“Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.” [Publisher's Summary]
To be as sensitive as possible to those who may be shy of spoilers, I’m going to put my review – such as it is – under a jump. (Cut. Whatever it’s called.)
Perhaps it marks me as odd, but after a non-stop five hour reading session I set Mockingjay down on my lap and stared at a wall. That’s it. Just looked at a wall. After reading the last sentence my thoughts flatlined; it was too much, too soon. And yet ten minutes, or maybe it was closer to twenty minutes later, an attempt to process it all began without a conscious decision made on my part. It was an odd sort of desolation that took me over at that point; I felt quiet, unprepared to talk, unwilling even. Perhaps it was because the book gripped my emotions so completely, wrenching and ripping, or maybe it was that I knew it was well and truly the end that did it. Whatever the case may be, look how long it’s taken me to get a review up!
For what they’re worth, as they come to me, some of my thoughts on Mockingjay…
Finnick. I had anticipated his death long before I had a copy of Mockingjay in my hands. And still…It hit me hard. His death, the revelation of what his life was like after his Games, was crushing. It was made even moreso by glimpsing the sweet way he had with Annie, by knowing he had only just claimed a measure of happiness for himself, and by being witness to the slowly forged bond between him and Katniss, a connection both of them desperately needed at that time. A few of my favorite scenes in the book featured the two of them together: Katniss seeking Finnick out when she couldn’t sleep, him handing over his sanity rope, Finnick giving Katniss and Boggs an eyeful. And then…he was just gone. In a minute. No last charming remark, no seductive glance…nothing. I felt bereft in a way I can’t explain, but clearly goes to show how attached to him I’d become. So, yes, Finnick.
I’ve read a few articles since the book’s release that took a negative stance against the violence in this series. To me, as grim and awful as it was, it seemed that Collins handled it well and realistically. There were consequences, long lasting ones, and for everyone involved. If Katniss had easily shrugged off the trauma of going through the Games twice and being taken up as the symbol for the revolution, not to mention all of her losses, it wouldn’t have been possible, for me at least, to root for her as I did. To sympathize with her and look at her as a dynamic, flawed but trying individual. And the violence strikes so close, I think, for just that reason: we care. That wasn’t supposed to turn into a whole, long paragraph; I simply meant to say that I appreciated how Collins’ handled the fighting, the war.
I personally wanted more of Haymitch and Prim. I had a feeling about Prim’s fate, but I wasn’t prepared for how mature she became, how deeply she understood her sister. And Haymitch…He was such a wonderfully conflicted character. The love/hate relationship between him and Katniss really worked for me.
And now, about Gale vs. Peeta…
This is the one aspect of the book I can’t write about articulately. I will say, for the record: I have always been Team Peeta. Which made the book that much harder to read, despite the ending. (That last real/not real question – “You love me. Real or not real?” – just about tore my heart out.)
One more: Cinna! Nooooo! I guess I should have taken for granted that he was dead, just as the characters did. Instead, I wanted him to pop up, wielding fabric – or maybe a needle – in the end. That said, I loved that Collins made sure he was not forgotten. Oh, but the one thing that bothered me: Why did we never learn his backstory? Why did he champion District 12? Why did his personal style not reflect the crazy glamour of the Capitol?
Reading this over, that’s not even my thoughts in a nutshell. It doesn’t scrape the surface. But I’m not doing the book justice so there’s no point rambling on. Suffice to say, I loved this trilogy and every minute I spent reading it, talking about it, and worrying over it.
Great thoughts. I enjoyed this. Thanks. I had the same hard time focusing my thoughts after I read the book. I didn’t like it, I knew that much, but there was so much to think about that I had a hard time sorting my thoughts out.
I agree with basically everything you’ve said. Especially about Cinna! I knew he was dead, and I wasn’t really expecting him to be alive after all (though that would have been nice), but I did want some backstory. Even a tiny bit of backstory would have pleased me mightily. :/
What a perfect response. Reading the series as a whole and this book in particular was like riding an emotional rollercoaster for me as well. Very overwhelming.
Sally – Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one at a loss! I’m glad to have read it, but did it ever put me through the wringer.
Jenny – Same here. I mean, someone had to know why Cinna chose to champion 12. I loved that Cinna was still a part of the story – despite never physically being present – but still…A little more about him would have been nice.
Holly – Perfectly stated! It all left me rather numb for a while there, but thinking back…Overwhelming, but good.
I was just about to ask if you’d read “The Hunger Games” series. I read all three books for the first time last week. (Was stuck in the house sick, plus I can’t read anything casually… must devour books if I enjoy them.) I really liked this series. The violence surprised me at first, but I could appreciate the way it was written… I think it was meant to shock us and trigger emotions.
I was also Team Peeta and also so sad by the deaths of Cinna, Finnick and Prim. I was also hoping Cinna would appear in the end, remarkably unharmed, but this definitely isn’t a fairytale, is it? Finnick and Prim’s deaths took me by surprise and were hard for me to process. (How bittersweet that his Annie had a baby that he never lived to see! *sniff, sniff*) I was a bit disappointed by Snow’s death… coughing on his own blood? I get the symbolism, but lame. I was hoping Katniss would take out Snow. At least she got Coin. (And I’m not even a violent-thinking person!)
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your review, especially since nobody I know has read/finished this book and have been itching to discuss it!
I missed Cinna so much in this book! I agree with you a lot on this review *nods* Minus the Team Peeta thing because I wasn’t Team Peeta ever in the series, I was Team Finnick (To Stay Alive). And actually, I anticipated his death but after he saw Annie I forgot any thoughts about it and then… it happened. It was a very numbing book and it took me a long time to recollect my thoughts, really. I don’t hate the book, but I’ve seen lots of reviews for it, bad mostly because I just know people that just dislike this one because of reasons (deaths and etc.) Pretty much, yeah. In the end, I got a realistic ending that I wanted, but I anticipated it differently o u o
Glad to see so many others are also so interested in Cinna! He’s so intriguing. I love his quiet, understated determination. But there are so many unanswered questions! I agree with the person who said that just a hint of his back story would have sufficed.
1. Was he born and raised in the Capitol? What made him so different from everyone else?
2. How and when did he get involved with the rebels?
3. Did he ask for District 12 in the first Hunger Games because he’d seen Katniss volunteer for her sister at the Reaping and sensed something in her? Or did he pick District 12 because they’re the underdogs? Did he have some connection to District 12?
4. How soon after he met Katniss did he start seeing her as the Mockingjay? He’d designed that costume for her well before the 2nd Hunger Games, it seems.
5. Most importantly – he obviously anticipated he’d be in big trouble with Snow for his anti-Capitol stunts. DID HE HAVE A NIGHTLOCK PILL ON HIM AND WAS HE ABLE TO TAKE IT BEFORE THEY COULD TORTURE HIM TO DEATH? I want to know he didn’t suffer badly before his death.
Aside from Cinna… I felt that the Katniss/Peeta thing wasn’t given enough attention, particularly at the end. There was barely any description of how they grew back together, just a statement that they did.
I would have liked to know how Katniss was perceived by Panem after she shot President Coin. When she came out at the end to shoot President Snow, her popularity with the public was verging on mania. After she shot Coin, were people sympathetic, thinking she was insane, or did they see her as a traitor? Her kids were learning about the war at school. Katniss was such an integral part of the war that they must have learned about her – so how was she portrayed? Were her kids regarded with respect or with distrust? I would also have liked to hear some of the behind-the-scenes debates about what to do with Katniss after she shot Coin. I liked, though, that only the last remaining Hunger Games survivors knew why she really did it.
I kind of wish Suzanne Collins would do a version of Mockingjay from someone else’s perspective. Someone who knew something about what happened to Cinna, who could comment on Katniss and Peeta and others, giving info that Katniss wasn’t privy to (we only get her perspective since its first-person narrative).
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