Author Review - Gale vs. Peeta

Heidi R Kling, Sea, is here to tackle a much-heated debate : Team Gale or Team Peeta? (*cough* I think you know which one I'm on. But, really, if you can make more of an impact in a couple pages than Peeta does in two books, you've got somethin' goin' on!) So, without any more disturbances from me, here is Heidi:

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I just finished the book Hunger Games. I know. It's almost 2010 and I'm about the last avid YA reader to complete that task. I've been afraid to read it because of the content. Kids killing other kids on National TV in the not-so-distant future? Makes my stomach churn just thinking about it. But I'm so glad I took the plunge. Suzanne Collins has crafted about as perfect a novel as you can get. And when a bestseller is also well-written and complex AND thoughtful? It has my vote. But I digress. The topic here is Peeta VS. Gale. Which one do I prefer and/or which boy is better for Katniss--our complicated hero of the Games. My fellow Twitterers seem to be VERY opinionated about this topic. Visions of a certain sparkly vampire and hairy nemesis bounce in my head--but this contest seems different.

More emotional some how.

Bella doesn't love Edward because they've partnered up in a ridiculous and violent battle together, it's more like a school-girl crush. (Sorry, Twilighters, in the beginning it is!) Katniss grows to love Peeta because they are partners in a vicious game. Because they have to trust each other. Because the 'other' is all they have.

Peeta is brave, incredibly loyal, sweet and smart. Katniss, in my opinion, is so hard on him because she believes he hasn't suffered back home the way she has. The way Gale may have. But he proves himself to her time and time again and I believe the feelings she has for him are as real as their experience in the arena. And just as scary--because she has spent years trying to cut herself off emotionally from anyone other than her little sister because of the pain involved in feeling. In loving. In trusting since her father died and her mother drifted off into her own world. Which is why, I believe, she never advanced her relationship with Gale past friendship. Hanging on to Gale as her 'ideal' of because he is safe. Because, like Katniss, he isn't able to express his feelings. Whereas Peeta knows exactly who he is. And owns it.

I think you are getting my message loud and clear. At the end of Hunger Games, this girl is 100% Team Peeta.

And the scene with the berries was beautiful and heartbreaking and I LOVED it.

Now, if Suzanne Collins would have had Gale pick Katniss up at the train station? If he had been leaning against the wall let's say. With a bow slung from his hip and a teary-proud grin on his face? And pulled her into a sexy, cowboy-hunter hug? And kissed her? And Peeta looked on longingly and did nothing? Then this blog post may have had a slightly altered ending. But that's not what the author chose. And that's not a choice I would have made either. Collins chose Peeta, as did Katniss, as do I.

Verdict: TEAM PEETA.
Now, onto Catching Fire! Do you think I will be swayed? No spoilers. :)

See below for other author/blogger opinions on the subject!
Thanks for reading.

----by Heidi R. Kling
http://heidirkling.com

Rachel Simon:
I usually fall for the bad boys. Jace from Cassandra Clare's book series, Macon from one of Sarah Dessen's novels, give me those boys over the nice ones ANY DAY. But for some reason, Peeta Mellark won my heart.

I think it was because it was soon after I had broken a boy's heart. And this boy easily could've been Peeta minus that his father was a writer, not a baker. But this boy was kind and tall and awkward-handsome looking--someone I tried fighting my feelings for. He liked the same books I did and played piano and was smart, all qualities I liked (especially the piano thing- I'm not musical at all!). He, in my eyes, was Peeta.

Because I had said no to this boy, I hoped Katniss wouldn't make the same mistake. Peeta was kind and perhaps not rugged handsome like Gale. Perhaps, he wasn't good at hunting like Gale. But everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Peeta is the boy that is quiet, but always listening -- listening, listening, listening to the plans and ideas of others. He was patient with Katniss. He accepted that Katniss might not love him outside of their acting, and he knew that although that was heartbreaking, he could and possibly would get over it.

To me, Peeta is appealing because he is a quiet pillar of strength. Yes, he may not be Gale. But in all honesty, how much do we know about Gale? How much do we know about Peeta? Well, I'd say because Peeta's had more page time, we know a bit more about him. But I do not discount Gale. With Collins' series, you never know what will happen next and that does not just include the Games...

Adele Walsh:
I have been Team Gale from the moment we meet him in The Hunger Games and that seems pretty fitting. He's such a definite character, very black and white, very exact. He needed to be as his appearances in the novels have been very brief so he needed to make a solid impression. There was no doubt that he would look after his family when his father died, no doubt that he would look after Katniss' family in her absence, no doubt that there was any other girl for him but her. I love conviction in a guy and Gale has it in spades. He's also brave, cunning, loyal, roguish and a protector. He's also tall, dark and handsome. Despite all his strengths, he accepts and loves Katniss for who she is. He's all in. There's a passion within Gale that's fiery and all encompassing that's very enthralling. Yet for all that he's the unknown compared to the page heavy Peeta. And yet this works for him too. He's mysterious, he's unpredictable and Katniss can't shake him. They have four years of history with one another day to day compared to Peeta time in the games. In conclusion, I will quote Sandra Bullock's character in the movie Speed - "...relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last." Preaching to the choir, sister!

Martha Flynn:
Okay, I'm team Peeta.

Yeah, yeah, I know he's a "pansy assed baker" (my friend's words) but he stepped up to the plate. Gale had his shot. He brooded around for god knows how long with his bow and arrow, the two of them like moody peas in the pod whining about how they can't have a life together because life's too short (thank you opposite-logic day) and it's only after he gets the jealousies that he can step up and make a move? I say BOO TO YOU GALE! (And mama loves you, you're just not for Katniss.)

RJ Anderson:
Peeta is a baker. Gale is a hunter. Peeta makes fancy cupcakes with flowers on them. Gale brings home meat for his starving family. Gale was gaming the system long before Peeta and Katniss got dragged into the Hunger Games -- not because he was forced to to save his own life but in order to provide for the needs of others. What was Peeta doing? Baking bread. For sale.

Peeta is a charming sweet guy who is crazy about Katniss, and I have nothing against him at all, I like him very much. But he's also, by and large, a pushover. Whereas Gale is a man, who has a long history of being friends and partners with Katniss in an equal way, not afraid to challenge her when she's wrong. She respects him.

Peeta is a boy. Gale is a man. And men trump boys every time.

Also I have a thing about long-time friends who realize they love each other. I think friendship of that sort is a very good strong foundation for a lasting romance. Whereas Peeta and Katniss were thrown together by adversity and it's very hard to know if the feelings that they have for each other in that desperate situation are going to endure when things change.

I want to see good things happen to Peeta, because he's a lovely boy. But I don't think Katniss is necessarily a good thing for him, however much he may want her. Nor do I see him having the attributes that would make her a good life partner, however much she may like him and not want to hurt him.

And "gormless" is a British term I've heard many times before, but to call Gale gormless would be a flat out contradiction of everything we've been told about him in the book. He may have any number of other flaws, but wimpy? I don't think so!
(This is in response to someone on twitter referring to Gale as "gormless"

Alyson Beecher:
Part of me feels that it the games had never happened she would have been with Gale and that when she returned I think she would have gotten back with him. In some ways I think they are a good match. I do think Peeta and her compliment each other and cuz of their experiences they share something. But I think more of the feeling is coming from Peeta and she feels more a sense of obligation. Not good to build a relationship on. So basically I am still cheering on Gale and maybe the third book will change my mind. Sometimes I think there won't be any Happy ending and shouldn't be and that she will lose them both.

YA Bliss:
Oh come on! Who would be Team Gale we don’t even know the guy! He wasn’t smart enough to make a move before the games. He just said goodbye and I’ll take care of you family and that’s it!

So when she comes back with someone else its painful for him!? WHATEVER!

Peeta gave her bread and got his butt kicked because of it when they were kids. He didn’t even know her well enough yet and he was already making sacrifices on her behalf. Don’t get me wrong I do think he’s obviously TOO GOOD sometimes and I’m more of a bad-boy fan. But who can resist such love? Plus, Katniss has only gotten “that feeling” with Peeta! Must suck being Team Gale knowing he obviously wont get picked!

Carla "loves sam":
Okay, so Team Gale is the only way to be. For one "Peeta" is just spelt all funny, and two, theres nothing worse than unrequited love, if Katniss didnt like him straightaway then just no. He may be blond baker, but that jut doesn't kick it for me.

Whereas Gale has been there from the beginning, he luvvvs Katniss already as she does him. Theres no point denying that they wont end up together, and if they dont I will seriously go ninja on Suzanne's editor for letting it be any other way. Peeta is just a giant snoozefest, come on!