Why do a lot of people dislike Mockingjay?

[April]

My problem with Mockingjay is a combination of some things mentioned. I have no problem with how it ended...I was not expecting happily ever after, and people did die (view spoiler)[Cinna, Prim AND Finnick??? Not fair!) (hide spoiler)]. However, I feel Collins kept wavering between Katniss being an awesome, sacrificing person (she took care of her family when mom broke down, she volunteered for Prim at the Games, she wanted her friends and family protected) and a selfish, greedy you-know-what (many examples, including Gale's words to Peeta regarding how she would choose between them.) I also didn't believe that District 13 could be so advanced. And it bothered me that Katniss didn't figure out Coin sooner. The stylist team should've made the light bulb go off over her head. And, it states in the epilogue: (view spoiler)[ it took Katniss "...five, ten fifteen years..." to agree to kids. That the arenas have been destroyed. She finally feels safe enough to have kids. You can't ask for more hope than that! (hide spoiler)] So maybe it seemed rushed, but that's probably because you didn't want it to end. I know I never do when I'm reading!

[Wea]

Not really dislike, it's just Katniss' attitude towards Peeta annoys me and it made her look like an ass... *just my opinion. :)

[Kaeri]

Also, I felt like Katniss "settled" for Peeta. Did she even really love him?

[l]

I think she did love him. Just like Finnick said he didn't love Annie at first, but they grew together.

[Susan]

I thought that in the end the author "rushed" the ending to this book...like she/he was tired of the whole thing and just wanted to get it over with.

[Kaeri]

Their ending up together came across to me like an afterthought. Like, Suzanne was finished writing the story and then suddenly, "Oh crap, I forgot about Peeta and Katniss!" and decided to write a brief ending to their story.

[Eed99]

Susan I don't know that it was rushed because the author just wanted it to end, so much as perhaps the publisher was pushing the deadlines and she had to get the book out.

Either way, it just seems like Mockingjay was short shifted on the story telling and editing front.

And I will add that I don't think Mockingjay was a terrible book-it just fell short of what I was hoping for after the first two books. I actually think the books slowly got worse-where Hunger games gets a 5, Catching Fire a 4 and Mockingjay a 3. This is why I wonder if publishing deadlines did cause some problems on the story telling front.

Also, I readily admit I was never a fan of the love triangle (I honestly didn't really care who she picked and mostly believe after everything that had happened Katniss was too broken to really be in a relationship).

[Naomi Scarlett]

I liked mockingjay it was my favorite out of the three. I thought there were some unnecessary deaths but all round i really enjoyed the book.

[Sarah]

It might just be me, but I found some of the action sequences hard to follow. I didn't dislike the ending, but was expecting something different. My favorites in the series were definitely the first two.

[Alex]

I actually really liked Mockingjay even though yes certain people died, yes Katniss becomes slightly vulnerable, no we dont know what all went down between Katniss and Peeta, no Gale doesnt get any closure. But I'll ask you this, if all of the above had been different what would it have accomplished? Would we have gotten the same sense of loss and hurt? Would we have been able to undrstand that by moving on Katniss actually became stronger? Would Mockingjay have been more memorable?

[Marisa]

Nina wrote: "I don't dislike Mockingjay. I was just disappointed because it felt uncompleted and rushed. I had so many questions in the end."

I completely agree

[Nicole]

J.N. wrote: "SPOILERS included. Read at your own risk.

I disliked it for the most part because:

A) Katniss passes out so much that it's unrealistic.

B) I hated how an important character would die and Katnis..."

SPOILERS---
I agree with everything you have said, except for maybe point D. Yes, she has been saying the whole time that she doesn't want kids, but didn't she say that because she didn't want them to have to participate in the Hunger Games? Well, they ended the Hunger Games, so maybe she felt like Panem wasn't as dangerous anymore. Plus Peeta said he desperately wanted kids, so maybe he convinced her, or she simply couldn't take that away from Peeta. Plus, now that she has kids, she probably loves her kids more than anything...I don't know...It's just a thought.

But overall, I liked the last book. Like you, I have mixed feelings. I loved it, but there were some parts where I was a little annoyed/sad. But I have to say, i loved it more than i hated it...If that makes sense...Haha :)

[Rae]

I think most people dislike 'Mockingjay' because it's really slowly paced, and compared to the other books (which are fast paced) there's a lack of action in the beginning of the book.

[Myssi]

Luceria wrote: "I disliked it. Not because I was expecting happy endings and unicorns. But because I thought it was poorly written and a jumbled mess."

YES!!!! I am in my 30's (which I only include because it probably influences how I look at these books). I hated Mocking Jay because it was rushed, poorly written and completely unrealistic. No government that did the things in Mocking Jay would have stayed in power as long as they were supposed to have, a revolution would have happened much sooner. Everything they did could have come from a "how to push your populous to rebellion" manual
I hated how so much just happened with out a reasonable explanation. The tactics in the book were laughable. Character development in was horrible. Serval characters did things that were completely against their previously established personality. I really hated that Prim went from this shy, would be lost in the woods, needs to be taken care of, little girl to boom responsible, nothing phases her, great in a crisis healer, with no development of how she got there. And most of all, I don't care that Prim died ( not don't mind, don't care!) but why in the world would she have been there?!? My biggest pet peeve in books is when adults let children handle things that the adults should be doing with out good explanation.
I personally hate reading books for their symbolism (thanks to one horrible teacher) and hidden meaning, but without reading for that kind of thing, then these books are just poorly written pieces of fluff. Reading them for deeper meaning and purpose, there are too many holes. If it was just supposed to be a dystopian teen novel, she should have stopped at Hunger Games.

[Victoria]

I like putting it this way. Its like asking a mother who's her favorite child. I love them all but they are different. Mocking Jay was very divergent from the other two because it was THE Revolution. It didn't dance around the mass destruction. It ended with a hint of sadness but renewal. Like a spring flower out of snow.
Plus its always sad when your ending a really good book series. You know its bad when you suffer withdrawal :p

[Andrea]

Myssi wrote: "Luceria wrote: "I disliked it. Not because I was expecting happy endings and unicorns. But because I thought it was poorly written and a jumbled mess."

YES!!!! I am in my 30's (which I only incl..."

Yeah, I agree with you on the whole "Serval characters did things that were completely against their previously established personality" thing. For instance, it seemed very unlikely that Katniss would have killed that innocent woman in her home which they broke in to. Not to mention, I found that part really messed up. Anyway, judging from the other two books, Katniss would'nt have done that. I didn't like that part, and I didn't like the fact that she ended up with Peeta. To me, he just seemed like the rebound. And really, Katniss? You were there while they were planning and making those bombs, so don't go blaming Gale. You could have stopped him. The fact that she killed the innocent woman and the fact that she blamed Gale entirely on the bombs annoys me, and it's not like she didn't know about those bombs. She did, and she was just as much to blame as Gale was. Well, I think so, anyway.

[Kieran]

I love the series and I do like this book, one reason I wasn't so keen on this book was because it is nothing like the first 2 so it kinda of isn't about the Hunger Games - there is non so its just a little different. Also I thought the ending was rushed and the Gale ending completely annoyed me. There also wasn't enough Peeta in the first half because I love him !!!! but I do love this book it just isn't my favourite.

[Cookie]

For me, the ending was good. Peeta and Katniss in District 12... I hate it for it's boringness, because of what Katniss has been reduced to, and mostly for its sadness.

[Cyndi]

I didn't at all dislike it but it was my least favorite. My feelings were that it sounded like she was just quickly tying up loose strings and covering all the bases to end the story. I'm not sure if that makes much sense but I was left a little unsatisfied. It is still an excellent book in an excellent series.

[Taylor]

This is my favorite in the series, and it is a series that I think sucks in general, so it cracks me up that this is by far my favorite when everyone else loathes it. In fact, the last twenty pages or so almost redeems the whole series...almost.

Why do people dislike this one? Maybe because they're not in the arena the whole time, it tackles bigger issues, it focuses more on internal drama rather than teen angst romance.

Maybe because the ending is touching and poignant rather than overly-sentimental, and since many people have bad taste, they prefer the maudlin stuff.

Maybe that is why.

[Betty]

I originally gave it five stars. After reading a whole lot of 1 and 2 star reviews on Amazon, I understand why so many people don't like it. I reduced my rating at Goodreads from 5 stars to 2 and rewrote my review accordingly.

[Rae]

I think 'mockingjay' is great. Why would you give it 2 stars?

[Betty]

Rachel wrote: "I think 'mockingjay' is great. Why would you give it 2 stars?"
I'm a goodreads author. Go to Betty Cross and read my review of Mockingjay.

[James]

In the first novel Katniss was the earnest underdog that signed up to protect her sister and rejected brutality. In the second novel she became a dark anti-hero who was utterly self-interested in the effort to survive. The third novel has her sedated and shell shocked. Her character does not grow any further than it has. In fact, as a character she shrinks in terms of emotional range and empathy.

The romantic conflict between whether she will chose Peeta or Gale is disapated as Collins opts to make Gale a murderous war general and Peeta a jelly-brained irrational half-wit.

All of that could perhaps have been forgiven where it not for the fact that all of the other interesting characters in the series are pointlessly dispatched in a few sentences of sudden violence with none of the emotion in their deaths that Rue's commanded.

The theme of the Hunger Games is dropped, outside of a few authorial references, and an inexplicable revenge Hunger Games (that we never get to see). The novel reads like a bad space opera complete with shallow characters and a functional single level plot. It is obvious at this point that the only interesting elements that Collins crammed into the first two novels were the ones that she lifted from Jackson and Takami which is so disappointing to me. The third book in a trilogy is often a let down but this one goes further, it becomes an indictment of the previous two installments.

And, that's why I didn't like Mockingjay.

[James]

It's a completely different format, Katniss is more of a political puppet with only the odd thought of her own. There are a few bits towards the end when you see her take control of the situation but they take a long time to reach. Also, in the first two books Katniss is very concerned about the fates of her family whereas in this one she doesn't even bother to spend much time with them.

It lacks all the spark of the first two novels, and most of the moral conflict is taken away by the larger forces at work in their society. When, in the first two novels it was Katniss' willingness to stand up for her loved ones against anything that made her so endearing.

[Allison]

After Catching Fire, which ended on such an intense cliffhanger, Mocking Jay seemed so downtrodden and sad. I was hoping for more hope. I found myself feeling angrier and angrier the more I read, which isnt a good feeling. I guess I was searching for that catharsis when the main character finally vanquishes the villain, but I didnt feel that at all when she *SPOILER!* shot Coin instead of Snow. Mostly I just felt like no matter what any of them did, it wouldn't change anything because District 13 was just as bad as the Capitol in the end. But perhaps thats what the author intended.

[Bailey]

Personally, i really liked mockingjay because it put a spin on the plot line. I think people disliked it because it was unlike the first two, and there were no actual HUNGER GAMES in it. Those people were probably didn't like the fact that the mains points in the first two books arent present in the last one. I CRIED SOO MUCH WHEN PRIM DIED!!!!!!! Reply if you did to.

[Deborah]

Andrea wrote: "Was it because how it ended and who died? I mean, I don't understand. It's not supposed to be a fairy tale where everything ends happily. These books are about revolution. Of course there's going t..."

To me the ending felt rushed. Other than that I liked the book.

[Deborah]

Emily wrote: "It wasn't the deaths that upset me, more that it ended too abruptly for my taste."

Yeah the ending was too abrupt

[Emilee (Fantastical Paper Realm)]

Mocking ends very realistically, even the epilogue is partly sad. People don't like it when books don't end up in a little box marked "happily ever after", but life doesn't work in happily ever afters. It was war, people we're going to die. It was death, people we're going to have breakdowns. Yeah, Mockingjay isn't the feel good book of the year, but it would ruin the series if it was! The Hunger Games are great because they are relevant, if you go to them for an "escape" it's gonna be a sad one.

[Emilee (Fantastical Paper Realm)]

But, I do think that Finnick was like the worst thing ever, and I don't understand it. But, good people die in war. Yes, I have 10 billion questions...but Peeta and Katniss did too, remember that.
It is on my bucket list though to sit down with Suzanne Collins and pepper her with questions

[Laura]

I don't dislike Mokingjay, but the first part is so boring. The end is perfect, except the deaths, but they are necesary.

[Michael]

I thoroughly enjoyed HUNGER GAMES and thought CATCHING FIRE was a good sequel, but I really didn't care for MOCKINGJAY. Sure, there were some exciting scenes and clever twists, but I found much of the writing tedious and I was eager for the story to end. I thought it was over the top, reminding me of a Hollywood summer blockbuster. The ending was particularly disappointing. SC handled the love triangle so brilliantly throughout the series, and then--in my opinion--it just fizzles.

Given that so many kids are "reading up" these days, I am also concerned about the level of violence and cruelty in this last installment, and the nihilistic outlook. My son, who is 12, was introduced to the series last year when his school librarian read HUNGER GAMES to his fifth grade class. He went on to devour the second book on his own. He started this third one before I had a chance to read it, but now that I have, I've asked him to wait until he's older to read it. I thought he'd put up a fight, given how much he'd liked the first two volumes, but I think he was relieved. The unrelenting violence and dysphoric mood are too overwhelming for a child of his age.

I've always felt that it's vital that children's and YA literature explore dark themes, but whether this is helpful or potentially harmful to readers depends on how authors present their material. As Roald Dahl said: “Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children - as long as you make them laugh as well.”

The HG trilogy is a fairy tale for teens. In my opinion, the first two volumes worked well because Collins balanced the scary material with humor, romance, and a sense of hopefulness and triumph over dark forces. For me, she failed to achieve this balance in MOCKINGJAY, leaving the reader with only bleak despair.

[Alexis]

I loved that the people who died passed because I thought that it made the book more real, but out of all of them this was the weakest link. The story got to a point where it seemed like she was just throwing things at us to get to the end.

[Manali]

All the popular reasons why people hated this book are exactly what made it work for me.
It made complete sense that Katniss would choose Peeta.
It makes sense to me that she cut Gale off completely.
And it makes sense for me to not spend too much time on the characters after the revolution ended.
I got just the right amount of insight into how they lived their lives after it was all over and they returned home, and I couldn't have been happier with the pacing of it. It was my favorite of the trilogy.

[Valeria]

I loved the mockingjay, but I think what most people don’t like is that prim died, because since the first book, she was mostly thinking about always protecting prim and well, she wasn’t able to, also it is a little sad that she never spoke to gale aver again because I mean, they did EVERYTHING together since they were 12 y.o so like it’s wierd that She forgot him so easily or it seems like she did, but yes, as many people said before, this is a book of revolution and war, and there is no “happily ever after” on real life. (In my opinion, katniss’s mom should’ve died instead of prim) but I think the book and the trilogy overall is VERY good it’s one of my favorite.