Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Pages (words): 400 (N/A)
Readability: N/A
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: The conclusion of the saga of Katniss Everdeen and her fight against the Capitol. I can't say much more without spoiling things if you haven't read the previous books in the series!
Thoughts: I thought this was a great conclusion to the Hunger Games series. I'm so glad that the series didn't devolve into a hopeless love triangle (I'm looking at you, Twilight books), and that instead there were many more issues involved than just Katniss' relationships with Gale and Peeta. I was also glad that the plot didn't pull any punches; several important characters are killed along the way, and many others are permanently affected. Although the book was pretty brutal, the brutality made the book less predictable and, hence, more captivating for me. I was even glad that there wasn't really a "happily ever after" ending, but instead more of "pick up the pieces and move on" conclusion. The writing wasn't great by any means, but the plot really moved along enough to keep me fully absorbed and excited for each chapter. All in all, I really enjoyed the whole Hunger Games series (especially the second and third books), and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick, engrossing read.
Disclaimer: The book is pretty gory, and it might have a few swear words, but I can't recall anything too major.
3 comments:
Ben, I so heartily disagree with you. I hated this book. In my opinion, it did devolve into Twilight, if only because it turns out Collins really is one of the worst storytellers I've ever read. I felt that most of the book was highly unreadable; turning the Capitol into a Hunger Games arena was a cheap rhetorical device that only proved to me that Collins exhausted all her creativity in the first book (which I loved). The plot was twisted and tortured unnecessarily, and I just thought that overall it was really poorly written. I feel like her craft started to fall apart in Catching Fire, and it spiraled violently in Mockingjay. I resented the fact that Collins made me hate every single character in the book (even Peeta - how do you hate Peeta?) in a feeble attempt to NOT be Stephanie Meyer and to prove that she could write dystopian fiction (which I don't think she can). The ending was abrupt and ambiguous, not in a "that's just the way life is, teenagers" sort of way, but a "I'm not really sure how to end this book" sort of way. I think it's absolutely necessary for hope to survive in dystopian fiction, especially teenage dystopian fiction. I just reject her worldview, even a post-nuclear war post-Capitol world.
I have SO much more to say, but I'll leave it here, because I read this book months and months ago and apparently I'm still worked up about it :)
I LOVED the first two books in the series, but Mockingjay was a bit disappointing for me. It was too depressing for my taste. I didn't like how so much of the story happened while katniss was unconscious Also, why did Peeta have to be hijacked? He was the moral compass and happiest part of the books; when that was taken away, the story really started to drag and was just lifeless to me. I was hoping there would be a more uplifting ending after enduring so many gruesome and horrifying descriptions. :)
After having a day to let it soak in, I have to amend my thoughts from my previous comment. I wanted these books to somehow have a fairy tale ending. But, I now recognize how hollow that type of ending would be. I think the author accurately depicts how war must affect those directly involved in it and how they must muddle through what remains of their life when the fighting ends.
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