Mockingjay

IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK AND HAVEN'T READ IT YET

STOP READING NOW!

This is my review of Mockingjay, the final book in the popular HUNGER GAMES series.

I liked this book, but it wasn't my favorite ever and this is why:

My biggest complaint is the lack of development and growth Katniss experiences. She doesn’t seem to have grown at all from the first book to the third. I guess I just expected her to be like Luke Skywalker going from naive farm boy to master Jedi, leader of the rebel cause. But Katniss just never seems to be able to figure herself out and decide who she is. She should have been able to see the rebellion was more important than her own selfish quest for revenge. She should have been able to feel more compassion for Peeta when he got all messed up in the Capitol. She should have been able to see it wasn’t Gale’s fault Prim died in the bombing. What upset me the most in the end was that she voted FOR the Hunger Games and then said it was for Prim. Prim never would have wanted that. It was pure selfishness on Katniss’ part.

However I am really glad she shot Coin in the end . Katniss was right, she was just as bad as Snow. Which brings me to my next complaint. District 13. At the end of Catching Fire when I found out there really was a district 13 I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I imagined District 13 to be a bustling nest of zealous, passionate rebel activity. But no, District 13 was the worst possible rebel base ever. There were so calculated and reserved. Even Betee had more zeal than the citizens of District 13. I can see why they needed Katniss so badly to be the mockingjay. A rock could have been more inspiring than ANYONE in District 13. Then on top of that they let all the other Districts do all the work. I wish more of the story would have taken place in District 11. In Catching Fire when the Victory district 11 and the old man whistles rues tune and the rest of the crowd gestures to Katniss, it gave me goosbumps. District 11 seemed to capture the fire of the rebellion.

Now I have to give my two cents about Collin’s love triangle. I hate love triangles and have to say I couldn’t have cared less about who she ended up with (even though I felt we got to know Peeta better so I liked him a little more). I feel though, that she should have been happier than she was about who she ended up with. I felt like whether is was Gale or Peeta, either one of them at least deserved her happiness about being with them.

While I do have quite a list of complaints I actually thought it was a pretty good book. I like Colllin’s style of writing. She kept me on the edge of my seat and did not disappoint when it came to unpredictable twists and turns.

I also really liked the cast of characters. Cinna was my absolute favorite, his character was perfect. Haymitch and Peeta tie for second. Peeta was my favorite in the first and second, he showed the most promise of human nature, but I hated that he never completely recovered from torture. On the other hand I didn’t like Haymitch in the first book but he came such a long way and was almost noble in the third book, I love to see characters develop like that. I loved Fnick and Gale too, I wish they both would have had bigger parts in the books, they had so much potential to be great leaders. I am glad that Finick got his happy ending before he died though. And then there is Prim, to me she was really the symbol of the rebellion, she embodied everything good and pure, she had all the characteristics I wish Katniss could have found by the end of the book. I guess I can just hope Katniss will honor her sisters memory and aspire to obtain those qualities later in her life.

Not my favorite book ever, but I did like it a lot and would definitely recommend reading the whole series! The second book is definitely the best.