Actually as good as everyone said.Things I like:
1) PACING. Narrative drive, this has it.
2) Protective older sibling
3) I hear the romance gets tedious later on, but I liked the way it was played in this one.
4) Critique of media culture but also pretty design of flame dresses.
Things I am kind of iffy on:
Interesting making Katniss from Appalachia, US area with enduring rural white poverty. ( Nothing about the details sounded particularly Appalachian, but then I only know the area from Daniel Woodrell and Marly Youmans, so maybe I just didn't get it.
Things I dislike:
1) Cops out on the big conflict in the setup. Katniss never does have to kill or be killed in a way that bears out the consequences of the premise -- she kills people who are trying to kill her via the swarm of wasps and then when she has to kill a human more directly, he's in such pain it's effectively euthanasia.
2) Sacrificial black girl (although I liked that she was a stand-in for Katniss's sister).
3) Silent-then-inarticulate, physically fearsome but noble savage black guy
4) The zombie animal monster things made out of dead contestants at the end were just way over the top. Seriously, no.