That self-awareness is probably, on some level, why anyone likes the books, but it's many levels down from the various action points you mention and I don't know that most readers are sufficiently self aware to dig there. Bella in Twilight is certainly brooding--she spins her wheels over internal monologue about her situation constantly--but while I don't even know that I'd call Katniss introspective, really (she's more a person of action), she's a hell of a lot more self-aware. I think that that self-awareness, modeled through Katniss, is a good example for young people reading the book. Ugh. I still felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach, too, when she first talked to Peeta after he got hijacked.

It sounds like you approved of the ending? I did. I've heard some frustration from a few people about it, but I don't know a better way it could possibly have come together.
 

Yes I approved of the ending. I thought it was great. It wasn't arbitrary, it wasn't tragic (i.e., Shakespearian "everyone dies") - it was just good.