A Public Service Announcement: For those of you who have not read The Hunger Games series, unless you have absolute ZERO desire to read them, ever (in which case, what is wrong with you???) ABSOLUTELY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU READ THIS POST. You have been warned. There will be absolutely NOTHING BUT SPOILERS from here on out. Most of the posts I link to are ALSO nothing but spoilers. We clear? Good. Then I shall proceed with the geeking out. ^_^
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Why I picked it up: DUH, sequel to The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, two of my favorite YA books ever
- Disclosure: Purchased my copy at full hardcover price on release day!
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge...This thrilling final instalment of this ground-breaking trilogy promises to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
As I'm sure my readers have realized, in the words with Stephenie Meyer, "I was so obsessed with this book." I don't think even the Harry Potter books consumed me quite as much as this series did, even though I think they were equally good. Seriously, heaven help us all, Suzanne Collins is the queen of cliffhangers. The end of
Catching Fire? There is no District 12? How the holy frick could any author be sadistic enough to do that to us???????? Against all odds, however, I survived. Actually, it's less surprising I survived my own personal torment than that my family didn't murder me painfully before release day (or on it, come to think of it). But with that kind of expectation leading up to a book, how could
Mockingjay possibly live up?
Indeed. Even as I skipped out of the bookstore clutching my copy in a death grip, that nasty little voice in the back of my head said I should put it on the shelf as soon as I got home and never look at it again. I wanted to remember Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Finnick, Johanna, Prim, Cinna, Haymitch,and all the rest of the incredible cast of characters Collins created exactly as I had left them. All you non-addicts out there can laugh, but stories (especially their characters) are serious business to me, and I don't take kindly to being disappointed.
And that little voice didn't go away as I read. I developed a nice little split personality about it, half of me loving, half of me hating every little plot twist and character death. A few of them I just hated, even if I could see the reasons. (Finnick? Cinna? WHAT THE HELL. That killed, no pun intended.) But the worst of all was the romance, arguably the most talked about aspect of the trilogy. Team Peeta or Gale became one of the biggest inside jokes of the book blogging world (even featured
in the FAQ of the Book Blogger Convention). For the entire first half of the book Suzanne Collins seems to have forgotten about it completely, and even the in-hindsight-inevitable conclusion in Peeta's arms was less of a focal point than Collins's bigger message, that War/Violence Is Very Bad and that There Is No Happy Ending for those who've killed, even if it was to save their own lives.
I agree with Malinda Lo's
"long-winded thoughts" that Collins never meant for the love triangle to become the center of the story.
The Hunger Games very much carried on the legacy of
The Underland Chronicles in its strong argument for peace, but I still feel that she dropped the ball, especially in the last half. If you don't mind a little snark, Henri of Forever Young Adult
pretty much said it all in this post here. While I disagree that
Mockingjay "sucks", I do agree that she made use of some pretty sloppy plot devices, and that pisses me off. Because a writer as good as Suzanne Collins should know to let the story tell itself a little more, and try to force it to its desired conclusion a little less. If she wanted to make the war the center of the book, she should have left fewer huge gaping holes in its strategy. Prim's death would have been a lot more painful and moving for me if it had been more believable that she would have been on the front lines in the Capitol. I still cried, but they were hollow tears; not the whole running-down-my-nose action that happened when Rue died back in book one.
That said, I still loved this book. I will, beyond a shadow of a doubt, be buying Suzanne Collins's next book as soon as it comes out (though maybe I should save myself a little pain and suffering and wait until the entire series is released before picking it up). I doubt I will ever captivate people with a story the way she has. I just wish she could have left me a little more to love and a little less to hate.
The Final Verdict: Using the star system to rank this book? Forget it. All I can say is read the series - it's definitely worth it - and make up your own mind. I should add that I have an ulterior motive: Misery loves company, and I can't wait to see you guys puzzle this one out!
