This post first published May 15, 2011.
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: August 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Series: The Hunger Games #3
390 pages (hardcover)
As the final book of the series, I don’t think Mockingjay does The Hunger Games
justice. I think this book bombed. If you are planning to read this
series, I’d suggest stopping after book two, but with that cliffhanger, I
suppose you’d feel compelled to read book three anyway. I wanted to
like this book, I tried to like this book, but I found it hard to
pretend. And I’m going to apologize ahead of time that half of this post
contains spoilers (which are marked).
In Catching Fire, we were left off with the most
aggravating-in-a-good-way cliffhanger: “There is no District 12.” In
this book, we find out District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol
after Katniss escaped from the Hunger Games arena, and less than 10% of
District 12’s population has fled to the once thought to be non-existing
District 13, who takes them in. Katniss and Peeta somehow get flung
into opposite ends of the war: Katniss is wanted by the rebels to become
their Mockingjay — the face of the rebellion, their symbol of hope.
Peeta has been captured by the Capitol and is being used as the
spokesperson for their own cause — a call for a ceasefire.
I’ll try not to be a negative Nancy by talking about the few things I
did like first. Though I didn’t really have any characters I
particularly liked or cared about in the first two books, I did in this
one: Finnick! A secondary character, I know, but his background story is
expanded in this novel and … I don’t know. I think I liked him because
he’s the only one who doesn’t seem so bland. I also liked the
concept of President Snow’s character. The whole blood and roses thing
was pretty awesome, and really gave me an idea of what kind of villain
we are dealing with. Seriously, two thumbs up for a great villain
concept.
I can’t really think of anything more I liked … As for what I didn’t
like … Well, I will start off with the general plot of the story. I
didn’t find it engaging or interesting because so many of the things
that should be engaging and interesting happen off camera or were seriously downplayed. (Contains Spoilers!)
Example 1 – When Gale & Co. go rescue Peeta from the Capitol,
Katniss just stays behind in District 13. Next page, bam! Hey Peeta’s
back! I don’t know about you, but getting Peeta back seems important
enough to me to happen on stage. Example 2 – Finnick’s death was brushed
off like it was nothing. I know, he’s a secondary character, but surely
his relationship with Katniss warranted more than just a, “Oh no!
Finnick died! … Moving on now …” Example 3 – Pretty much the entire
ending of the war happened off-screen. President Snow’s capture? Off
screen. Katniss’ trial after she killed Coin? Off screen. I felt
seriously robbed. These feel like HUGE moments, but instead all I got
was Katniss locked up somewhere, and a few pages of reading about
Katniss contemplating suicide later, a messenger arrives with, “Oh hey,
uh, we decided you’re free in a trial that you didn’t even have to
attend.” I mean, really?
Oh, and I must mention how I feel the message of the series got
totally destroyed by the ending. This is what I thought the take-home
message was: killing destroys people, it ruins them. It doesn’t fix
anything, and you can’t rule through fear. Yet at the end, when Coin
proposes a final Hunger Games for the children of Capitol citizens,
Katniss agrees. Seriously?! I felt like that went against
everything the books were telling me … evidently, I’ve been
misinterpreting the entire series the entire time. It’s all good as long
as it’s for justice?
Lastly, the love triangle thing was NOT resolved, in my opinion.
Katniss ends up with Peeta … because Gale gets a job working in District
2 and doesn’t see her anymore. Really? Katniss ends up with Peeta
because he’s the one who is physically closest to her? And Gale doesn’t
even attempt to do anything about reaching out to Katniss, he just gives
up? So much for being sooo in love with her. This all happens
in one sentence: “Peeta and I grow back together.” Small paragraph
explaining why Peeta and not Gale. The end. The love triangle thing has
never felt like it fit in this series, but I mean, since it’s in the
story now, I expected a better resolution. (End Spoilers)
My final thoughts are that Mockingjay is a letdown, and a
disappointing end to a good series. For a book about life and death,
friendship, trust and vengeance, it was utterly void of emotions due to
the monotonous voice Collins employs to write her novels, and lack of
inclusion of what I believe to be key scenes. I feel that Collins had a
strong idea for The Hunger Games, but no strong direction as to what should occur in the series’ subsequent novels, and it really shows in Mockingjay. This was a frustrating read for me, I’m sad to say.
I considered giving just one star, but you know what? I still think
overall, the series is good, and Mockingjay had its small, rare moments.
My Rating: 1.5/5
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