.

If there's a more helpless feeling than trying to reach someone you love who's trapped underground, I don't know it.

I thought he wanted it, anyway," I say. "Not like this," Haymitch says. "He wanted it to be real.

Just because people starve in a book, doesn't mean that we will starve in the future.

I shift on to my side and find myself looking directly into Gale's eyes. For an instant the world recedes and there is just his flushed face, his pulse visible at his temple, his lips slightly parted as he tries to catch his breath.

You know, you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.

Instead of satisfying me, the kisses have the opposite effect, of make my need greater. I thought I was something of an expert on hunger, but this is an entirely new kind.