Today I read ‘Mockingjay’ by Suzanne Collins, the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy. This final installment sees Katniss become a Mockingjay leading all the Districts in a rebellion against the Capitol. Like with ‘Catching Fire’, I have slightly mixed feelings about ‘Mockingjay’. I think this was because I didn’t really feel sucked in to the story even though this was the grand finale of the series. For me, this was because Katniss was a pawn rather than an active participant in the war so I think it dragged a bit for that reason. As for the Katniss-Gale-Peeta triangle, it seems like Collins has been trying so hard to avoid the obvious clichés that she forgot to develop the male characters properly which is something that has bothered me since the beginning because as a reader, I didn’t really care who she ended up with. Also, Prim’s death didn’t particularly affect me because her character had barely been involved in the Hunger Games apart from during the beginning of the first book so I didn’t feel ‘attached’ to her and feel the emotional impact of what happened to her.
Although the ending was rushed, it had the right sort of balance. I’m glad that Collins didn’t just settle for everyone to live happily ever after as that would seem impossible after the devastating events of the book. Overall, I enjoyed the first book for its originality but I wasn’t crazy about either of the sequels. I don’t think ‘The Hunger Games’ stands up to a trilogy like ‘His Dark Materials’ by Philip Pullman in terms of literary scope or the depth of the characters with the exception of Katniss. I haven’t seen the film version of ‘The Hunger Games’ yet but weirdly, I think I might prefer the films to the books as for me, the visual impact of the action scenes would be better on screen than on a page. ‘The Hunger Games’ is an enjoyable series especially if you appreciate sci-fi or fantasy more than I do but it is certainly not without its flaws.
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Ebook, Fiction, Hunger Games, Kindle, Mockingjay, Reading, Science Fiction, Suzanne Collins, Young Adult
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I tend to agree with your reviews. I really liked the first book. The second book felt like a replay and the third felt forced–as if Collins didn’t know how to end it. There were too many “deus ex machinas” in each of the books. Just when you thought Katniss was really in trouble, a solution would drop in her lap. That’s bad plotting. I also thought she was more in love with Gale and that triangle was never really resolved to my satisfaction. Still, you have to admire Collins for putting together such an imaginative series, though some say it was derivative, but isn’t everything these days?
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You read these books super fast. I’m glad there are people out there who aren’t madly in love with this series. I needed some balanced perspective. Not every YA novel has to end with Happy Ever After! Thanks for your reviews. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on reading them, maybe I will watch the film first!
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Whoa, you read books really fast! Well, I’ve finished the trilogy in less than a week, too. I liked the first installment, though I was not satisfied with the third one. I have also watched the film and was very disappointed with the action scenes.
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I agree — I haven’t yet read this novel (just finished the first one as you saw on my blog) but I’m not gung-ho about the relationships, either. My friend really loves the second book, so we’ll see how it goes.
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I really liked these books and connected well with the characters. I had strong opinions on the love triangle and gasped out loud when Prim was killed. Perhaps that’s why the movie was pretty disappointing for me, it lacked the depth I felt the books had.
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I’m going to review this one soon. I finished last week, and i HATED it. I loved the first book (and movie), didn’t mind the second book, but the 3rd book was terrible in my opinion. Katniss just lost all her courage and I found her to be a wimp.
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