Mockingjay!

I was SO EXCITED to get my hands on this book!  My husband brought it home for me bright and early (2:30) yesterday morning, and all I wanted to do was spend the day devouring it.  Unfortunately, life got in the way and I wasn't able to really delve into the story until yesterday evening.  I was sucked in, of course, because I love the characters and couldn't wait to find out what would happen to them.  I stayed up until 1:15 this morning to finish the book.  And...just as with Breaking Dawn, I was left with a feeling of disappointment.  Mockingjay was definitely not the conclusion I had hoped for.  Maybe my expectations were too high.  It's just that The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were both so amazing that I just knew Mockingjay had to be, too.  Only it wasn't.  At least not in my opinion.

Yes, the story was good and very well-written.  I understand that war is not a pretty thing, and Suzanne Collins did a great job describing just how horrific war is.  But I didn't feel that connection with any of the characters that I had in the first two books.  They seemed so different.  I wasn't as emotionally involved as I had previously been.

SPOILERS to follow, so read at your own risk!!  (Highlight to read.)


I actually ended up liking Gale so much more in this book.  I could see why some fans would want he and Katniss to end up together.  I don't think his character was developed much in the first two books, but in Mockingjay we get a real sense of who Gale is, and he really grew on me.  But, he could never take Peeta's place in my heart, or in Katniss' (or so I hoped!).


So, on to Peeta: I didn't like what Collins did to Peeta.  At all.  He wasn't the Peeta I'd fallen in love with.  He was just a shell of himself, and I know that there's good reason he was like that, given what he experienced at the hands of the Capitol people.  But I had a hard time connecting with him in Mockingjay.  There were times that I just wanted to cry for what had been done to him.  I didn't give up hope that he'd return to his normal kind, happy self after being hijacked, but that didn't happen.  Sure, by the end he seemed okay, but I still don't feel that he was the same Peeta.  And I missed that Peeta terribly.


Katniss wasn't herself at the end, either, it seemed.  After all the atrocities of war, of losing her friends and Prim, I understand why she would go a bit crazy.  But she'd been so strong and such a fighter for such a long time that I expected her to always be strong.  Maybe it was naive on my part, but I'd hoped she'd pull through everything and still have that fighting spirit to her.  She seemed so broken at the end, and I absolutely understand why, what with Prim being killed and her mom and Gale abandoning her.  But there was just something about Katniss that didn't sit right with me.  I'm glad that Haymitch, Greasy Sae, and Peeta didn't give up on her, though.


I was really sad when Finnick died!  He was one of my favorite characters.  On the contrary, I have to admit that I didn't mourn Prim's death much.  I'm glad we got to know her better in this book, but I didn't ever really connect with her as I did with other characters--characters I'd "known" for a longer period of time.  But, Finnick... that broke my heart.


I was confused when the parachute bombs went off toward the end, when all the children were corralled in front of Snow's mansion.  I didn't really understand what was going on, and was even more confused when Katniss woke up and so much time had passed.


I was shocked when both Katniss and Haymitch voted to have another Hunger Games with the Capitol children.  After all they went through, I thought for sure they'd be against it.  I know Katniss was mourning Prim and wanting revenge for her death, but I didn't see she or Haymitch being "for" another Hunger Games.


I'm so, SO happy that Katniss and Peeta ended up together!  Having Katniss and Peeta finally--finally!--be together was one of the better moments in the book.  I wish it had been under different circumstances, though.  I felt like they were both so changed from who they once were.  But I guess that can be seen as a good thing, too, since they ended up together even though they had both experienced such horrific things and been changed in such momentous ways.  Still, I really miss the old Katniss and Peeta.  I missed the romance.


I LOVED the ending, where Peeta says "You love me.  Truth or not truth."  And Katniss answers, "Truth."  Loved it!  Thought it was the perfect ending.  Of course, then came the epilogue... a lot of people are saying that they felt the epilogue was unnecessary and that they didn't like it.  I don't think it was necessary, but I also didn't have a problem with it.  I enjoy knowing that Katniss and Peeta had children.  I think it brings everything to a nice conclusion.  And being Team Peeta since book one, it's nice to see that he and Katniss spent many happy years together!


END SPOILERS


So, while I didn't like Mockingjay anywhere near as much as I adored The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, I still thought it was a good book and I'm still glad I read it.  It wasn't the book I wanted, but I can live with it.  Maybe a re-read will improve my opinion of it, maybe not.  It can never compare to the first two books.  I hate giving it such a low rating, but I can't help it.

3.5/5