Customer Reviews

Mockingjay: The Final Book of the Hunger Games

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Because I've been waiting months for this book, I'd promised myself I'd read it slowly and savour it, becuase after I'm finished there's no more. As it turns out, I read all of Mockingjay the day I received it in the mail. As expected, it was excellent. As dreaded, I didn't like it.

Suzanne seems to be one of those writers whose books get better and better with each installment. I thought Catching Fire was better than The Hunger Games, and Mockingjay is written even better than Catching Fire. After the end...you just have an unquenchable hunger for MORE that will never be satisfied, but that's okay, because it's the mark of a good series.

Despite all that, the problem with Mockingjay, (for me at least) is that it wasn't any fun to read at all.

Sure, it's intense, suspenseful, poignant, and it cuts to the action faster, but I missed Peeta; Katniss's usual spirited and brave demeanor was replaced by a "Who cares?" attitude, and while it might be completely justified, it wasn't any fun on the reader's part; the whole book hangs a downcast, depressing and overly serious tone; I hated the anticlimax.
In lieu of spoilers, I will not mention names, but a certain important character was somewhat randomly dropped off at the end. We weren't given any closure about his relationships with his fellow characters. May or may not leave you feeling cheated.

Another reviewer, on amazon.com I believe, called this book a work of "nihilistic anti-war propaganda;" in other words, Collins is biased into thinking that war is the most disgusting, horrible, and awful thing that ever existed. And while she's entitled to her opinions, especially when they are well-supported, it's untactful to try and force her readers into seeing things her way, instead of giving them the facts and allowing them to form their own opinions.
This seems to be the reason for much of the unnecessary tragic events that happen in this book, and why it's so depressing: the author is putting out propaganda to 'help' us see how very very bad war is, instead of giving us a balanced view of the reasons people go to war, and why it may or may not be the best way to solve a conflict.

Now, the end. We never expected a completely happy ending for a series like this one. We would have enjoyed a bittersweet ending thoroughly. But I think the downer ending was just overdoing it. Did the author purposely twist the ending to a level of heartwrenching sadness? Probably. Was it necessary? Hmmm.

So, the writing was intelligent and unique to its author. The plot was (excepting the anticlimax) tense, winding, and fast-paced, the action neverending. The characters, especially Katniss herself, were depthened even further. Despite that, I didn't like it, I'm sorry.

Just as like my Catching Fire review, this book is magnificent. People can argue about the ending, how it was "rushed" but I find she made it perfectly. She gave the reader a sense of what happened, how the "Star Crossed Lovers" ended up, and give freedom to the reader for some specific things. Not so much that it feels rushed, but amazing. The book is just as long as its predecessors 391 pgs. The book comes with many twists and turns, and has an extremely realistic ending. It is not your typical love story. Twilight is baloney, this is extremely well crafted, and a successful ending only adds to the experience. The ending is true to the characters, and very great. Like Catching Fire, the quality is amazing, nothing wrong with the pages or hard cover, slip cover was also not ripped. The book gets 5 STARS.

Alright I will admit I read the entire series in the course of 5 days so maybe when I got to Mockingjay I had high expectations. Those expectations certainly were not met by Mockingjay. I don't think this is a bad book but, at least for me, it was the worst in the series and had many areas I found the author left unpolished.

This installment in the series is definitely takes a change of pace. Katniss is literally thrown head first into the symbolic role for the entire rebellion. She struggles with physical aliments, moral dilemmas, serious debilitating changes in old friends... Altogether you see Katniss more as what she is, a 17 year old girl. She is fallible and fragile throughout the entire book and you see the darkness in the world around her definitely taking its toll on her in this book. If your expecting the same strong Katniss you read in Hunger Games or Catching Fire your going to be very disappointed.

Another thing that struck me was the author seems to really focus both on the war and on how it is affecting Katniss while throwing in random character developments here and there. Altogether I found this approach shallow and I was left wanting more of everything. There isn't enough focus on Katniss and her struggles for me to really resonate with her like I could in the previous installments, yet there also isn't enough explanation of the war for me to every really know whats going on either. My biggest complaint though was the treatment of supporting characters....

The most infuriating thing about this book was definitely the treatment of supporting characters. First the development of supporting characters in Mockingjay is poor at best. You are introduced to a few new characters that you get to know very little about as the book focuses on Katniss being a pale shadow of her prior self. 3rd party characters you liked in the past fall to the sidelines and are essentially ignored. Sure there are a few developments in characters like Johanna or Finnick but they are shallow at best and the writing doesn't make you feel anything for them. The characters developed most are Gale, Petta and Katniss which I guess is obvious because the love triangle thing. But as I mentioned with Katniss above, all of these characters are developed drastically different then in the past. One such development leading to a rift being developed between the characters.

Also unlike the other books where you basically know that characters Katniss has hardly met die off as sport, everyone is on the chopping block in Mockingjay. Many characters that you've come to really like over the course of the series are killed off indiscriminately. This wouldn't normally bother me as I find it can really emotionally engage you into a book if done well, like how the author handled Rue. Unfortunately again in Mockingjay author seems to make no effort to show the impact of the loss of these characters on Katniss or the reader. Often their deaths are absolutely and utterly meaningless and you get either; no sympathy/emotion from the author or Katniss, or, not enough time/exposure to feel anything about the loss other then confusion.

For me the first half of the book was much better then the end. As other reviewers have mentioned I found the last 100 pages or so to be very rough, rushed and altogether annoyed me in their shallowness. The plot is pieced together and while it makes sense the sheer hatred you feel for Snow is dulled as he falls to the sidelines like pretty much every other 3rd party character in this book.

In closing I found this to be a good book that shows off the darkness, and futility of war and the moral flaws in human character. I would still suggest reading it, and would recommend the series for sure, but do expect to be surprised by the change in pace in Mockingjay.

While I'm pretty impressed with myself for hunkering down for three straight days reading the entire Hunger Games trilogy, I have to say that this wasn't the most impressive instalment of the trilogy. That being said, I'm so happy that I've finally finished reading the trilogy!

If you're reading this review, I'm assuming that you've read the previous two books in the series. If not, please stop reading! I'm not going to include spoilers, but even referencing certain things that happen in the book will be a spoiler if you haven't read the previous two.

Mockingjay is about Katniss and her friends rebelling on the Capital. They've taken hiding in District 13, underground, and seem to be unsure which is worse ' living under the Capital and President Snow's Hunger Games and strict rules, or living in District 13 where the people still aren't totally free.

While the entire book is moving along and I was intrigued the whole way through, I also felt that it was moving at a slower pace than the previous two books. Katniss and her team put together a lot of propaganda TV shorts and there was a lot of recap about what was going on in them. And really, maybe it's just me, but who was watching these shorts? If the entire country of Panem is in rebellion, who's sitting down watching their TVs every night?

The cliffhanger at the end of Catching Fire made me pick up Mockingjay immediately, but I felt that without the Games happening, there was a lot of sitting around, waiting for the action to start. That's not to say that there wasn't any action, because once it came up, it was hard to put the book down!

The romance was tepid in this book, and I have to admit that I was very disappointed with the outcome. I felt that 'certain characters' were not given the screen-time (page-time?) they deserved, while I was rooting for them the whole way through.

Collins's writing maintained the same caliber it had in the first two books, which was nice. There was still the odd sentence I found myself rereading to understand what exactly was being said, but I got it in the end.

Of course, that being said, the entire series was amazing and I'm happy to have finally read it. I'm interested to see if the entire series will turn into a movie franchise and that hopefully the movies will do the books justice.

A disappointing book. I read the first one in a day, the second one in three days, and the last one in three weeks. Change of tone. Change of setting. Confusing cast of new characters. And-- most importantly-- an absence of real conflict for the first 2/3 of the book! Well, nothing beyond personality issues between characters that is. Violent and morally questionable decisions on the part of our young heroes later on in the story. They're like teen-age Jack Bauer(s) ("24") -- "darn it, we don't have a choice!" Ok for a mindless tv thriller geared for an older audience, but it felt strange and awkward for a "young adults"'s book.

The first two books of this series were great. I ate them up in a weekend.
The third book on the other hand really disappointed me. With everything that Katniss has been through you would hope the author would allow her character to grow and become strong, - instead she is still insecure, taken advantage of and constantly throws Peeta and Gale to the wolves. She worries about them but yet seems to shrug her shoulders knowing it will all work out. The pattern occurs throughout the entire series. I eventually saw through her character and realized she is deeply flawed and has little growth throughout all 3 novels - I began to hate her and it ruined this book for me.

I know this is fiction meant for young adults so they won't care or pick up on this - and that's great. It is good, fast writing and highly entertaining. It is at least getting kids who sit i nfront of an Xbox or TV to sit down and read. That I can admire.

I am only an average reader as far as number of books I read a year, but after going from Stephen King's 11/22/67 to the Hunger Games series it is blatantly apparent Suzanne Collins is not an author in the upper echelon of literary genius.

An excellent ending to the Hunger Games Trilogy. Exciting and satisfying. Katniss continues to be a multi-faceted and compelling hero.

I see many people complain that the ending was unsatisfying, but I personally loved it. For an original and epic story such as this one, the ending was just right. It was sad, of course, as most war stories are. But there was also a large element of hope, as the characters we've grown to love throughout the series find a way to live with the immense sorrow and ordeals they have suffered, and build a new life, with love and wisdom. This is only described briefly in the last few pages of the book, but it is enough.

In my opinion, had the ending been different (read: more optimistic and all-appealing), the series would not have had as much power, and as big an effect on the reader. These were very emotional and intense stories, so it only makes sense that the ending is as realistic as possible, without the absence of love and hope.

I am a huge fan of the first two books. Not necessarily the best books i've EVER read, but definately the best books i've read in a long time. the third however, i'm not so sure about.

I don't have the same issues as alot of the other reviewers. I didn't expect a happy ending. But i did expect a more detailed ending. It seems like the author ran short on time and didn't get to develop the ending like it should have been done. Which, as i think about it, seems to be the problem with most of the book. It feels rushed. There were a few places where i was confused about who was who or couldn't imagine a scene based on her descriptions. I never had that problem while reading the first two.

I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, so it was the wonderful character and story development that got me hooked in the first place. That development is lacking in the last one.

I'm still recommending it to buy, if for no other reason, it finishes the trilogy. But, i have to admit, i'm feeling a little disappointed.

I was okay with the plot of this book; its execution was what bothered me.

One of the things I loved about the original book, and, to a lesser extent, the second, was how well everything was paced. The places where the book slowed down and the places where it went a mile a minute felt natural. There was good flow. In Mockingjay, the plot seemed to move in fits and starts that didn't match the tempo of the events that were happening. A lot of the major events happen "off camera," so to speak, so much so that I began to question why we were still seeing the story through Katniss' eyes and not someone who was conscious or present for the events. Then, toward the end of the book, there's a rush of major events that don't seem to carry any emotional weight as the plot barrels through to the end. Now, I understand that Katniss would be in shock, and might not be feeling the full extent of the events, but it just felt...empty. Low impact. Rushed. I'm not sure I can properly qualify what I'm trying to say here, but it just didn't sit right with me. It didn't mesh with the Katniss I've come to know, and it felt as if I were reading a point form summary instead of the ending of the novel.

As well, I felt that the book's climax came out of nowhere, and the in-world reaction to it didn't make any sense to me. I actually reread the section several times trying to figure out why there wasn't a bigger uproar over what she did, or why she actually made that decision in the first place. The pieces of the puzzle are there and I can see what the author was trying to do, but they just don't fit together properly in my head. Feels forced.

Overall, I'm very disappointed with the execution of this book, particularly the last third of it. I do recommend that fans of the first two books read this one, but keep in mind that you may not be too happy with how the story is told.