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September: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
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Sep 06, 2010 08:11AM
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I finished this one last week. I was looking forward to it so much but I ended up being disappointed. It just wasn't as exciting as part 1 and 2. It was dragging and kind of boring at so many points, the deaths were too fast and sometimes I wasn't even convinced the person had just really died. Total letdown for me :(
I've read so many reviews and debates about this book that I truly feel like I have nothing of my own to say. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I wanted to like it enough that I just turned off my critic and went with it. Wherever Collins took it was fine by me. I was glad for the peace Katniss found in the epilogue. I was sad for so many of the characters who died. But I thought everything remained true and honest to the story and the purpose and the reality of it all. I thought overall, it was a really well put together trilogy and I was riveted all the way through.
I just finished it on Friday and I thought it wrapped up the trilogy perfectly! I agree with Heather, I was glad to read the epilogue to see how life was later on. It was a little slower as there was no Hunger Games or Quarter Quell to read about.
SPOILERI loved it but.....wondered, did Collins borrow anything from anyone (the two suitors talking while they think the object of their affection is asleep scene from Eclipse), and there were a couple of other dejavu moments. All in all I was satisfied with the book, but it wasn't my favorite of the series.
Lisa, that scene reminded me of Eclipse as well ;) But I don't think Suzanne borrowed those scenes. I mean it's not that original or uncommon of a moment.The epilogue reminded me of Harry Potter to be honest.
___SPOILER:
I'm glad Katniss got a peaceful ending as well but I wish there would've been more chapters explaining how all this happened. All of a sudden Peeta is alright again. You can not really watch him get better. That annoyed me.
I'm so shocked at the number of people who don't like this book! I thought it was perfect. Seriously, it's one of the best books I think I've ever read. You can find my full review on my blog, and I tried to keep it relatively spoiler free: http://mysticbooklover.blogspot.com/2...Of course, I was a Breaking Dawn hater, so now I can see what it's like to be on the opposite side of that fence. : )
I really enjoyed this wrap up but found that I had to read a few reviews (from both sides of the spectrum) to get my thoughts going. I could formulate better what I htought after hearing other peoples thoughts.I think I felt rather drained and shocked at the end but it fit the story. I agree though, it was not my favorite of the trilogy.
I loved this book. I cried more in this book than in either of the others, and thought it was done very well. *********SPOILERS BELOW**********
I do wish that there had been some actual resolution between her and Gale. It didn't really sit well with me that he just up and left without even talking to her. I've felt from the beginning that she would end up with Peeta, partially because that is the relationship that was given more development, and partially because that's just how these stories seem to go.
I felt like I noticed moments where Gale was distancing himself/preparing him for the break with Katniss, especially after Peeta started slowly regaining his lucidity. Not that he gave up hope, but I think he realized her heart was really with Peeta, and when her sister died because of his creation, he realizes that it really is over. But, there isn't any resolution between them. He's just gone.
I also wish the mom hadn't just disappeared. It's almost the same feeling, but at least she left a note...
I do also with that so many of the battles hadn't ended with Katniss wounded in the hospital being told or shown later what finally happened.
Infinite Playlist: to address your concern, I was okay with Peeta getting better because although we weren't there for the whole thing, we watched it get started. He's far more lucid once they reach the Capitol although he does still have his moments. He's started to regain something of himself, and they help a lot with the Real or Not Real 'game'.
The whole resolution with Peeta was pretty fast, and she does mention that there are times of problems, when he has flashbacks, but that they work through them together.
But, overall, I still loved it!
*******SPOILERS********Ashley, I think Gale says goodbye to Katniss when they talk after the bombing where Prim died. He says something like, "but you'll always be thinking about it." I think it's there that he realizes that their relationship is always going to be tainted by that event. He says, "The one thing I had going for me was that I took care of your family." (or something like that -- not a direct quote)
That was the Katniss and Gale goodbye scene and it was enough for me. I don't think anything else needed to be said between them.
Heather wrote: "*******SPOILERS********Ashley, I think Gale says goodbye to Katniss when they talk after the bombing where Prim died. He says something like, "but you'll always be thinking about it." I think it'..."
STILL SPOILING *******
Heather, I agree that this is where Gale says goodbye, and where I think he finally realizes that nothing will happen between them, but I still wish there had been just a little more said about it...
Although, I also think that a majority of the love triangle originated with the fans. I don't actually think there was ever a lot about Gale. He loved her, and she was confused, but I don't actually think that she ever would have ended up with Gale anyway. It never felt like more than a best friend thing to me.
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But at one point she asks herself that if she hadn't gone into the Games, would she and Gale have gotten married and had kids. She never would have known Peeta if not for the Games. So somewhere, at some point, she had feelings for Gale.
I just didn't like the quick wrap up in general. Throughout the whole book I felt that Katniss was on the sidelines, not involved enough, always hurt, physically or mentally to be involved in planning or missions, etc. I wish there'd been more hints at the deceptions and the evilness of those who would take over. In Catching Fire there were always moments of risk, threat, double entendres that you knew there was going to be hell to pay when someone got caught (Cinna!!!). In Mockingjay there wasn't many of those, except for when the Capitol tried to use Peeta to break Katniss.
*sobs* I love(d) Cinna!! Why oh why did he have to die! Any other Cinna lovers out there?I think that we really saw that Gale would not work for Katniss throughout this book. They were both really hotheaded and passionate and Katniss needed Peeta's calming influence to have a good life.
But I really liked Gale (not for Katniss but just in general) and I wish we would have gotten a more "closure-ing" scene with him. He just sort of disappeared after their "good-bye" and you never find out if she forgave him. Personally I think he did nothing wrong. He didn't know that his invention would kill Prim, he wasn't in on the plans, and I know that if he had had the option he would have run right into the fire to save Prim. I understand why she couldn't be around him right after the fact, but I still thought that it was a raw deal for him. Actually it was a bad deal all around. She couldn't "forgive" him without feeling like she was devaluing her sister's death and he couldn't beg for her to forgive him without adimitting some guilt and making the whole thing worse. They had a great friendship and Coin ruined it . . . I REALLY dislike that woman!!
I think, with the bomb/Gale thing, it was more about the attitude behind the action than whether or not Gale was responsible. If you remember the scene where Gale and the smart guy with the wire (name?...) are talking strategy, they mention that they are going to borrow from Snow's strategies. The whole, show no mercy blablabla thing. Katniss was never okay with it. Not then, not with District 2 etc. In that scene, they actually discuss endangering the children in order to draw in the parents and inflict more damage. So whether or not Prim was involved in the blast is irrelevant almost, because he admitted that he was just as willing to sacrifice children as the people they were fighting.
I think the separation and split and difference between them comes from their personal moral compass. Katniss still finds value in almost all human life, wants to give people a chance and accept that there is a different way. Gale is more of the mindset that they are just bad, so lets get it over with.
Like with the prep team. Gale can't understand why she cares about them at all. He doesn't even really think of them as all the way human. He doesn't really mind the way that they were treated because he doesn't view them as fully human. He thinks they deserve the treatment they are getting because they just sat by an enjoyed the spectacles the Capitol put on for them. He's always been more angry, more bitter than Katniss. And I think that, no matter what else happened, would always be a barrier between Gale and Katniss.
And, I don't know that I think Katniss would have married Gale if not for the hunger games and Peeta. She was pretty adamant that she would marry no one so that her children would never be subjected to the hunger games. I can see her sticking that one out...
Beetee was his name. I think you are probably right. He was really bitter, but I still feel bad for him. I guess it makes more sense (put that way) that she would be "unable" to forgive him. . . thanks for the insight! I just always liked Gale (flaws and all) and it made me sad that their relationship was ruined. :(
BeeTee! Thanks! I thought it started with a B, but didn't want to embarrass myself... I did really like Gale, but I don't know that I think this situation is what ruined their relationship. I think it's just what finally made it completely clear that it wasn't going to work out. I always felt that Peeta was a better match for Katniss as a boyfriend/future, but that Gale was the perfect friend. While I totally get that when one person loves another like that, you can't go back to being friends, I do wish that they could have resolved that aspect of their relationship a little better.
It felt like once Peeta was in the picture, Gale always felt like it was a romantic competition and that he couldn't completely be her friend because he was too busy trying to become her boyfriend.
I still really like him though! And, I totally loved Cinna too! I cried when they drug him off!
YAY - another Cinna lover!! I cried practically EVERY time that Katniss so much as THOUGHT about Cinna in Mockingjay!! He was my
favorite
secondary character!!I completely understand what you were saying about Gale being a friend and not a boyfriend. That is what I was talking about. I was sad because their friendship was ruined, maybe using the word "relationship" was misleading. I thought he was the best friend that she had and I was so sad that that was ruined.
I hate it what I cannot remember a name of someone in a book! I (to my everlasting shame) once called Katniss Katsa . . . but I mean I can sort of see why, they are both stronge female leads in "fantasy" books, but I like Katniss MUCH more than Katsa and I was mortified with my mistake. Of course it helped that it was just something I said and not something I wrote on goodreads - my sister barely even noticed!!
I loved Mockingjay and thought it was a great wrap-up to the Hunger Games Trilogy! True, it wasn't as exciting as the first two, but this one was much more emotional. I was really glad that there was a peaceful ending and that everything winded up as it should since I happened to like Peeta better than Gale for Katniss (and I too was heartbroken over Cinna's torturous death!)!
I think maybe I should start a new thread "People Who Cried, When Cinna Died". Is anyone excited about the movie? I know that I am excited (but a little worried) about it. I hope they will do a good job!
Arya wrote: "I think maybe I should start a new thread "People Who Cried, When Cinna Died". Is anyone excited about the movie? I know that I am excited (but a little worried) about it. I hope they will d..."
Yeah, really! And good luck with trying to make it a PG-13 movie seeing as though it is technically a Young Adult book!!!!
Arya wrote: "I think maybe I should start a new thread "People Who Cried, When Cinna Died". Is anyone excited about the movie? I know that I am excited (but a little worried) about it. I hope they will d..."
I won't go watch the movies. If I've read the book, I will hate the movie, almost without exception. I spend the whole time in the movie making affronted noises or commenting on all the things they changed. It gets old, and I know it drives the people I watch them with crazy!
But, I decided a long time ago (after the 3rd Harry Potter movie) that it just wasn't worth it, and the I didn't actually have to go see the movie... So now, I just don't.
Ashley wrote: "Arya wrote: "I think maybe I should start a new thread "People Who Cried, When Cinna Died". Is anyone excited about the movie? I know that I am excited (but a little worried) about it. I hope ..."
I totally get that! I usually get really mad whenever I go and see a movie "based" on a book I like because they are so horrible, but I probably will go see this one just because I want to see what they do!! I am the type of person who goes to the movie and then grumbles about it later, but I always go . . . dumb I know, but I just can't seem to stay away!
I have they highest respect for your self-control in the movie department! :D
Lol. Thanks. It took a while to get it, but I finally decided that I'm not going to waste my time and money when I know all I'm going to do is complain about it later. And, I'm sure that my family and friends appreciate it too, because they are usually the people that I grumble to!
Mod
It is a good lead in to having them read the book... But, I do that anyway, whether I watch the movie or not. And, I take a ridiculous amount of smug pride (I know... I know) in telling them Ya, but I totally read that book BEFORE it was a movie. You should go read it now... :)
After nearly 3 weeks, I feel like I finally have a little perspective on this book. I wanted the book to be one thing but it ended up being something else. However, in reality I think Suzanne Collins did what was her vision for the book. She showed a very stark and in some ways realistic look at what war does to you and those around you. And I don't think I will see the movie. Not sure I want to have someone else's vision of the book melted into my memory.
Ashley wrote: "Arya wrote: "I think maybe I should start a new thread "People Who Cried, When Cinna Died". Is anyone excited about the movie? I know that I am excited (but a little worried) about it. I hope ..."
I hear ya. I didn't like to hear Suzanne Collins read from Mockingjay because her voice for Katniss was not at all what I imagined. You'd think I would be okay with the author's idea, but no!
I almost always hate the movie version too...
I just went and listened to the Suzanne Collins read, and I was initially shocked by the southern accent. But then I got to thinking about the description of the change in the layout of the continent, and the fact that District 12 is a coal mining area, and it totally makes sense. It must be somewhere West Virginia-ish, I'd just never thought of it before though. Plus, how often people mention the different accent of the people in the Capital. I kinda like it, and wish I'd known before I'd read all three of them.
Heather wrote: "I just went and listened to the Suzanne Collins read, and I was initially shocked by the southern accent. But then I got to thinking about the description of the change in the layout of the contine..."Agreed, it does make sense but it wasn't what I envisioned, haha...
What do you think for the capital? New Yorker? Californian?
Doesn't it says the Capitol is a central location to all 12 (13) districts. And, that the oceans have pulled farther inland, so I've always thought of the Capitol as being somewhere in the middle of the US, probably someplace we don't really think of very often...
Mod
I did picture District 12 as Appalachia, where was District 13? I assumed DC, but if the oceans rose, DC wouldn't be there. Philly, maybe?
Guess I thought of the District being about where Colorado would be. *shrugs*
I meant the Capital. Oops! Long day at work
Hmmm, accent. Well when I read I always have American accents (for some reason my mind just WILL NOT think in French or English) but I would say that the Capitolians have a frenchesque accent. Who is more fashion conscious than the French?
I figured the Capital was Washington, D.C., because all the districts had revolted against it long ago. Who would the states revolt against other than the capital of the U.S.? And I figured that since District 12 was near the Appalachians, it was through the Appalachians they went through by train to get to the Capital.
I'd pictured the Capital as New York-ish, because of the accents (which I guess really is a subjective thing anyway!) and being cutting edge stylewise. I hadn't thought much about the PHYSICAL location though. It's funny what you hone in on or gloss over when you're reading, isn't it!
Some links from those who seem to have more time figuring this out than us...http://www.myhungergames.com/hunger-g...
http://mavenity.org/2009/12/07/the-hu...
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-hunge...
http://community.livejournal.com/them...
Almost every resource mentions the Capitol as being in Rockies...which is what I remember reading.
Yes, Suzanne Collins clearly states that the Capitol is in the Rocky Mountains where Colorado once was and District 12 is in Appalachia. The East and West coasts are no more and the survivors are living in the middle of what was left of the United States!!
I could totally see the Capitol in Colorado.
That wasn't anything like what I pictured! Thanks for sharing that map, Kellee.
This was my least favourite book of the trilogy. I had to force myself through it, as all of the political talk really bored me. I fully anticipated disliking the movie version when it came out, but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This is one of the very rare occasions in which I would say I liked the movie more than the book.
