Partners in Crime and Conflicted (Cato/Clove)

... I'm ba-ack! With some new undiscovered gems, of course. This week we have two amazing stories by ExplorativeComet:

Title: Partners in Crime

Summary: Cato and Clove; our famous Careers from District 2. They are ruthless, confident, and so don't get along. But this time around, they're sort of in love. And that might just change the outcome of the 74th Hunger Games.

and

Title: Conflicted

Summary: Find out how Cato feels after the Tracker Jacker attack. Tie-in to my story, "Partners in Crime". Cato's POV of Ache Chapter 3 .

My Recommendation:

Partners in Crime gives us another side to these two characters, and the relationship between them. If I had to pick a word, I'd say "balanced". It shows us the side of them that we love (to hate?): the violent, cold, and bloodthirsty Careers that we meet in the cannon. But we also get to know what's beneath all of that, the doubts, fears, and flaws. This excerpt (from the second chapter, Clove's point-of-view), captures this especially well:

I don't feel as elated as the others do. I can feel their excitement in the air at the sight of the kid's pain. In the Hunger Games, most murderers are made, not born. That's why you get so many victors from Districts 1, 2, and 4; those are the districts that encourage training the most, particularly 2.

Sure, I've been taught to enjoy slaughter. And I do.

But this sadistic twisting-the-blade, torturing, slow death thing? I really don't care for it. Murder the girl and be done with it. Celebrate the death, not the torture.

Cato's much more sadistic than I'll ever be, but I've always believed it's because his family forced it upon him. Look at how early he had that spear; how rude and careless he had been. His family was one of those District 2 families that raised a child solely for the purpose of the Hunger Games.

It captures the pairing well, with realistic romance and an ending you won't want to miss.

Conflicted is the companion to this story. While the original is well-written in Clove's perspective, it always leaves the readers wondering what Cato's been up to in his mind. Hence where Conflicted comes in, giving us a taste of what's going through his head during one chapter (the third) of Partners in Crime. An interesting change in perspective for the obsessed reader; it's distinctly different in the point-of-view, even when telling the same scene.

Both are must-reads--great stories that do the tale justice.

That's all for now!