What was not to like about Mockingjay?

[Victoria]

So many people are talking about this book being such a downturn from the first two. I'm not sure why; personally I loved it! I liked all the books pretty equally I think, I more looked at the series as a whole, but I feel like I'm the only one. Just wondering, what was wrong with Mockingjay? Was it because it was depressing or did people actually find it boring? Maybe it was something else; please give your input!

[Ashleigh]

I think what bothered me the most was it felt a little like Katniss was perpetually in a haze of medications and therefore, I would get a little bored. Also, it felt like it spent too much time on certain aspects of the rebellion, then sort of rushed through the end? I don't know. I also feel as though there were a couple of character deaths that were written for shock value. I didn't ~hate Mockingjay, I just felt as though it wasn't anywhere near as well written as The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.

[Marina]

I think that Mockingjay ended very slowly. I was expecting The Big Bam. And the love triangle, I was expecting more twists and turn-overs. Very slow ending.But, this is only mine opinion.

[Jennifer]

How did Katniss not reflect on him? She said she watched Finnick's life pass before her eyes and pictured each significant event. I loved this book. I read it more slowly than the first two so maybe I was just able to get more out of it, I'm not sure. I felt it had the perfect ending and think that the series is a work of genius.

[Sarah]

This book was amazing. If you took the time to read it slowly, you would have caught on to the subtle inferences and symbolism. It was a slower read than the first two, but I feel like that's what made it so powerful - it really made me think. I agree that it was the perfect ending to the series.

[Jennifer]

Sarah wrote: "This book was amazing. If you took the time to read it slowly, you would have caught on to the subtle inferences and symbolism. It was a slower read than the first two, but I feel like that's what ..."

My sentiments exactly!

[Victoria]

Marina wrote: "I think that Mockingjay ended very slowly. I was expecting The Big Bam. And the love triangle, I was expecting more twists and turn-overs. Very slow ending.But, this is only mine opinion."

That makes sense. I'm not trying to disrespect your opinion or anything but I think that it was good that the love triangle was not so prominent in this book. I think she may have tried to take focus off of it because so many people were only taking that out of the first book and there are so many deeper themes in it that everyone was missing. Again, just my opinion, not saying you're wrong!

[Victoria]

LolzAngelxxxx wrote: "I still love Mockingjay but it's definitely my least favourite of the three. Some of the character's deaths were over looked.
(SPOLIER!!!!!!!
Finnik's death was disappointing. I feel it wasn't hero..."

I understand what you're saying and I agree that Finnick's death was overlooked which made me very sad because he was my favourite character of the series but I think it made sense for that to happen with what was going on in the book. Katniss was in the middle of a war and there were more deaths than just Finnick's at that time. I think that the fact that Finnick and Katniss had started to grow close made the point even stronger; that it was probably very hard for Katniss but she had to move on and not waste time. She had to focus on what was going on at the time and I think her state at the end of the book really reflected how everyone's deaths and just having to overlook them and not being able to take the time to mourn all the losses had affected her. Not saying you're wrong, just giving my opinion!

[Victoria]

Jenny wrote: "Sarah wrote: "This book was amazing. If you took the time to read it slowly, you would have caught on to the subtle inferences and symbolism. It was a slower read than the first two, but I feel lik..."

I concur!

[Swathika]

I loved Mockingjay!

[Fatema]

I'm not sure how I feel about Mockingjay. I loved most of it, but then there were some parts - I don't know. I think when the book takes the biggest plot twist, it started to bug me a little. We heard so little of what happened to so many characters, especially the ones you hear about throughout all the books. Part of me felt like some of it was rushed. You know when you watch a movie, and you feel by the end of it there are some gaps missing, I literally felt like that personally. I'm glad they've changed the movies to an objective point of view, because I think one of the main causes of this is Katniss's narrations. By being objective they can get more out of the series screen wise I think. I think the ending and epilogue should have been more lengthy. But other than that, I thought it was a pretty good read.

[Ashleigh]

Sarah wrote: "This book was amazing. If you took the time to read it slowly, you would have caught on to the subtle inferences and symbolism. It was a slower read than the first two, but I feel like that's what ..."

i did read it slow. it took me months to finish it. i did like it, i just found a few things in it that i, myself, didn't like. i don't think that i'd tell someone not to read it but it was my least favourite of the three.

[Robert]

For me, it boiled down to what I considered the heart of the Hunger Games: Katniss' sacrifice so that her sister could live and, hopefully, have a better life.

Mockingjay subverts that and so many other expectations, but rarely in a way that is satisfying.

In the end, it basically says Katniss' sacrifices are pointless. That she will have a broken life that is rarely punctuated by happiness.

What is her life and struggle worth? Her sister, dead. A mother she hardly speaks to. Her relationship with Gale irreparably broken. She's with Peeta pretty much by default. All under leaders that are little better than those she helped bring down.

I wasn't expecting rainbows and unicorns, but this is just bleak. I just really had a problem with the utter hopelessness conveyed.

Heck, I would have been less annoyed if the whole of the book had been revealed as an elaborate game put on for the viewing audience. Kind of a giant Truman Show gone horribly wrong. That would have at least been a worthy twist.

[Malak]

I hated the part where everyone just left Katniss all of a sudden and Peeta lost his memmory

[Victoria]

Fatema wrote: "I'm not sure how I feel about Mockingjay. I loved most of it, but then there were some parts - I don't know. I think when the book takes the biggest plot twist, it started to bug me a little. We h..."

Yeah I see what you're saying. If you mean hardly hearing what's happening to everyone throughout the book; I think that was because it was from Katniss' point of view and she didn't really know what was happening to everyone. At times this was confusing and annoying but I liked it because it showed how chaotic everything was and it was one of the things that kept me reading fast paced. If you're referring to the end of the book and not finding out what happened to all the characters; I kind of liked this as well because it showed the ruin that the world was left in after the war. Nobody really knew much of what happened to anyone. Also I think the focus wasn't meant to be so much on the characters at the end (aside from Katniss) as it was on the world. I agree with you about it being rushed; it seemed like she sped through some parts just to make the book the same length as the other two but if she had made it longer she could have gone into more detail and been able to satisfy more readers. Anyway, just my opinion; thanks for yours!

[Victoria]

Diane wrote: "What I didn't like about Mockingjay is, in my opinion, it was a bit overdone. Too many fireworks. I was expecting a war, but Suzanne Collins gave another 'Hunger Games'. I don't like that she made ..."

I never thought about that but you're right! I understand she had to have something to keep it exciting but I agree that she could have changed it up a bit; it got a little repetitive. Just wondering, but would you have any suggestions for what she might have done instead to make you happier?

[Victoria]

Preston wrote: "Catching Fire and Mockingjay were terrible. I've never ended a series with 'Wow, what a shallow b*tch' before."

Care to elaborate? Don't have to if you don't want to; I just enjoy discussing the book and love to hear people's opinions.

[Victoria]

Robert wrote: "For me, it boiled down to what I considered the heart of the Hunger Games: Katniss' sacrifice so that her sister could live and, hopefully, have a better life.

Mockingjay subverts that and so many..."

I get what you're saying and I kind of agree but I also have to disagree with some of the things that you said. I don't think that Katniss' sacrifices were pointless at all! Yes, her life was changed in ways that were awful and she would never be able to fully recover from but I don't think that she was making the sacrifices solely for Prim, Gale, and her family. She changed the world that all people to come after her would live in. When Coin was in power for the short amount of time, you saw that she was basically the same as the previous leaders of the Capitol but that was why Katniss killed her, even though she had lost nearly everything and could have given up right there. I also have to disagree with the utter hopelessness. Utter hopelessness is what was conveyed (to me, at least) through most of the books; hopelessness for humanity. Humans can be horrible beings when it comes to 'Social Darwinism' as showed in many pieces of literature, such as The Hunger Games, Battle Royale, Lord of the Flies, and many more. I believe these books were trying to convey what our world will come to if we don't learn to change, but the end of Mockingjay is what gave me the most hope that this is a possible task to accomplish. In the book, as Katniss is heading home to District 12, she asks: "Are you preparing for another war, Plutarch?" And his response is: "Oh, not now. Now we're in that sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated... But collective thinking is usually short lived. We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction. Although, who knows? Maybe this will be it, Katniss... The time it sticks. Maybe we are witnessing the evolution of the human race. Think about that."

[Victoria]

Connor wrote: "I just felt that the book lagged and was poorly written, especially in comparison to the first two, which I loved. I didn't like the ending at all, and thought the book was far too depressing. I ..."

Let me know what you think if you do read it a second time! Thanks for your opinion!