I love love LOVE your sorta rambling, messy style of writing. It's super gorgeous.

Good story, Clara! I like your portrayal of Clove here, her behind a ruthless killer and all. I think it was spot on :) I also like how you reveal her emotions and thoughts into the story, and make it sound angst-y and a bit sad at the same time. I've always admired Clove and her personality ;) One thing that I have to say, though. In some of the paragraphs throughout the one-shot, some of them had run-on sentences, in which I didn't really favor. Although, if that's what you were going for in a sense of writing this, then that's totally cool :) Again, love it!
Love you lots,
Kay.

How sad! I think I seriously cried. (And I don't do that very much when I am reading!)

The first thing that I really REALLY liked was the summary. You used it as the last line as well, which it fit perfectly there! But the summary really pulled me to the story, you do a fantastic job writing them. I was going through your stories and my eyes just could not leave this story. Great job!

I also liked that one sentence that you put parentheses. The one about how daddy's little girl doesn't kill. That line was just so touching to me, and I'm pretty sure that's what made me cry!

I really liked how it seems like Clove is always being compared to Cato. You wrote so that she really did not want to be trained to kill innocent children. I love how that theme echoed through the story. Overall, this was a wonderful story!

Being a Clove fan, I had to pick this one to R&R cuz I love the way you write her.

[The first time that they meet, he nearly kills her during a sparring session. They're five.] - nice opening line, very attention grabbing. I like how the next couple paragraphs paint a very grim picture of Clove's home life being so bad that she sees her training sessions and possibility of becoming a Tribute (or even death) as an escape. I have to shudder at the description of her witnessing Brutus' murder of another would-be Tribute even as I recognize how well it is written. The gruesomeness and brutality of it is very true to this fandom.

Curious that you mention "summers in the Hamptons"...I would not think that anyone but Capitol citizens had access to such places or even time for such frivolous things, not even for those who live in a District like 2. But it is a unique way to show that Clove is all business.

Did her father murder her younger sister? If so, not surprised that Clove "hacked him to pieces". He deserved no less.

[They're like the Spartan soldiers, born to die.] - that's a good way to describe all the Tributes. Love this line.

The last part that takes place during the 74th Games is especially intriguing-Clove's disgust at the Katniss/Peeta implication mixes perfectly with her attempt at disguising jealousy over seeing Cato hit on Glimmer, and then fading into her last moments of desperation and wanting to live after Thresh attacks her, even tho she knows she will die.

The last line is very sad too, but wraps this one up perfectly. very well done.

Great opening sentence. Right away we know that they're not normal kids. Note that I am NOT fandom blind, but I often review FFN stories as if they were original works as I find it's more helpful. :)

That said, I'm not so canon savy that I know every little detail about The Hunger Games canon. Is the 3am to 11pm training schedule normal? I ask because by my count that would only leave these kids with four hours of sleep. According to webMD, children their age should ideally be having 10 to 12 hours of sleep a night. I understand why their training would be intense, but it seems to me that this would do more harm than good, as it could potentially stunt their growth and cause health problems (as well as concentration problems in the present, which would inhibit their training). This would ultimately result in a weaker tribute. Their training would no doubt be harsh, and as they approach their first reaping I can imagine they would start to learn how to deal with sleep deprivation, but at this age you would probably want them as healthy as possible so that they could put on weight and muscle.

I'm not sure why making friends is important to Clove. As there can be only one victor, she would have to kill the boy from her district. I can only see having friends being important if Clove wanted to get close to them, to learn their strengths and weaknesses, but at this age that seems unlikely (unless someone else groomed her to do this) and the narration doesn't seem to imply an ulterior motive.

How can one carve their name into another's neck with their teeth? I can't wrap my mind around the physics of this.

I like that you drive the point home about her gender. Feminism be damned; assuming they receive identical training and put in identical effort, a woman who is physically stronger than man will always be an outlier on the bell curve. It's a curse of biology. So it's not just that Clove is smaller, uglier, and less liked than the other tributes. She's a girl, she can never change that, and it will always put her at a disadvantage in the Games.

I also like the way Clove things about things. She's quite stoic. I like her philosophy that "everything ends," which seems appropriate for a young warrior.

"(But darling, don't you know that you're a monster?)" Who is speaking here? And who would call her a monster? This isn't District 12. In District 2, winning tributes - killers - are celebrities and heroes.

What was that whole business with Clove's father? Doesn't Katniss meet Clove's father in Catching Fire?

You say it's not about winning anymore, it's about surviving, but in the Hunger Games, winning IS surviving. Unless you mean surviving spiritually and/or emotionally? But that seems contradictory, since you already said she was dead inside.

This has the elements of a great one-shot but I think it needs to me more thought out. I liked the themes of control, free-will (getting what you want), and the difficulty of being a female in the Hunger Games. I think you should focus more on those and remove the murder of Clove's father entirely, as it doesn't seem to add anything and might even OOC (although I'm not sure, it's been a while since I read Catching Fire).

this was stunning, clara
i lovedloved clove and how on one hand she has all this deep guilt that she tries to suppress and on the other, she has to win because it's the only thing she /can/ do & you really made me feel for her
it was also perfect how she came from a broken family like that, as a backstory it's perfect for her and she seems so much more like a person
your language was beautiful, especially the commas and observations about how they're all under the capitol's control.
just a few nitpicks
it was a little confusing- the paragraph ends {they're five}, then in next line it says that of course, cato is two years older?
{and suddenly, amidst the splashes of blood upon the walls, and suddenly there's...} to many and suddenly's, it just sounds sounds awkward to me
{her mother's voices} should be her mother's voice (she's just one person)
and maybe there were a few more but for the most part the spag was okay
and the last line was perfection (But then again, she never gets what she wants, does she?)
nina x

Wow! This was really sad. I've never been a big Clove fan, but this breaks my heart a little. I did like getting bits and pieces of Clove's life and seeing her made more human like. Great work!

wow, clara. just, wow. i mean, this was just perfect and it's really nice seeing different kinds of clove. ew, glimmer and cato flirt? butts. D: this was just amazing and asdfghjkl this was just flawless and i loved how clove worked so hard to beat all these people. :D but then, i love the last line. [but then again, she never gets what she wants, does she?] - it's just perfect teehee. :D the cover creeps me out, though. D: anyway, this was just perfect and i loved the entire thing even though it wasn't particularly happy or anything like that - and clato is perfection. D: whyyyyyy cato you suck. um, um, um, um, i like so many lines but since i can't copy n paste anymore i shell not bother to put them in here.
/faving, of course! :)
xx jo

oh, you, please stahp breaking my heart with your beautiful writing. the title was perfect, and i think it's based off of a lana del rey song; i'll make sure to listen to it soon! it's so true, because clove was born to die, mostly all of the tributes in the hunger games are. they're just pawns in a game, used for entertainment in the capitol. it's just so en pointe, and so true. in the beginning, i felt really bad for clove, but then i really loved how she would try really hard when others were partying. she's so determined, y'know? the characterization of clove was just amazing in this fic, and i can't believe she would kill her father, but that's just who she is. she's always been one of my favorite characters in thg because of her sass and i guess even monsters have breaking points. she's just awesome, and your portrayal of her broke my heart, but it was still good, nonetheless.

this kind of writing style is perfect, even though there's no dialogue. more description is always better for fics like these, where you can really show her emotions and do a better job on clove's characterization. i love her internal struggles and it was just all beautifully written. the plot development is very nice, but i wish you'd transitioned better from killing her father to her days in the games; we basically have to infer that she went to the hunger games. choosing silvers for her last name is interesting, although i would've preferred if you'd left her last name blank, like it is in the book&movie. i guess we're all born to die in this world. no one lives forever, and that's what's sad, but it's true. the ending is so heartbreaking and left me stunned, unable to speak. i always have no words after i read your fics.

a few things; [her father stands above, menacing as ever, his shadow looming and he approaches her against in the wall.] it should be [her father stands above, menacing as ever, his shadow looming and he approaches her against the wall.] that was the only sp&g error i could find, though. my favorite line must've been this one; [The days of her life have been numbered, for a while now, and she hasn't lived a perfect life, but it was something.]

no, clara, remember that sad is always good, at least for me, and you. angst is perfect and your angst is the epitome of perfection. good luck in your competition! :) i'm definitely faving this, because it's perfection, just like you.

kiss-kiss, rachel

I haven't read hunger games fanfic in so long, or the books themselves, for that matter, but this has reminded me why I should. I absolutely loved it! The John Green quote at the start is definitely one of my favourites of his, too. This line was my favourite: [But darling, didn't you know you were a monster?] I love the repeated use of "darling" and the way in a context like this, it's turned into something more sinister than a term of endearment.
And this line, too: [she can't be human, because humans have weaknesses, humans have grief and emotions that overwhelm them]. Basically the whole thing was beautifully written and sad, but I love sad stuff. I will definitely make sure to read more of your work in the future!

I love your clique and I'm so happy you did a Clove you don't understand

Yes, you do write too many sad stories. Can't you be more happy in your writing? Lol. Jk. But seriously. Askgjfjd. Clara you're such an amazing writer I can't even begin to describe it. I especially loved the lines where it explained that she's this small girl who wouldn't be able to win the games and I think that's so true because someone so small couldn't possibly stand a chance. I also love how you described Cloves feelings when she had to kill her father. Too emotional I can't even...ugh. It's too amazing for words. Love it!

ok you're breaking my heart here in more than one way. :*( i swear, reading that dedication made me smile and cry at the same time and that's sad because i hate feeling opposite emotions at once since that's very sad and just [sniffles]. anyway, because i ramble on a lot, there will be little substance here but a lot of happiness because that's what you made me feel when i read this. :) all the john green quotes you use are perfect and make me feel nice, even though i've been planning and never getting to john green forever; anyway, i just. i can't. you can't. you can't expect me to read this and not cry and not feel. clara, what you have is sirius, SIRIUS talent. i swear, reading this, i was so afraid and so angry and sad [ and many other swirly ugly emotions ] about this ugly brutus person.
and...this really touches me because of the way i can relate to clove. i have similar problems with my own family sometimes [ and this has to be good, clara, like really good if i'm sharing anything about my life on the outside world here ] and this just...it reaches my heart. my core. but...it makes me feel like clove is a coward, a stupid, foolish coward, and maybe she's only surviving but no one should be cowardly enough to live with the guilt of murders in their eyes. not that she should commit suicide, but clove could've fought back and she didn't, and that made me feel super-annoyed with her but it made me feel anxious...what else can she do? they're turning her into a killing machine and it's going to be ugly and terrible...clara, when someone cares this much about your characters and your story you know you're going somewhere, going somewhere far and there's no end in the horizon, okay? you. are. amazing. your writing is beautiful and flawless and you will not believe how bad i want you to see and reply to this so i know you truly understand—you re perfect, this is perfect, and i just have no words anymore.
ohwait. i do. ahem. [...but darling, you never really were daddy's little girl.] and this line really just hits me hard. i can't read this anymore. that's it. that's how far i got, that's where i swear i had to stop. i can't—i can't read this anymore. that's how far i got and i'm sorry but i just can't take this emotional onslaught right now. maybe someday i'll come back and this'll send less chills down my spine and maybe someday it'll give me less hate and love for myself, but right now...it's too much. i can't.

, —z

I'm not usually a fan of Clove fics, but I'm a huge fan of this one.

I really love this take on Clove's backstory. It's original and was written really well. Also, I like how you made everything gradually more chaotic, I honestly felt my heart beating faster because of how everything was getting faster and more chaotic in my head.

Anyway, I love this a lot and wow the people who play review tag are such amazing writers, I can never think of anything less than praise to give them.

Keep Writing!

Sydney

Perfect as usual, Clara! Yes, you write a lot of sad stuff, but it's so well written that we don't even care. I love the part where you said that Clove wasn't human because she didn't have any emotions; she didn't feel any grief or regret for killing other people. I also love how you incorporated her final words from the original novel and explained why she called out for Cato. Flawless details, and I found no sp&g mistakes. Awesome job! I'm definitely favving this
xx cat