Back to Twelve

by igsygrace

This is a "growing back together" Peeta/Katniss, largely-canon compliant fic. The characters are the property of the wonderful Suzanne Collins.

Genres: Fan Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, M F Romance

340 pages, ebook

Published March 22, 2023

Reviews

[Eeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

now why was i tearing up at the end. this was actually so perfect in showing life after mockingjay. seeing peeta and katniss warm up to each other and spend years warming up to the idea of children was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. i also love that there was focus on the rebuilding of panem and the complications that arose there

this is canon idc

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be canon, I think the author is secretly Suzanne Collins because it is so wonderfully written and expands on the lore which I have decided is legit.

It made me realise something I have never thought off too with Haymitch, that he succeeded more than any other mentor and how much peace Peeta must being him knowing how far he came, to have kids and find peace. I don’t know that section really hit me because he’s so sad and alone but he has those two, and they have them and they’re a weird little family.

If I thought she was good writing from Peeta’s POV it had nothing on Katniss’s, it felt very authentic and was just WOW

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was by far my least favorite of the four books. While it was interesting to see how the author envisioned Katniss and Peeta’s return to District 12 and how their relationship evolved between the end of the series and the epilogue, I don’t care much for some of the choices she made.
The part of the story about the rebuilding of the district and Panem in general was good, although the politics side of things, while necessary, was at times a bit too much and at the end completely lost me with the drama of the nuclear accident and the nonsense about the resolution Katniss and Peeta came with about the nuclear weapons of District 2.
I appreciated most of the relationship development between Katniss and Peeta, but I wasn’t 100% convinced about the author’s take on the having kids arguments (or not arguments, as it went). There wasn’t anything out of canon, not that hard since the canon can be recapped in literally a few sentences, it just didn’t ring particularly true to the characters.
Which is the main problem I have about the aspects of the story that didn’t work for me: the way they, especially Katniss, kept a relationship (if you can call it that) with Gale, I don’t believe that that would’ve happened, unless they addressed the main issue why Katniss and Gale weren’t keeping in touch by the end of Mockingjay and that didn’t happen here. Not that I believe it would ever happen, so the logical conclusion would be to never have Gale in Katniss’s life again. They don’t strike me as the kind of people who would feel motivated to keep a casual-acquaintance kind of relationship, especially after everything that happened. Also, the drama regarding Gale’s death was just a touch too much for me and completely unnecessary.
Another thing that really bothered me was the fate the author chose for Johanna’s character. She had no part at all in this book (and in Katniss and Peeta’s life), except for a couple of mentions of her being a morphling addict and dying of it at some undetermined time between the end of Mockingjay and 15 years later. Uh…no, not buying it at all. Johanna wasn’t an addict by the end of Mockingjay, the only reason she wasn’t sent to the battlefield was because she had an episode triggered by water used during training. There’s no reason to believe she wouldn’t have overcome her trauma by herself or with therapy after the end of the war and I don’t see a reason why her life should’ve fallen completely apart then, when it hadn’t done so before. That “storyline” felt completely out of character to me.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting, but I didn't like it as much as I liked Peeta's retelling. Katniss voice was good, and I was only slightly exasperated by her, not like in the original trilogy, but while this is a good what could have been, some of the developments didn't feel exactly right. That said, I liked how the author showed us that after a small time of quiet and peace, people tends to forget and can make the same mistakes all over again, like electing an autoritaritative lider who could become a dictator easily after having first hand experience with one. That was very real and disturbing. Or showing how manipulated feelings, how the fear to the difference, can cloud people's minds and bear tragic consecuences.

[maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely fucking fantastic!! loved every single second of this book and was so excited for the next chapter every week. this made all my dreams come true and is fully canon in my mind. i love my girl on fire and the boy with bread <33

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of interesting ideas here. I like how the author envisioned how 12 would rebuild after the war, the steps they needed to take to clean up the rubble, bring people back in, and plan out how they want to organize their town. Peeta being part of all that process made sense, as well as Katniss wanting to stay clear of it all. Seeing glimpses of how the fallout of the war impacted other districts and how that rippled out to the other districts was well thought out and fascinating.

But a lot of other things didn't make much sense, for instance Katniss getting her tubes tied instead of a less invasive method for preventing pregnancy, which they surely must have in this world if even we have that, and then Peeta not even offering to go with her, was strange. I really didn't see her talking to Gale ever again, much less attending his wedding and meeting his kids, though I could have seen Peeta talking to him as a matter of diplomacy, given his role on the district council (if the author just really needed to have Gale in this, which I don't feel was necessary). And the way the author imagined the world finally reaching a place where Katniss felt safe enough to have kids - District 13 accidentally nuking themselves out of existence, and District 2 forcing their nukes on District 12 so Peeta and Katniss could steal and hide them - was a bit ludicrous. The characters just felt out of character too many times to count, and in the end, I didn't feel this story really justified itself. I preferred the somewhat extended epilogue we got at the end of Mutt over this extremely extended version.

[Precious ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one felt pretty heavy for being an extended epilogue. This series really brought me back to THG home that I felt when I read it over 10 years ago. I wasn't sure I would be able to connect with it the way I did back then, but I am happy that I did.

“I close my eyes, and my lips part with an escaping sigh."Katniss," he whispers against my mouth.And I know now that this was inevitable. And that I've been waiting for it since the morning he came home to me.”

The series had a lot of internal dialogue and was character-driven, but I thought it was well done even if it wasn't perfect. I don't know if I will ever read another Hunger Games fic this one was such a surprise (bittersweet) treat.

[Sydney Ramicone · Rating 5 out of 5]

(i read this awhile ago but i’m just now finding it on goodreads oopsies)

this is the final book in the Peeta’s Games series. it’s written from Katniss’s POV and is a story about what happens after Mockingjay. i think the author absolutely nailed it and wrote Katniss’s inner monologue so well. reading this story made me feel so warm and happy inside. it was so beautiful to see Peeta and Katniss slowly growing back together and forming a relationship stripped from the influence of the Games. i adored seeing them fall in love all over again. this story also contained a lot of political elements about post-war Panem, which was interesting to read as well.

this story could not be more perfect and the author included all of the elements that the end of Mockingjay/the epilogue alluded to (the memory book, Katniss being slow to convince to have children, even Haymitch’s geese) and i could not have enjoyed it more! to me, this is canon!!!

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

came for the lake scene, stayed for peeta & katniss being communist icons

[Inés · Rating 5 out of 5]

igsygrace you have no idea but you've given me everything i've ever wanted, this is beautiful, simply beautiful

[˚☽˚｡ laura ⋒ · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect, no notes. rtc

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guys listen I know it’s fanfiction but I’m really trying to hit my 50 books this year okay

[Nicole Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

these 4 “books” were way better than they had any right to be.

[APD · Rating 5 out of 5]

The post mockingjay sequel Peeta and Katniss deserved ����🖤

[Belle]

when fanfic…. reads like fanfic 💔💔

it’s ok though bc she wrote this one years before peetas games so you can see she has improved <3

[Kristina Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going into this story I had no clue what to expect! But there were so many moment that I just read and immediately accepted as a head canon. I felt like the building of the new Panem was quite brilliant, it felt very realistic! Of course after a civil war, there is going to major rebuilding that would happening. Obviously a country isn’t going to just immediately fall into a perfectly peaceful existence. So seeing the different tensions and situations arising felt so interesting and made the whole story feel alive!

Plus the way we get to see in full the healing that occurred between Katniss and Peeta was perfect. It was very real.

Definitely sad this and Peeta’s Games trilogy has been finished. Gonna miss having more Hunger Games content to read!

***Edit 11/12/23

I am back, I just have to say… of all the hunger games fan fictions I have read this is the one I just can’t get my mind to stop thinking about! It has left me wanting more, and left me lingering on the the sweet moments. I am compelled, I need to re-rate this as a 5 stars for the way the story has just not left my mind since I finished the book nearly a month ago!

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly, thankyou to the author, not just for this book but for the whole Peeta's games series. Being transported into childhood nostalgia, whilst these books having a slight matured outlook onto the world of the hunger games, has given me so much joy, I'm generally so sad that I've finished them.

This book was through Katniss's POV, & it scratched an itch I always get after big fantasy/dystopian/action books. After the big fight, after the characters go home...what happens then? Reading about these characters dealing with the loss of their friends, family's, their district, finding their feelings for each other & for themselves, how Katniss & Peeta grow back together, Katniss fully giving into him, I honestly had so much enjoyment.

Also, this book (the whole series) gave another level of depth to these characters. Haymitch & his relationship with Delly, Peeta's complicated relationship with his mother, Katniss troubles with her body & having kids....honestly free therapy. Literally, helped me come to terms with some things of my own.

Anyways, I'm waffling. Going to go listen to the hunger games soundtrack & be in my feels.


(i literally can't stop thinking about these books, I haven't felt like this in so long OMG)

[Brie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its so well written, I feel like it needs way more recognition. It's so much more than just Peeta and Katniss growing back together and honestly, in my heart, its canon. Even if that includes the bit about Delly and Haymitch 🫠

[Kimberly (spacetoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like canon and I loved how much time we spent in other districts and figured out what would have happened in the new Panem with a power vacuum and strong personalities.

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished it, y'all. And it was good. I expected... I don't want to say more, because that's not the right word, but something different, I guess. Something more dramatic? Y-A-ish? But this story was grown up; from the way Peeta and Katniss handled their emotions, their relationship, and the political fallout and rebuilding of their world, to the way they catered to themselves and others. The characters were level headed and mature without not feeling like themselves. Their trauma and love grew with them; shaped them. Some pieces of the story were dull, but never boring. I didn't really care about the fight for political power that Katniss and Peeta seemed to be thrust into without ever really wanting, but it was a large part of the story. As was the whole baby-thing. I appreciate that Igsygrace made it a whole-ass plot point, because I did not appreciate or like the way Suzanne Collins just threw it into the end of her story with a "and Peeta wanted them so badly." I could not care less what Peeta wants in this regard. What did KATNISS want?--as it was her body. The fact that Collins framed it as a gift to Peeta, or Katniss giving in to the puppy eyes, or being broken down did not sit well with me. I would have been perfectly happy to have seen Katniss live out her 100 years without ever having had a baby. That is her choice alone to make.

I didn't like that Igsygrace tried (and failed, IMO) to create some kind of relationship with Gale and his random family; Gale is dead to me. When I read the original I felt he was dead to Katniss as well. Some things cannot be forgiven, some things time cannot repair. Gale was collateral damage that I was not sad to see go, so I was annoyed that she dragged him out for so long in this story.

But all-in-all, it was a fine ending to a great retelling. 3.5/5

[atiś · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god.
I loved it soooooo muuuch.
First of all, just enough of walking around the topic of spice as I like, not vulgar, but made me feel all kinds of ways.
Second of all, I loved the things they learned about pre-Panem and how the author showed how people slowly started building and rising up from ashes of the war. It was thrilling and times, and what happened to 13? And how the whole nuclear weapons thing solved our? Oh god, amazing.
And thirdly, I loved their characters, I think it was an amazing portrayal of Peeta and Katniss, very true to the original. I was kicking my feet with the last pages, and the only thing I regret is not seeing how the Haymitch was the best grandpa to their kids. Just saying, but really, wouldn’t he?

5/5 ⭐️

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good but I didn't like it as much as the others.  Obviously it was harder to write this one because it was original.  I didn't expect so much of it to be about Katniss deciding whether or not to have children like I think it went a bit hard on that, there are no games anymore.  I liked the discovery of looking at areas outside of the districts and looking at the nuclear question.  Interesting about post games life and overall enjoyable

[Jess R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wowowowow, incredible writing! I’m convinced that igsygrace is actually Suzanne Collins herself. I was totally engrossed in the post-war politics, the trips to the lake, and the ever-changing relationships with our beloved characters. I’m obsessed, everything about this was so beautiful, and I wish it was a published book.

[Grace Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

this entire series has been so beautiful and heart wrenching and cathartic i cant even think of something quippy to say

[brooklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

there's no words

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was really good but for some reason it took me a really really long time to read like the last fourth

[Abby Rogish Bodin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am broken. I love them.

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un fanfic sobre la vida de Katniss y Peeta al volver al 12? I'm in.
Creo que en general ha representado bastante bien cómo sería su relación con el paso del tiempo y el desarrollo de Panem.

[sam rags]

I read Peeta's Games #1 and it's not on Goodreads but I'm still counting it via this book

[Lanie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

He’s so bread like and I love bread