Momma182's Reviews

I can't believe how fast I read this book. I really enjoyed The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and although I liked this book I wouldn't say I loved it. The rest of my review will contain spoilers!




By the end of Catching Fire Katniss has survived being in the arena twice, and has found out that for the past year she and Peeta have been pawns for the rebel cause. Going into Mockingjay I was expecting closure. I will admit that the books starts off at a very slow pace-- in comparison with the other two, but I feel that as per Katniss' character, and for the audience, the tour of District Twelve was much needed. I almost feel that Collins wanted to make Katniss out to be a strong rebel leader, because there are a few short moments where Katniss shines, such as when she films the first propo--in District Eight, and becomes so charged and ready to tackle the Capital. But then she has Katniss get injured, sent to the hospital and drugged. She looses a lot of time feeling sorry for herself and all that she either directly or indirectly killed. It is completely reasonable that a drugged, slightly out of it person, who is confined to a small space is going to think about how they got there, and in Katniss' case she inadvertently started a war-- who can blame her for feeling like crap. We, the readers know that she was just a pawn, but she hasn't figured it out yet. Overall the first part of the book is uneventful-- until the last page, but much needed insight in to how Katniss is feeling.

Parts two and three are where I get a little annoyed with Collins. I really wish that Katniss was more involved with Peeta' recovery. There is the brief explanation that Delly has known Peeta the longest and wouldn't have been in any of the altered memories, but I still think that the Katniss from The Hunger Games would have fought to help, especially after finding out about Gale's cruel plans. Even thought we had no idea that one of his traps would kill Prim, the capturing and killing of the victims just makes me dislike Gale.

The deaths of the others, especially Finnicks breaks my heart. Not that I would want him killed off if I were able to change the plot, but if he had to be killed off why not at least make it noble, and spend more than one line on his death. He was a great character, one I actually liked more than Gale, and he didn't deserve the ending he got.

Speaking of endings, I'm not a fan of how there is no real details about Gale, Katniss' mother, or Heymitch get to where they are. Haymitch has the most detail and all we get is he went back to being a drunk, but now he also has geese. Peeta and Katniss getting together in the end is what I wanted when I started reading the books, but I dislike the fact that it kind of just jumps there. We don't even get to see the beginning of rebuilding their relationship, beyond the Primrose bushes.

I guess in the end, it was a trilogy about a dystopia future, and the war that overtook it. Katniss was just the eyes we got to see it from.