Mockingjay ***SPOILERS*** enter at your own risk!

[Becca]

So would I, but Prim would have been heartbroken.

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

Prim would never have to find out. Your husband must be full for all kinds of crazy theories. Buttercup being a Mutt is definitely the best one I've heard.

[Becca]

I get some of my best ideas from book conversations with him. He is rather brilliant when he has time to be.

[Jason]

Becca wrote: "So would I, but Prim would have been heartbroken."

Maybe she'd be so heartbroken she wouldn't want to be a medic and wouldn't end up dead. Sounds perfect to me!

It is a funny idea. In another thread, somebody was wondering if President Coin was really President Snow's ex-wife.

[Becca]

I wouldn't have been surprised in the least Jason. It actually bothered me a little that they had such similar personalities.

And I just finished her Gregor series. If I had read that one first, I don't think I would have been so incredibly disappointed in Mockinjay because I would have had an inkling to how she ends her books about war.

[Jaimie]

I kind of wondered if she was going to turn out to be his sister or something

[Michelle]

O.K. Here was my crazy theory. I thought Gale had turned and was actually in with Coin in trying to manipulate Katniss and that Peeta was just faking the brainwash thing to protect her and turn the tables on both of them. When Prim died it blew that theory and I admit I just couldn't enjoy the rest of the book. I don't usually do that with a book but I still think my ending was more exciting.

[Becca]

Did you get to the final scene between Katniss and Coin after Prim's death? If you didn't you MUST read that one. It was awesome and totally made the book worth reading for me.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I had to re-read that scene more than once, as well as the final arena scene, to make sure I understood it. That's what happens when you're reading in a hurry.

[Samantha]

I haven't read everyone else's comments yet, so I apologize if this is redundant…

I wasn’t thrilled with Mockingjay- I felt let down when I finished it. Katniss as a character didn’t really bother me. I agree with the statement earlier where SC really gave us the impression of someone who has been used up and thrown away. I was very frustrated in the ending… I felt like she should have shown us more of how Peeta came back to his old self. One minute he is still fighting the urge to kill her and the next everything is fine. I’m happy she ended up with Peeta, although throughout the series I wanted to smack her for being such a blind idiot about him. Oh well, even that didn’t bother me but so much.

Honestly, what bothered me a lot was her mother and Gale in the end. Katniss is the only person her mother has left and she stays when Katniss is sent to District 12. But even more so than that, I felt like Gale totally sold out by getting his own TV show… I mean, who saw that coming?? That was really out of character for him. How does someone go from having lost most of his humanity- and SC made a very big point of that- to having a TV show. It just blows my mind.

Haymitch’s deterioration made me sad, too. I had hoped that he would have been able to keep himself away from alcohol after having been sober for so long and it saddened me to see him fall right back into his old ways.

I felt like some characters changed drastically in the end and some reverted right back to who they used to be. I LOVED the Hunger Games, liked Catching Fire and am just disappointed in Mockingjay.

[Gwennie]

I hear alot of people say that, and I had my own issues with Mockingjay. But I do have to say that I was glad that things weren't perfect in the end. I felt like it was a more realistic ending (where Haymitch was concerned.)

I agree that Katniss's mom should have been with her, but coming back to District 12 was too hard for her after all the death. And I thought that was fitting. She checked out on her kids when their father died too.

I also didn't like what happened with Gale. I thought it was cut off. Not only what he ended up doing, but the fact that Katniss never picked between them. Gale betrayed her, so Peeta was all that was left. The whole triangle was just dropped.

Peeta's brainwashing didn't bother me much because I felt like they did explain it. He said that the lies glimmered and that he was figuring out how to tell the difference. Also, it took a while after coming back to District 12 for them to get back together.

I guess my biggest issue with the book was that I wanted Katniss to make up her mind. I hoped that after all the turmoil of Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Mockingjay she would have made her choice and owned it...

I still loved it though, still in my top favs.

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

Samantha wrote: "I haven't read everyone else's comments yet, so I apologize if this is redundant…

I wasn’t thrilled with Mockingjay- I felt let down when I finished it. Katniss as a character didn’t really both..."


Samantha, I can understand your frustrations, and I also have my own issues with the Mockingjay, but I have to disagree with you about the endings. I think they all make sense. They may not be what we wanted, but they are more true to human nature than a happy ending for everyone. How many people come back from war and only find comfort at the bottom of a bottle? When you go through something as traumatic as Haymitch not everyone is strong enough to overcome. Katniss' mother not coming back to District 12 makes sense because sometimes, the hurt is just too much. Sometimes you have to move on instead of re-build not because you are choosing to run away, but because it's the only way you can stay whole.

And as to the Gale storyline. I think that makes sense too, because he was someone who was always on the outside looking in. For three books Gale is forced to watch Katniss on television. He still wasn't able to understand why Katniss felt kindly toward her prep team. It's like it's his turn to experience that. Like he felt like he had been left behind. This was his shot to be someone important.

My problems with the end of Mockingjay do have a lot to do with the Gale/Katniss storyline though. Gale was so involved in District 13. All I wanted was one really long conversation between Katniss and Gale where they say all that needs to be said. How did G feel after K shot Pres. Coin? Did he ever find out about how she was planning to re-instate the Hunger Games, or was he just as angry with K for shooting her? Did either of them ever pick up the phone (because I assume they each had one w/ G being a higher up and K still living in victors village) And fro as kind as G's family was, we don't get to see Hazel or any of G's siblings in this book. You can't tell me they just disappeared.

Also how did the people of the capitol respond to the change? What happened with Johanna after her breakdown?

I thought Mockingjay was absolutely epic. It left me depressed for a week. That shows that it made an impact, and in my book you can't hope for more than that, but wow were the endings rushed (not wrong, but definitely too fast)!!

Okay, officially off soapbox. (For now)

[Kurukka]

I loved what we had with Peeta and Katniss too. To me, it's stronger than a little rainbow romance. :)

[Samantha]

I agree about the ending that was true to human nature but that doesn't mean I have to like it :)

I am very happy that Peeta and Katniss ended up together- I am glad she finally saw the light, but like many others, I would have liked a conversation between her and Gale.

I understand her mother not coming back to 12, but did she even contact Katniss once she went back? I don't remember her doing so... you would think that she would at least call her.

Mockingjay depressed me, too, but it couldn't have ended happily. I know that probably sounds like it is going against what I said earlier, but I didn't expect it to end happily, I am just not thrilled with how it ended. I felt like there were quite a few loose ends (like have been mentioned).

Also- how did Peeta come back?? That was left hanging, also.

And I so don't like Gale having a TV show. It just feels like a sell out to me. He already was someone hugely important in the revolution... he didn't need his own TV show to make that happen, especially since he wasn't going to go back to 12 regardless. It was also like he just gave up on Katniss, and I thought that he was supposed to have loved her. Again, I would have liked more of a resolution between the two of them.

[Becca]

I agree on the resolution between Gale and Kat. I wasn't happy with where things stood there either, but if you read what happened just before Prim is killed and after Pres. Coin is shot, they betray each other. My thought was that maybe for Gale, it was one betrayal too many so he walked away.

As for Kat's mom, she left a number for Katniss to call her when Kat was ready. In that, I think she shows greater maturity and insight into her daughter's character than we had previously seen from her. If she had tried to approach Katniss before she was ready, Katniss would have lashed out at her. From a mother's standpoint it would be like loosing her only other daughter. Although she doesn't want to go back to 12 because of the destruction, she still wanted to stay in contact with Katniss. She just wanted to do it on Katniss's terms. I think her mom stepped up to the plate and became a woman with what she did after the revolution. She was practically catatonic after Kat's dad died, so at least she bucked up enough under Prim's death to provide service to other people and make sure her daughter knew where she was, what she was doing, and how to get a hold of her when she was ready.

The resolution to Peeta/Katniss just irks me.

[Gwennie]

Peeta's return started with Prims idea to use the Tracker Jacker Venom to reverse the Capitol's hold on him. That opened the door for him to start healing himself. It already showed that he was warming up to Katniss when they were fighting. He remembered giving her the bread and he told her that he was starting to be able to tell which memories were real and which were fabricated by the Capitol because the fake memories had a weird 'sparkle' or whatever. On top of that, love conquers all. He loved Katniss. All he needed was to spend time with her and he opened up. Add that to their 'real or not real' things and you have someone who slowly heals.

Plus in the end it said that he was still fighting the thoughts that the Capital gave him. He was damaged just as much as Katniss was.

That was one thing that never bothered me. Katniss and Peeta belonged together and that overcame anything that the Capital had done to them. It was the one happy ending.

But I agree that the triangle and Gale were just dropped in the end. There wasn't any explanation or conversation. That was what was the most frustrating for me too, Brittany.

[Samantha]

Thanks Becca- I had forgotten that part (and I just finished the book, geeze!).

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

Samantha wrote: "I agree about the ending that was true to human nature but that doesn't mean I have to like it :)

You're right... that doesn't mean you have to like it. :) Just like I don't have to like the fact that Gale turned out to not be the man I wanted him to be. (If you can't tell I'm still Team Gale)

[Becca]

Me too Brittany. I'm still Team Gale and I felt really let down with his character development in the third book after all the mystery and aura surrounding him in the first two. You would think he would have stepped up to the plate and been the strong arm Katniss needed at the time and taken a bigger leadership role in the revolution than "the Mockingjay"'s sidekick. Then the whole sell out and walk away at the end without having any sort of conversation just made me ashamed of him as a human being.

[Roshini]

I think this is what happens when authors have to rush to finish a sequel before they are ready. Based on how good the first book was, given more time, I'm sure the third book would've been better if the author didn't have to write it so fast. And yes, I'm happy Katniss ended up with Peeta (though I am Team Gale), probably because there wasn't any reason for her to be with anyone else at the end!

[Gwennie]

I liked Gale in the beginning too. I just thought him running away in the end was fitting, even if I didn't like it. He always walked away from her. He barely spoke to her when she came home from the first Hunger Games because the lie that saved her life caused her to recognize her feelings for Peeta. Then it happened again, where he got mad at her for something so he shut her out. I think the author made that Gale's defense mechinism.

Not to mention that somewhere along the line Gale lost his compassion. It felt like he didnt' even care that he helped make the bomb that killed Prim. Or the fact that he was okay with killing innocent people, and sending Capital children into a Hunger Games.

I wanted a talk between him and Katniss because I wanted him to explain himself. I would have even been happier if Katniss had attacked him for his final betrayal. Prim was the whole reason this all happened in the first place.

I never saw her not shooting him as a betrayal. Promising to bring about your best friends death is alot easier then actually shooting them.

Humph, hahaha. (Team Peeta)

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I never saw that Gale was a big "mystery" more just a friend from home that she may or may not like. I think when there is a gap between books us fans tend to build certain characters/relationships in our imaginations (especially ones where litte is said--it gives us more room to create our own storylines).

I started the Hunger Games series right before Mockingjay came out and only had a few days of anticipation. I never had time to build up Gale or build up their relationship.

(Disclosure I was Team Peeta and want a Peeta of my own)

[Gwennie]

Cassie, I love Peeta too.... perhaps we can share.

[Heidi]

Overall I think we should be able to agree that the book was better than a lot of the crap books out there. My first reaction was that I did not like Mockingjay, but it stuck with me and I thought about it more and more. You can't please all the people all the time, but the book made me think, which I believe is worth something.

[Gwennie]

Well said!

[Samantha]

Heidi- the more I think about it the more I like it- for that reason. I, too, like books that give me something to think about and I like the friendly discussions on these forums about books. They always give me new things to think about that hadn't crossed my mind.

Mockingjay is definitely a well written book, no denying that.

[Gwennie]

I think that it's also always hard when a great series ends. You have a high expectation because you love it so much but the reality of the final book is jsut a little less then what you think it should have been.

I even felt this way for Deathly Hallows. I loved it, but there were aspects I was disappointed in.

Samantha - it makes me nervous about Outlander...

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I just read an article about how Kristen Chenoweth loves Hunger Games. The article suggest casting her as Effie. I'm OBSESSED with this idea for the moment.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/11/kri...

[Heidi]

I really like Kristen and totally see her as Effie.

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

She would be perfect. She was great as Galinda! I could see it in a heartbeat!

[Jaimie]

She would be GREAT!

[Gwennie]

She would be an amazing Effie!!! I can see her as Effie and RDJr being Haymitch.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Now how do we make this happen folks? Is there a facebook movement for this yet?

[Gwennie]

I'm not sure? But now I'll never seen anyone else as Effie.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Wendy wrote: "I'm not sure? But now I'll never seen anyone else as Effie."

I KNOW! I feel the same way. I have told Kristen as much on twitter and so should everyone else.

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

I have to say I was actually picturing that chick from SNL as Effie. Kristen Wigg I think is her name. Anyway, that was my thought. But this... Kristen Chenoweth is SO SO SO SO SO much better.

[Traci]

I've seen people lobbying for Kristen Chenoweth as Effie for a looong time. I really, really hope it works out. She's absolutely perfect in my mind.