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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
by Suzanne Collins
by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay is Book 3 of the Hunger Games trilogy, the first warning signal. I'm coming to believe that trilogies are nothing more than a shameless bid to increase profitability - thrice the booksales & thrice the number of movie tickets sold (yes, definitely written keeping a movie script in mind).
The first book, The Hunger Games was magnificent for the world it created, the mood it conveyed and its strongly etched characters. The second book floudered and blundered into a Twilight Sagaesque love triangle before pulling itself out, albeit with an elaborate repetition of book 1. With Book 3, the series falls completely flat and dies an awkward, ugly death.
The Quarter Quell has been sabotaged and its surviving participants picked off by warring sides, thus revealing a bigger masterplan than simply the oppression of the poor by the rich. The trouble is the story seems to be a little tired of itself by this stage. The tight writing that etched out strong characters, conversations and bonds in Book 1 has completely come unravelled. New characters are herded in, a new universe is conjured up out of nowhere and everyone happily settles in, without question.
So we're treated to a further rehash of Katniss's by now sickening fluctuating between Gale & Peeta. In Book 2, she moons over Gale while Peeta watched mournfully. In this one, she's separated from Peeta and in daily contact with Gale so the men switch in her affections. How is it possible to feel any sort of empathy for such a flighty, frivolous woman? Gone is the wilful, determined Katniss from Book 1 and she's replaced by a silly, self-absorbed bimbette whose primary concern is how she appears as the face of the revolution and how it'll help her get the man she wants - currently.
And while this book runs along as a spoilt teen romance, it also pretends to be a war novel. So there are liberal references to war drills & weaponry. Curiously enough, in this harshly militaristic world, a battered, concussed girl with a history of flouting authority needs just a couple of weeks to enlist in the army and what's more - gets to drive the core strategy, so to speak. Who is surprised when she makes a hash out of it?
Mockingjay makes a mockery of all the readers who've stayed faithfully with the story to its end. Don't bother wasting your time.
The first book, The Hunger Games was magnificent for the world it created, the mood it conveyed and its strongly etched characters. The second book floudered and blundered into a Twilight Sagaesque love triangle before pulling itself out, albeit with an elaborate repetition of book 1. With Book 3, the series falls completely flat and dies an awkward, ugly death.
The Quarter Quell has been sabotaged and its surviving participants picked off by warring sides, thus revealing a bigger masterplan than simply the oppression of the poor by the rich. The trouble is the story seems to be a little tired of itself by this stage. The tight writing that etched out strong characters, conversations and bonds in Book 1 has completely come unravelled. New characters are herded in, a new universe is conjured up out of nowhere and everyone happily settles in, without question.
So we're treated to a further rehash of Katniss's by now sickening fluctuating between Gale & Peeta. In Book 2, she moons over Gale while Peeta watched mournfully. In this one, she's separated from Peeta and in daily contact with Gale so the men switch in her affections. How is it possible to feel any sort of empathy for such a flighty, frivolous woman? Gone is the wilful, determined Katniss from Book 1 and she's replaced by a silly, self-absorbed bimbette whose primary concern is how she appears as the face of the revolution and how it'll help her get the man she wants - currently.
And while this book runs along as a spoilt teen romance, it also pretends to be a war novel. So there are liberal references to war drills & weaponry. Curiously enough, in this harshly militaristic world, a battered, concussed girl with a history of flouting authority needs just a couple of weeks to enlist in the army and what's more - gets to drive the core strategy, so to speak. Who is surprised when she makes a hash out of it?
Mockingjay makes a mockery of all the readers who've stayed faithfully with the story to its end. Don't bother wasting your time.
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