Mockingjay
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Is It Just Me Or Did The Book Kind of Suck?
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Maya
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rated it 4 stars
Jun 23, 2012 12:53PM
i think the last book was a little disapointing. I think it could have been a liitle better. I did like some of the parts and i think that the author did a very good job of comin gup with shockers
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I liked this one until the last 50 pages. Then it felt like Collins didn't care anymore, and rushed an ending into 50 pages. It could've just been written better, is my perception.
I totally agree with you. The book just ended without really answering anything. Did she see Gale again? Did he still love her?
Now that I read these comments, I believe the reason why Suzanne Collins left the ending to be rushed is to allow us to interpret the story in our own way. Here's my interpretation. I think Coin may have rigged the bomb to hit Prim. Then Gale probably felt so ashamed because he did't know it was Coin's fault, making him fall under false guilt. He didn't want to see Katniss again to make her feel worse, so he probably got a job at the Television place, avoiding at all costs to meet Katniss again. Katniss obviously thought it was Gale's fault, so she also followed his plan. Peeta comforting her probably gave her an understanding that he is the one for her. Without said, Katniss becomes his wife.
At least someone finally said it sucks! Whenever I said it at school everyone thought I was crazy!
I loved the series as a whole, but yes I wasn't impressed with the ending at all. It was the ending I was waiting for all along (not prim dieing) , but it was too rushed. We didn't get to see Peeta really as himself again which upset me because I was waiting for Peeta to come back to Katniss all threw the book and then when he does we don't get to see much of it. I think if the ending was explained better and not as rushed it would have been better, but it was the ending I wanted. I think the whole Prim dieing was so horrific. In the first book we see Katniss fighting for her sister and after all that they just kill Prim like why...that little girl had gone threw so much already and we were just seeing her grow upD; I like this book, I just wished the ending had been done right.
Nicole wrote: "I hated about alot of characters dieing and I have read that alot of people think that all those deaths were senseless but guess what that is what war is senseless deaths.The Hunger Games was never going to have a fairy tale ending." Well, first of all, "dieing" is actually spelled "dying". Im sorry that seems nit-picky, but spelling is one of my pet peeves. And I agree that all those characters dying was sad, but like you said, the Hunger Games was never going to have a fairytale ending. So maybe Susan Collins needed to kill off some people to emphasize the way that futuristic society was demented. I mean the reason Prim died was because of the stupid government, even if it was the resistance's government. The whole message Collins was trying to purvey was that most governments are flawed. However, the way she did it was vague and rushed. You can still have a non-fairytale ending that is actually satisfying. Mockingjay didn't have this.
I really liked the book. It was a bit depressing, but I just loved the ending. Also, the writing is very good.
Sorry I don't agree with almost everyone. I Liked the book.I Know Prim dies, and that's terrible, but isn't that the point? This saga was allways supposed to make people think, and the more shocking it is, the more effective is the message. Prim dying was what basically took Katniss over the edge and impelled her to act against President Coin. Honesly, the story only gained with Prim's death.
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As for the Epilogue being too rushed: GOD, its an epilogue. Its supposed just to be a bonus, not really a part of the story. We can be lucky we had one.
Really, the epilogue was precisely the right lenght, the author wanted to show us that, despite all Katniss ' fears, she had Kids who, thanks to her and the revolution, were able to play in the meadow and "Took the words of the song for granted".
There is no need to show how Peeta got together with Katniss, there is no need to show the specifics. All we need to know is, IMHO, exacly what Suzanne Collins told us: when things got bad, Peeta was there for her, and "eventually his lips" were there too (wasn't that the sentence she used?).
Really, the Hunger Games had a strong Romance component, but you know that it really never was the point of the story. For that you have other books, this one was excellent as it is.
At least that's my opinion.
[EDIT] Oh, you're talking about the lack of certainty regarding wether was Coin or not who sent those bombs? Was Gale Involved? Well, I was waiting for some confirmation, but I honeslty didn't miss it, its open for interpretation.
"Did she ever saw Gale again?" Really? That's what you are asking? Does it matter?
Regards
Mauro wrote: As for the Epilogue being too rushed: GOD, its an epilogue. Its supposed just to be a bonus, not really a part of the story. We can be lucky we... Im sorry I wasn't very specific in my comment when I said "ending" being rushed. I dont just mean the epilogue, I actually thought it was a slight improvement from the rest of the book. It made sense that not everything was perfect, that their two kids have a high probability of facing the hunger games. However, the last 4 chapters or so seemed crammed in with deaths, as if she couldn't think of a better way to end the series, or at least make the deaths seem less out of the blue "boom! ok prim's dead". Not to say to take away the surprise and grief of prim's death, just more climbing action to the point, like maybe a discussion that Katniss overhears somehow between Coin and other revolutionaries and then suddenly she hears Gale's voice but only a vague mention of some bombing.
I guess when I interpret it the way I just described I might rate the book 4 stars instead of 3... But at the moment, the Hunger Games series just seems like an old argument, a series I used to love. Hahaha. Somebody I used to know :P
I hated the ending. The rest of the book was really good, as was the rest of the series. But with the end of the book, it seemed like the author either got bored of writing it, or ran out of time, so she abruptly ended it without a sense of closure, i guess you could say.I hated the fact that Finnick gets killed. SO not fair!! I mean, he had finally found true happiness in marrying his true love, only to die directly afterwards.
And the fact that Prim gets killed, is so dissappointing! She is the whole reason all of it started! Without her, Katniss would e=never have entered herself in the Hunger Games!
I hated that Gale just leaves her without even telling her himself. It just seems like a jerk like move, after a series of him acting like her best friend, only to abandon her..
No. The ending sucked. I threw the book after I finished. I was so disappointed, after enjoying the previous books so much.
Everything was a little bit unbalanced if Prim stayed alive. I mean it was a better ending for me for Prim to die. And people just didn't enjoy this book because half of it Peeta wasn't there. And they put the book down. I mean.
It was a good book. Balanced. And. Really exciting.
Kensie totally agree with what you have said...'I don't want to get stabbed for this (seriously) but I think the point of Prim dying and Katniss suffering in the end was a perfect way to end the series. I could not imagine another ending that wouldn't leave me feeling cheep-end. For instance, (again, put the claws away) at the end of Twilight when everything was all "La de da, no one dies. Everything is perfect, Jacob is magically happy without things being complicated, everyone is satisfied and the world is a beautiful place of bluebirds and roses. The end." Boo. Maybe the point of most YA fiction is to leave the reader feeling happy and hopeful, and I get that. But I think Collins did a brave thing by not following the norm of her genre and putting some actual feeling, grief and realism into it. Many times people can gleam hope from reading about tremendous devastation and seeing that, although life is not roses (and could you imagine that her life could be after all that she's been through?), it does go on and you can find some peace. Just my thoughts... I'm probably rambling.'
Most disappointing part: EPILOGUE
I know I made a comment yeasterday, but let me just say one or more two things.One: Ann, I totaly agree with you!
Two: I've read the last comments, and I'm inclined to agree that Finnick dying was a bit too rushed and forced. In fact, although I wasn't disapointed with him dying, I was disapointed Katniss payed so little attention to his death.
However, I still feel Prim's death was the right thing to the story. THG was allways about the unfairness of life, and knowing that Prim was the reason it all started, her death has great meaning, and if they do it right, half the people in the movie theatre will cry their balls out... Its shocking, and it makes the message more clear. As for the ending being rushed, in a way, it also reflects Katniss' state of mind: she was so crushed about Prim dying that she didn't care about anything else.
In the end, I liked it a lot, I've read the ending of that book like 10 times because I liked it so much. Things end terribly, and well at the same time. I think it was pretty clear that Gale moved on to greater things and Peeta was there for her. What else could you possibly want? As for the Epilogue, I can almost see how the movie will end with it: a 2 minute scene where we see two kids playing in a field, in utter happiness in a sunny day, with Katniss and Peeta looking stunned at their children. I can also see Katniss narrating thar part in the movie, saying sometimes she still has to play that "game" where she enumerates simple facts about her, just to ground herself... The Last sentence in the book, amazing: "But there are much worse games to play".
For me, it was the perfect ending
Regards.
It did. no question about it.
I think I too am going to read the book again as I was so caught up in 'speed reading ' to see the outcome and who survived and who didn't that I missed alot of 'deep' issues. Yes the romance is important and I am so in love with Peeta too, but there is far more to the book than that.As to Katniss being depressed - I think I would be too after what she's gone through. I love the way she says 'real' to Peeta. To be truthful I really don't think there is any question of her settling for him because there was nobody else. I reckon her love grew and grew stronger for him through each of the three books.
Many people here keep asking why Katniss votes "yes" for another Hunger Games. Here's the reason:
Punishing people and making them slaves is what launched the Capitol's atrocities in the first place.
When Coin suggested the question of whether they should have another Hunger Games, it was basically like saying she is another Snow. She had to say "yes" in order for her to be able to assassinate Coin. Her only option to end the Hunger Games forever was to vote "yes" so that she could still be out on that platform and in a position to look like she would be assassinating Snow, but in reality planning to assassinate Snow's replacement. Otherwise known as Coin.
She then adds, "For Prim." suggesting that this interpretation is, in fact, true. Prim didn't want to kill the Capitol children. In fact, she tried to rescue them from the bombs, for she did not approve of this cruel killing.
If Katniss had voted "no", then her teammates would have followed her decision, showing the sign of rebellion representing them. Coin then would be dead politically and then would have ordered her to be killed.
Punishing people and making them slaves is what launched the Capitol's atrocities in the first place.
When Coin suggested the question of whether they should have another Hunger Games, it was basically like saying she is another Snow. She had to say "yes" in order for her to be able to assassinate Coin. Her only option to end the Hunger Games forever was to vote "yes" so that she could still be out on that platform and in a position to look like she would be assassinating Snow, but in reality planning to assassinate Snow's replacement. Otherwise known as Coin.
She then adds, "For Prim." suggesting that this interpretation is, in fact, true. Prim didn't want to kill the Capitol children. In fact, she tried to rescue them from the bombs, for she did not approve of this cruel killing.
If Katniss had voted "no", then her teammates would have followed her decision, showing the sign of rebellion representing them. Coin then would be dead politically and then would have ordered her to be killed.
Charmxlio wrote: "Most disappointing part: EPILOGUE"How'd you find the epilogue disappointing? I found it pretty well-written, as it showed how Katniss distanced herself from her emotions to deal with the pain....incidentally, also distancing herself from her kids
This entire series started on saving prims life!and then Suzanne decides she wants to let Katniss take the easy way out in choosing who she wants to be with. She doesn't have to choose who she loves more cause she can cross Gale off the list for accidently blowing up her sister.and peeta just wants to know whats real or not real. too many unnecessary deaths if you ask me
It's not just you. It sucked, haha.
It was just you. I don't want to sound rude, but I'm one of like four people on this earth to take a deeper meaning for everything. I think Mockingjay had a deeper message to it, and the what you would call bad parts were actaully the best parts of the message.
I had a harder time reading this out of all the books. And wasn't that happy with the ending. So it was good but not in love with it.
yupp ... i didnt like it ... i was not really into it ..... idk i was just like skipping to the important pages ... not KOOL
To be completely honest, I liked it right up until around the part where Finnick died. He was one of the standout characters in my opinion, and I didn't give a rats backside about any of the other remaining squad members except for Katniss, Peeta and Gale. It seemed like Finnick had a storyline all of his own in the book that was just cut short all of a sudden. What I'm trying to say is that his storyline didn't feel finished to me.
On top of that, the ending felt tacked on, almost like it was written as an afterthought. And that is one of my pet hates when it comes to books. Normally, I leave a series feeling happy and content with what happened to the main characters, and this is what makes me re-read a series over and over again.
After the Mockingjay, I was just left feeling hollow and depressed. And I really don't know if I would read the series again now.
I kind of agree. It didn't suck, but it was really lacking the...amazingness, of the first two. I didn't like that Prim died. She was pretty much the base of the whole story, if she hadn't been reaped, Katniss wouldn't have ever been in the Games. Then they kill her off? Ruining her friendship with Gale forever?! Oh heeeell no! I knew Katniss would end up with Peeta, but we knew basically NOTHING about Gale...cool, he went to a fancy job in a new district, that's nice, but did he get in contact with Katniss again? Did he meet her children? What about Haymitch, are they still close with him? Does HE like the kiddies? I just felt like it couldn't be over when I read the epilogue...I was just left with too many questions.
Emily wrote: "First Katniss didn't die in the hunger games and they didn't know for sure who sent the bombs, just that Gale designed the bomb. Katniss wasn't Gale's "love". They didn't end up together becuase th..."Actually, Katniss was Gale's love. He was in love with her.
the story felt extremely rushed and hectic. they tried to fit too much fighting in and throughout every book the relationship between katniss and peeta and katniss and gale is very vague. it does not help that she does not really pick peeta, it seems more like she settles from him. in the end she did not even sound that happy so much as depressed, which makes sense considering the author killed off freaking everybody INCLUDING Prim and Finnick. It also felt rushed when she had Katniss get knocked out and then wake up and the fight is over...seemed like even she got sick of the story and wasn't sure how to end it. The first book was amazing and the idea of the actual hunger games was so fresh and new and cool and exciting, but the second two books butchered it. It could have been a one book kinda thing and everyone would have still loved it. So yah, not her greatest in the series. Not even close. It felt like she tried to fit too much tragedy in at once. She should have held out some ideas and created an entire different series. Overkill in my opinion. If they make it into a movie it will be seriously depressing. There was nooo happy ending.
The whole series sucked for me. I just wanted to smack Katniss and tell her to grow up. I get that she was young but if she was living the life that they described I was expecting more maturity and not so much whining.
Ha ha I had to laugh and agree at Chrissys' comment...As the trilogy progresses Katniss gets really annoying. In the end it seems like the best ending would be Katniss dead and the rest alive. She starts as a somehow likable but kinda naive person which tries to protect her sister. This gives her bonus points for some time. I hoped she would grow up in the second and third book, but instead she becomes mentally ill, and the chance that she will ever make ANY solid decisions declines from page to page. In the third book it didn't really annoy me who died and who not, the real annoyance was that Katniss behavior is excused by some mental monologues which basically say that she's mentally broke and can't be bothered a proper decision.
I read the second and third book to see a decision made by Katniss, for example about Gale/Peeta. Any way that she would finally grow up.
But it seems Collins couldn't decide herself so the choices are taken away from her as well has her responsibility for the people who care about her. She hurts almost everyone in the third book. But it seems no one cares because she's crazy.
The book ends with a confused girl which never reached the maturity to be taken as a real person.
At the end all decisions were taken away by Collins... she doesn't have to decide who to love, she even doesn't decide she wants kids... it's more like she does it for Peeta, but with no conviction behind it.
For me it kinda ruins the whole trilogy, because at the end you realized that you read a good amount of pages about a mentally ill person who gets hard to even sympathize with.
I should have rated the first book before I finished the trilogy, because now the third one somehow affects the rating of the first book.
I am only 1/3 way through this book and I've hated every minute of it. I really loved the other two, but not this one. I've kept it handy for the past 3 weeks, but I just can't pick it up. Is it even worth trying to finish?
Well, at least finish the story.It gets a little more action-packed near the ending... Funny enough, the ending is exacly what everyone is complaining about...
Eisenhorn wrote: "Ha ha I had to laugh and agree at Chrissys' comment...As the trilogy progresses Katniss gets really annoying. In the end it seems like the best ending would be Katniss dead and the rest alive. Sh..."
I love this comment. I totally agree with you. Overall I just could not believe how popular this series is. I thought the writing and the characters and even the whole plot of the story left much to be desired.
Chrissy wrote: "Eisenhorn wrote: "Ha ha I had to laugh and agree at Chrissys' comment......"
Well it seems the second and third books gets kinda destructive, lots of relationships are killed while few get tighter. The main characters get less accessible with Gale becoming radical and Peter brainwashed. I wrote my rant about the progression of Katniss already... so most persons you liked/found interesting in the first book fall apart.
With whom shall the reader identify himself nearing the end of the bock? Childish Katniss? Mad Peeta? Radical Gale? With Prim dead the last identification point in the book dies.
The whole thing is popular because of the first book.
When I first read it I was honestly a bit dissapointed. I still thought it was good just not as good as the others. But i waited a while and reread it and ended up understanding it more. As much as we want the old strong Katniss back it's just not humanly possible after everything she has been through. On that note i think that alot of people have misdirected feelings towards the book it's not really that the book is bad its that things that we dont want to happen to the characters happen.
I honestly loved the first and second books but mockingjay (in my opinion) sucked.With peeta going crazy and gale bombing prim it was all too much and it was not as good. With the first two i couldn't put them down, but this one i didn't enjoy reading. I only read the whole thing to see what happens and how it ends.
was I the only one who actually liked the third book I mean seirously
I could barely make myself get through any of them and the third book was the worst. It just became more out there with every chapter and the changes did not seem to benefit the story in the slightest.
Hailey wrote: "was I the only one who actually liked the third book I mean seirously"I honestly really liked it, I may not of been to happy about what happened in it, but it was still a great book. If anyhthing the 2nd book was my least favorite
Book one was great. In book two going back for the quarter quell seemed stupid. Like in a tv show when some guy dies but something brings him back for another season, you know? In the hunger games Its was sort of like that through the story it was a single book (not a triliogy) and then towards the end the author changed her mind and started prepearing for another book.
Catherine wrote: "In book two going back for the quarter quell seemed stupid...and then towards the end the author changed her mind and started prepearing for another book." I COMPLETELY agree with you. The second and third books had very different overall feelings to them. Katniss progressively lost her kickass-girl attitude as the series continued. The books sort of fizzled out; my rating for the Hunger Games is 5 stars, my rating for Catching Fire is 4 stars, and my rating for Mockingjay is 3 stars
Starting in book two and in three katniss was no longer the girl from page one. She wasn't getting bread from peeta or hunting with gale, and in the end it was like all that mattered was killing and i really didn't like that. And if she hadn't voluntered for Prim, Prim would still be ok and the whole thing wouldn't have happened. Peeta going phycotic was really what made me mad. I mean i don't exspect a perfect ending, but it was like the author was TRYING to make katniss and peeta miserable. In the end katniss lost her style,and became a mother. Gale always seemed like a brother to katniss, so being with peeta was fine, but him going mental was a little much. In other series the brother like figure doesn't get the girl. Like twilight, jacob was a brother and even though he loved her, bella was edward's. I really hope they come out with another one explaining the rest of katniss' and peeta's lives together.
katnuto wrote: "yeah, in mockingjay she was a mess, im surprised she didnt start drinking like i said before it was WWAAAYY of track on the actual hunger games and prim dying was to much, they didnt tell you what ..."
It was more like she was lazy.
It was more like she was lazy.
This book had more to say than the other two put together. However this did not make it more entertaining or an easier read. I thought the end was actually very good.
No alarms and no surprises please.
I did not like this book much. The first two books, it took me 2 to 5 days to finish. For MockingJay, it took me like 2 weeks. That's how boring it became. Usually, it takes me at least 5 days to finish a book like the hunger games trilogy. But for MockingJay, it took me forever!! I hated the last book! It was a total disappointment. >:(
It felt like the author was just trying to finish the series. The story went flat and became unbelievable. Nobody is going to have a kid be an executioner
I didn't even like Catching Fire, really, and I didn't like this one either. The ending where she gets married seems like Suzanne Collins just scribbled down a bunch of words to end it all. Everything and everyone was dying, and eventually it just got so confusing I found myself skipping words. Really disappointing ending.
I'm not sure any of you quite understood the ending to Mockingjay. If you read the books hoping for a happy ending and a love story I do not think you understood the theme of the series. The Hunger Games was about fear, power, corruption, and exploitation. Katniss was forced to suffer through two rounds of the Games, so it is not surprising that in Mockingjay her strength and willpower is lacking. On top of that she has to deal with the idea that Peeta is getting tortured because of her. Gale in the meantime has become just as violent and self-centered as Coin, President Snow, and the rest of the civilians in the Capitol and District 13. I was upset that Prim died as well but in war, more innocents die than combatants. So at the end of the book you have Katniss who has not only lived through two Hunger Games, watched her friends die during the takeover of the Capitol, tricked by Coin, hated by Peeta, but now has to deal with the death of her sister. I don't believe that ANY of you would come out of that situation the same person you were before.
And in the end, what happens to her? She is abandoned by her mother AND Gale, the man who says he loves her. Gale becomes some kind of celebrity while Katniss, who was forced to be a leader and the symbol of the revolution, is completely forgotten and sent back to live in District 12 with Peeta and Haymitch.
Then you get mad because there isn't some big wedding or romantic ending? I'm sorry, but if I had to deal with all of that I don't think my first thought would be to hook up with Peeta and start having kids. I can't even imagine the wave of depression Katniss had to fight in the years after the revolution. But, in the very end she was strong enough to accept the past and move on. She married Peeta and she started a family. Is it a perfect ending? No. But is is a REAL ending. This series is not like Disney. It is real, it is raw and it is not happy. I'm glad Suzanne Collins was able to produce something in the teen genre as gripping and haunting as these books.Mockingjay
Mauro wrote: "Sorry I don't agree with almost everyone. I Liked the book.I Know Prim dies, and that's terrible, but isn't that the point? This saga was allways supposed to make people think, and the more shocki..."
Thank you! Someone who finally understands these novels! Sometimes I wonder if these novels are better for more mature readers. The other comments are all just people whining about not having enough romance. Major respect and props for you, Mauro.
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