Am I the only person who found almost all the characters unlikable by the end of the book?

[Jason]

The Hunger Games Trilogy was a great series and all but by then end of Mockingjay I couldn't bring myself to appreciate the characters any longer. Katniss was a recovering drug addict who'd lost almost everyone she loved. Peeta was still pretty fucking nuts, functional but nuts. Gale was, following suit from Catching Fire, a total douche. And every other notable player in the arena was dead or bonkers. This ending left no hope or joy to be found, much like real life outcomes of war. For her realistic finish I give three cheers to Collins. I only wish it hadn't left such a bad taste in my mouth.

[Nya Tomlinson-Horan-Malik-Payne-Styles]

well, after going through a war and losing close friends and family, most people would turn bitter. although not said, katniss was obviously depressed, even though she had her husband and kids. but i kind of new after the first book that the end of the series would not be rainbows and unicorns.

[Sam]

No, you aren't. I was Team Peeta at first, but now I don't like him so much... I disowned Katniss as a character halfway through Mockingjay, and all the characters I loved died somewhere along the way.

[Christian]

I like to think that Collins is just keeping it real, so to speak. Mason was right, this isn't a "happily ever after" kind of book. The things that these people go through, especially Katniss, would break the psyche of just about anybody. Think about the soldiers who come back from war, and the trouble they have with PTSD. And they don't necessarily have to get up close and personal when they kill somebody. Or have to do it in such a brutal way. It would leave anybody who had any kind of moral sense or conscience.

[Jorge]

I ended up disliking most of them, this was a pretty bad book. It's not even that it's one of those somber ending sort of things, it's that events happened for no real reason. I hate it when authors kill off characters at random to show off the "realities of war" or whatever. This is a narrative in which the writer has all control, nothing as big as character death should be left up to arbitrary decisions.

I enjoyed the final mission of the book, but otherwise I just...did not enjoy this book at all. It's my least favorite book in the series and a terrible ending. I felt that Katniss was relegated to damsel in emotional distress status for most of the book and she became this incredibly unappealing character.

[[deleted user]]

I agree...

[Walter]

All of them would be rejected by e-harmony.

[Aurora]

I agree with Christian and Mason. This wasn't a "happily everafter" type of book. Life is not happily everafter.
What would you do if everyone you cared about was killed? What would you do if the only person you truly loved, that you were willing to die for, and almost did dozens of times, died instead? What would you do if you were brutally tortured and couldn't trust the one you loved and would die for? What would you do if for 25 years you saw child after child be forced to fight to their death and couldn't do anything to stop it? It would make anyone go insane and withdraw from the world.
I also disagree about there being no hope at the end of the series. Katniss managed to find love in Peeta, and had kids with him. This means that she's not entirely disfunctional, and neither is he. It shows that they both started to heal. (Sorry for getting mildly cliched here) The wounds may never go away, and I wouldn't expect them to, after everything that happened to Katniss and Peeta, but they're fading.
Personally, I always admired Katniss. She has a mom who dissolved in grief after her husband died, and a sister who seems pretty darn fragile to me. Katniss had to take over, and she shielded herself from the world so that it wouldn't hurt her anymore. She did what she had to to survive, and what she had to to ensure the survival of her family. Peeta's in a pretty similar boat, too, because all he was trying to do was protect Katniss.
I don't dislike Gale, but I don't like him, either. I just think Katniss changed too much, and Gale changed too. I like Haymitch, because I understand where his pain comes from. He just tried to do his best, and then couldn't take it anymore.
I didn't like Snow. He's a jerk. Most of the Careers I didn't like because they're arrogant and murder for fun (it seems). I also didn't like Coin, because she sent Prim out as a medic, and then sent the bombs too. She basically murdered Prim.

[Dhfan4life]

Not to be snide. But I'm pretty sure that people that went through events like Cherynoble, World War 1, even the Waco, Texas stuff came out in the end as very unlikeable as well. But I think that all has to do with the fact that I don't believe in such intensely dramatic, and life altering situations people are ever going to be the likable, relatable, and even great people we thought they were. Cause after such events all people really are is stripped down to their most basic self. And just thankful to make it through the other side. Maybe wiser, maybe a live, maybe even in one piece. But overall they are just glad they made it even if they aren't pretty and fresh like they were in the beginning.

[Torie]

Collins may have been trying to aim for realism as you all are saying, but that didn't mean she had to take away every endearing characteristic in the characters we once knew and loved. I don't think she intended her readers to stop liking and relating to her protagonist, but it happened.

[Diane]

You're not the only one.
While I thought it was a very realistic portrayal, there was almost nothing left of what endeared me to the characters.

[Theacrob]

agreed. but I enjoyed not liking them.

[Tanvira]

I hate how it ended but also love it-I liked everyone but now Peeta and Haymitch is all I have left.=( And not even they're fully satisfying me.....

[Megan]

I hated the ending

[[deleted user]]

Jason wrote: "The Hunger Games Trilogy was a great series and all but by then end of Mockingjay I couldn't bring myself to appreciate the characters any longer. Katniss was a recovering drug addict who'd lost al..."

you're not the only one. Mockingjay was utterly stupid, annoying, and sad.

[Ann]

I think the problem was that the last book simply wasn't nearly as well written as the first two. That happens when you've signed a lucrative three-book deal and then have to deliver three books on someone else's time table. I think Collins made the error of assuming she didn't have to do much in the way of character development in book three since "everyone already knows who my characters are". Except that didn't work so well because the main characters all started to feel alike to me. So, my reasons for liking them (or not) sort of morphed into one ill-defined melange. People do come through tragedies differently and, for the most part, with their personalities intact. I'm rambling, but, for me, Mockingjay truly missed its mark.

[Natalia]

I felt katniss did not deserve peeta at the end. I think she became very selfish. But overall i felt good about the other characters.

[Christina]

NOT FINNICK!!!!!!!!!!!! but yeah. pretty much. but after all they went through, hell and back, it be kinda hard not to jump right back on the wagon, ya know? like johanna said to katniss, everyones changed, they weren't the same people that volunteered for their sister at the reaping, the boy who was madly in love with a clueless girl, the boy who wants to escape district 12 and rambles on about destroying the capitol. times change. so do people.

[Natalia]

how can i forget finnick, i wanted him to stay alive, if anything i think gale should have died.

[Megan]

Natalia wrote: "how can i forget finnick, i wanted him to stay alive, if anything i think gale should have died."

gale or peeta

[Aurora]

I think I was most upset over the death of Finnick. Even though he's known for being like a playboy in the Capitol, he really loved Annie, and it was so sad that he died right after they married. At least she had his son.

[Megan]

:( poor finnick ):

[Mishal]

Ann wrote: "I think the problem was that the last book simply wasn't nearly as well written as the first two. That happens when you've signed a lucrative three-book deal and then have to deliver three books on..."

I completely agree. You put my thoughts and frustrations into words.

[Natalia]

Megan wrote: "Natalia wrote: "how can i forget finnick, i wanted him to stay alive, if anything i think gale should have died."

gale or peeta"

gale, finnick was a good character. i think they should have left him live.

[Aurora]

I don't think anyone from the Districts should have died, except for maybe...what was his name? The head Peacekeeper who had Gale whipped.

[Aurora]

Oh and Coin. I didn't like her.

[Carisa]

Jason wrote: "The Hunger Games Trilogy was a great series and all but by then end of Mockingjay I couldn't bring myself to appreciate the characters any longer. Katniss was a recovering drug addict who'd lost al..."

I completely agree. I know it's not necessarily a "happily ever after kind of book" as someone mentioned but at least END it with a cause. I mean, the way it all ended almost made the reason for the war pointless and, therefore, the entire premise pointless. There wasn't enough of a satisfactory resolution. They started a revolution to end the sadness and travesty but it didn't end well for them so what was the point? This should have just been Hunger Games and not a trilogy.

[Carisa]

Mishal wrote: "Ann wrote: "I think the problem was that the last book simply wasn't nearly as well written as the first two. That happens when you've signed a lucrative three-book deal and then have to deliver th..."


I GUESS so but even I could come up with a better resolution to the trilogy than Collins did. Everyone was rooting for the game contestants from the very beginning and it was so great how many of them persevered just so she could kill everyone off in the end? What's the point? She sucks.

[Beth ~Mrs.SheldonCooper~]

I agree. Collins should have done better at the end of the third book. The last two are better.

[Mishal]

Personally, I like a very bittersweet ending. Maybe I'm just very sadistic, but I feel like it would have been a more fitting ending if we had a SIGNIFICANT death. Killing Finnick or Prim off just seemed very pointless to me. There was no reasoning behind it and as a result, it did not have a very moving effect. My idea of a good ending would have been killing Katniss or Peeta off. It would have been a death that had a POINT to it. It would have been a noble death that would have left people with a feeling of awe and dread at the same time that they wouldn't have been able to shake it off for a while. It would have had a resonating message. Yeah war sucks, I get it, but for Collins to completely rip any message of hope from the novel makes no sense to me. What makes the human race so unique and so beautiful is that there is always the concept of hope in our hearts. Hope is what keeps us moving, even through gruesome wars. There is always a hope for a better future and I feel that would have been a more moving message. If Katniss died we would have remembered her as a hero and the idea of hope, of people willing to sacrifice themselves for a better future, would have been the perfect message. She would be remembered as a hero, not as a depressed pathetic person.

[[deleted user]]

Ann wrote: "I think the problem was that the last book simply wasn't nearly as well written as the first two. That happens when you've signed a lucrative three-book deal and then have to deliver three books on..."

I have to disagree. I'll admit that the book wasn't as well written as the first two, but I think she intentionally made the characters like that. Katniss watching Rue, a girl she associate's with Prim, die right in front of her; Peeta accidentally killing fox-face, even Peeta's leg getting infected, it was all to prepare as much as possible for the pending war. But you can't be ready for something like that. Knowing that one microscopic mistake could destroy everything and everyone you care about... Then, it actually happening. It happens all the time to veterans, ask any of them the person they're closest to is and they'll almost always say the people they served with... Then ask their families if they've changed since they got back and they'll almost always say: more than you can possibly imagine.

Torie wrote: "Collins may have been trying to aim for realism as you all are saying, but that didn't mean she had to take away every endearing characteristic in the characters we once knew and loved. I don't thi..."

The thing that I love about Collins is I don't think she really cared whether or not people liked Katniss. She knew who Katniss was and she didn't try to change her because some of the fans didn't like the new Katniss. I'm positive she knew a lot of her fans wouldn't approve of the new Katniss, between the editing and publishing process a lot of people read the book well before it was to late to change it, but she didn't, because (in my opinion) she was staying true to her character, something I wish more authors did.

[Aurora]

I personally liked the way the book ended. Forget realism. I thought that it was nice to have a severely flawed character for once.

[Amelia]

I don't know about anybody else, but if I went through all that, I'd be the ugliest person ever. I would not have one endearing quality left in me, and I'm actually a pretty optimistic person. Still, I wouldn't be able to find any light in making it through that.

I appreciate this series for what it is.

[Gwynn]

By the end of Mockingjay I seriously disliked Katniss and Gale and her mother. I had some sympathy for Peeta, but the whole book left me feeling so bitter and CHEATED that I closed the last page and haven't given it another thought (other than to rant on the odd Goodreads forum) As far as I'm concerned the last book didn't happen. And i wonder of I'll even go and see the last movie when it comes out. Please Suzanne Collins, give us a decent ending to the series that takes the basic characteristics of the MC into account. Many thousands of people have gone through horrific things and have come out as likeable - if some what scared - people. But for Katniss just to collapse was just a cop-out. It was as if Collins chose to keep her drugged so she didn't have to actually put in the effort to write the trial scene, or any of the final action. Blah!

[Madai]

i always had a bad view about coin because she was always trying to point out that katniss wasnt the leader when clearly katniss was not even trying to do anything in leadership in district 13

[Dhfan4life]

Ya know I think coin lived up to her namesake. meaning that just because she was part of the district 13 rebels. Does not mean she wasn't the other side of the coin so to speak in relation to how Snow was.And eventually to me she seemed to be of the same mind as Snow. So I think katniss and the others found themselves in a damned if you do /damned if you don't situation with the both of them.

[Thomas]

Im glad Gale didn't die. He was the life-long friend. I wish Katniss married Gale instead of someone where there are chances that the person you marry might kill you. I am upset that finnick blew up though. Poor Annie

[Megan]

Thomas wrote: "Im glad Gale didn't die. He was the life-long friend. I wish Katniss married Gale instead of someone where there are chances that the person you marry might kill you. I am upset that finnick blew u..."
FINNICK DIDNT BLOW UP< PRIM DID!!!

[Mollie]

I was rooting for Peeta the whole time, but was disappointed at the end. It felt as if she had given up and settled for Peeta. Peeta deserved better than that!
I know what she went through was awful and anyone would change from that, but you're right, she became very selfish.

[Samantha The Escapist]

Jason wrote: "The Hunger Games Trilogy was a great series and all but by then end of Mockingjay I couldn't bring myself to appreciate the characters any longer. Katniss was a recovering drug addict who'd lost al..."

My sentiments exactly. I applaud the balls she had to end it like that and I certainly don't disagree with the realism. But my problem lies, exactly as you said, in the bad taste it all left in my mouth.

Maybe it's a piece of fiction that she wanted to be taken seriously, but it's also meant as entertainment and the entire thing actually hurt me to read it.

All the characters were cut down to size, lost some good qualities and expanded some bad ones. Any characters that weren't changed were just killed. By the end of the story the only person I found myself liking was the cat.

[Molly]

Honestly, I couldn't stand any of those characters to begin with. Peeta was always creepy and useless, Gale was a jerk, and Katniss was has always been borderline sociopathic in my opinion. She never felt anything when she killed those kids, she was always bitter and judgmental towards characters never really did anything to her besides exist, she never felt much sympathy for people including the ones she killed, she bitches endlessly about every little thing, she's catty (the Quarter Quelle outfit and tribute comments made me want to backhand her), and for all the talk of her great hunting and foraging skills, she's pretty damn stupid (if you are starving you do NOT throw out the animal's guts, you eat them. Everything but the intestines can be eaten and most internal organs are where the nutrients are! In fact, you can drink blood to hold off dehydration although I wouldn't advise it outside of an emergency situation, like say the Hunger Games).

The only characters I liked for the most part are Effie, Johanna, Finnick, and occasionally Haymitch.

[Molly]

And foxface. i really really liked Foxface. I would have enjoyed the book way more had it followed her around intend of Katniss.

Also, I felt like Katniss was a bit of a Mary Sue. She was way too special, so many exceptions were made for her, she got special treatment, even in the first book. Plus, I was sick to freaking death of all that "The girl who was on fire" stuff half way through the second book. If Collins didn't beat us over the head with it it would have been cool, but she couldn't stop.

[Vaughn]

I think Collins did a wonderful job at making of pissed off by the end of the trilogy. Thats the makings of true talent. None of us can say that her writing was bad. By the end I wished Peta had died and Prim had lived. In fact I was hoping that Prim was alive to continue another story. Her character was being built up so lovely in Catching Fire. I was definitely thrown and confused by the end.. At one point that Prim's death was a dream or something Katnis was having. OH well!

[Molly]

Vaughn wrote: "I think Collins did a wonderful job at making of pissed off by the end of the trilogy. Thats the makings of true talent. None of us can say that her writing was bad. By the end I wished Peta had..."

Her writing was pretty bad. Seriously, when I despise all the characters I'm supposed to like, think your love interests are creepy, and the research is absolutely abysmal, I'm going to have to say the writing is bad.

[Vaughn]

But that's the characters you hate . Not the writing. Being a writer, its easy to create a lovable character. But creating characters that start out one way then another is very difficult.

[S.L.]

I didn't like the end either, but I have to admit, it wasn't unexpected. I liked the story up until the very last part though.

[Laurie]

S.L. wrote: "I didn't like the end either, but I have to admit, it wasn't unexpected. I liked the story up until the very last part though."

I agree. I loved the books but i hated the end. I felt that the story was so long and drawn out in some places and then the last two chapters were just a lot all crammed together and fast. I think she could've easily added another book and told us about her life after.

[Molly]

Vaughn wrote: "But that's the characters you hate . Not the writing. Being a writer, its easy to create a lovable character. But creating characters that start out one way then another is very difficult."

I'm not meant to hate them though. I'm meant to agree with them. I'm meant to view Katniss something special and important, and Snow as evil (tyrant yes, evil, not really). I'm meant to feel for the people who died and be horrified by the Hunger Games, but I'm not because Katniss feels absolutely nothing for them. How am I supposed to be sad about Glimmer's death when Katniss' only characterization of her was slutty and well trained. Collins writing wasn't good enough for me to agree with these things. Her characterization was bad, her world building was bad, and the continuity was pretty bad too. That means the writing is bad.

Not to mention, she does a ton of telling instead of showing. Like when she calls the Careers bad in the first book. How are they evil? I think they're pretty good people. They volunteer so that other kids from their districts don't have to suffer in the Hunger Games. Their districts are actually smart enough to train children so they'll be prepared in the Hunger Games. How is that evil? I consider that responsible.

Katniss' starvation in the first book too, and the over all condition of district 12 was mostly told instead of shown. Katniss mentioned having breast before going into the Hunger Games, but that usually requires that you have a decent amount of food to trigger puberty. Katniss has a goat, which produces all sorts of goodies you can eat and drink. Katniss hunts, she lives in the Appalachian mountains which is covered in all sorts of edible plants. She guts her kills and never ever saves any of the organs, which are very nutritious. She mentions that district 12 is starving, but the people don't act like it. Peeta's family has a pig, which is expensive and eats a ton, and people haven't stolen it yet. There is almost no hunting, despite the fact that most people would have broken the law ages ago if it meant feeding their families. People who are starving do very desperate things, just look at the citizens of Leningrad during WWII. Katniss mentions a hill covered in dandelions; if the district was really starving that hill should have been picked clean, because it's fairly common knowledge that dandelions are edible and even good for you.

[Vaughn]

Molly wrote: "Vaughn wrote: "But that's the characters you hate . Not the writing. Being a writer, its easy to create a lovable character. But creating characters that start out one way then another is very d..."

WOW. That's deep acts harsh. Survival is two fold. There are those that choose it with fighting and taking and those who choose to coexist. The people here have been taught that those that were before you failed because they refused to follow obey and they took from others. They were taught that if you listen and obey do what you are told that you will be allowed to exist. They did not know of any other way. And that's all because of power and greed.


But most importantly, books allow us to have many direct view points

[Molly]

Vaughn wrote: "Molly wrote: "Vaughn wrote: "But that's the characters you hate . Not the writing. Being a writer, its easy to create a lovable character. But creating characters that start out one way then ano..."

Sorry, I don't mean to be that harsh. I think I might be taking my frustration with my classes out on these book.

Anyway, from what I recall, there wasn't much in the way of propaganda from the government to strongly re-enforce what you said, minus the hunger games themselves. And no one actually seemed to like or believe the Capitol. For example, in DPRK people are bombarded with propaganda that glorifies (even deifies) Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, schools teach that these two people are gods among men, and there is art everywhere reminding the people of the DPRK that these two are their saviors. The propaganda is amazingly effective in a lot of cases, despite just how miserably the people are treated. But that doesn't seem to be the case with the Capitol.

The Capitol was weird in this book. They keep on punishing the people for the rebellion all those years ago, making the ones who had nothing to do with it suffer for it. They intentionally starve out many of districts, keep the people in virtual slavery, and have very strict laws (which the peacekeepers in District 12 seem to be fine with letting people break). They never say they're protecting them from some outside threat, or helping them survive in these terrible times. They really aren't giving the majority of the people a good reason not to rebel, because it's not like their lives could get all that worse.