That was interesting, to say the least. I had no intention of reading the prequel when it first came out, but the movie trailer tempted me to reread the original trilogy and Coriolanus's story as well. Was young Corio essentially bad in this book? Not really, but he wasn't that likable either. To be honest, I think that if, by some miracle, he had avoided Dr. Gaul, there wouldn't be much of the story. As he predicted himself, he probably would have had a very boring desk job and plenty of time to attend tea parties. In other words, he would be just another unremarkable citizen of the Capitol and definitely not the President Snow we meet later.

A side note - I'm glad that the author didn't just write about Haymitch's or Finnick's year of the Games, as both were more or less covered in both Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I don't know what more there is to be said.