Review : Mockingjay

Posted by on April 1, 2012 12:21 pm in 4.5 stars reads | 53 comments

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Pages : 390
Genre : YA, Speculative fiction
Series : The Hunger Games, Book 3
My Rating :

(review may contain spoilers on the series)

I first read Mockingjay when it was published back in 2010. After a year of waiting, I was too excited to wait anymore and read it almost in one sitting. Reading the last few pages, I was left both satisfied and dissatisfied, but mostly confused about whether I had enjoyed it or hated it. There was just too much information, too many events and twists and turns, for me to process in what had been a few hours.

Despite not writing my review of it, I went online and read tons of them, hoping something would click and that I would finally understand my feelings about it. As it turned out, some people absolutely loved it, others hated it, and I could relate to most of their arguments. A book has rarely left me so confused, and a year and a half later, all I could remember, except for Prim’s death, was that Katniss spent most of the book drugged and sleeping.

A little over a week ago, I decided to reread The Hunger Games to be prepared for the movie. After watching it, I really felt like rereading the following two books, as I had never read them all as a whole before. So here we are!

I am pleased to say that, reading it just after the two previous books, in a calmer state of mind, I truly enjoyed Mockingjay. It was fast, heartbreaking, horrifying, intriguing, and even though I had read it and knew where it lead, I kept being surprised and the emotion from the scenes still got to me (I had forgotten a lot of what happened to Peeta, apparently!)

I related a lot more to Katniss this time around. Knowing in parts what was coming in the story, I was able to focus on her character and her interior battles much more. My first reaction : how can this girl still get up in the morning after all that’s happened to her? I was also pleased to see that, though she does spend a lot of time sleeping and healing, she also participates in many events. In fact, I found it refreshing to have a main character who isn’t always standing in the middle of every  important scene happening in her world. It was realistic, because no matter how important she is to the cause, I don’t believe adults would happily handle all of their very important business to a 16, 17 years old girl. While as a reader I found this frustrating the first time around, I ended up appreciating this aspect of the book. There’s enough action in Mockingjay, and adding more would probably have taken away from Katniss’ personal story.

Speaking of Katniss, I appreciated her state of mind more after a second reading. Reading the three books in a row, it made it easier for me to understand what she had lost, lived through, suffered in less than a couple of years. I feel that P.T.S.D. isn’t even enough to describe what she was going through. Katniss isn’t strong in every scene because she is, in many way, just a regular girl who wants to be left alone. But she doesn’t get a break, with all sides using her, and though I enjoy strong characters, it is extremely refreshing to have one who seems human in her reactions and decisions. Katniss is a complex character, just like I love them, with flaws that become strengths and strengths that become flaws. Like the world she lives in, Katniss isn’t black or white but somewhere in between, which is very true to life.

If there is one thing though that hasn’t changed since my first reading, it’s my opinion on the epilogue. Now, I do appreciate knowing what goes on in her life, many years later. It’s nice to know that life goes on, even though she’ll forever live with that dark cloud over her head. The problem is, I found this epilogue to be so weak after the book’s conclusion! The last sentences of Mockingjay, before the epilogue, are some of the strongest I have read for a series’ last words. They are perfect for the characters, the story, they have a strength and an emotional weight that the epilogue doesn’t. So for me, the book’s last word will forever be, “Real”.

Before concluding, I also want to give huge props to the author for making what has been, I am sure, some very difficult decisions. There’s a lot of heartbreak in Mockingjay, even more than in the previous books. I am sure some readers found it gratuitous, but for me, it was realistic : we don’t choose who goes first, nor do we choose how or why. And so it is in the world of Panem.

I am so glad that I reread not only Mockingjay, but the complete series. It is clear to me now why The Hunger Games is always the book I compare other YA novels of dystopia. Even though I often find them thrilling and entertaining, there isn’t one that has captured both my imagination and my heart like The Hunger Games.

Series Reading Order :

  1. The Hunger Games
  2. Catching Fire
  3. Mockingjay

53 Comments

  1. I just read The Hunger Games and didn’t love it. I can’t decide if I want to continue with the series or not. Maybe seeing the movie will help me decide.

    • I must say The Hunger Games Trilogy ended in a frustrating way but I also cannot say that there was any better ending other than having Finnick and Prim alive because I felt that Finnick deserved it and Prim, well I expected that she would be great. You don’t actually come to the book for romance because it’s more than that. If you want to read the next book better prepare yourself because after you finish Catching Fire you’ll ask for more.

    • this was actually as good book okv

  2. Great review! I have just finished reading the series this week, I downloaded Hunger Games on Monday so I’d have something to read during a long coach journey and had to download the other two in the series as soon as I got home. (This is the problem with having a Kindle, if I get addicted I don’t even have to wait until I’m next at a bookstore to buy the next in series!)

    I also loved that Katniss was a complex character, and at times that she was a bit of a jerk. I hate Mary Sue-ism in fiction and it would have been so easy to turn Katniss into one.

    I think Hunger Games was my favourite of the three novels, but I am re-reading them again this week to pick up on anything I missed the first time around. It’s so easy to miss the lovely little details when you are desperately waiting to find out what happens next.

    • I so agree with you. I have just read the series of 3 books back to back in under 1 month which is a record for me. I was addicted and thought they were great but also agree that – you miss so much because you are racing to get through them. I love at times how Katniss is a real and normal person and can’t cope and breaks down and the way she thinks in her own head and does get defensive – like normal people.

      I totally agree with Kay who’s blog this is that the last couple of chapters leaves you out of sorts because for the whole series you have been propelled and pushed along in such a momentum that the end conclusions leave you questioning if they should have been finished that way. Like the way she got fire bombed and the war ended will she was out of it – was totally expecting her to storm the mansion and have a big show down with Snow and take him out in a blaze of glory. But that be said – I have never enjoyed a book/series more the the hunger games and have never been drawn so intently into consuming the written word.

  3. Mockingjay is a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s probably the only way the series could have ended. I didn’t expect for so much of it to stay with me, particularly some of the deaths. I also love that Katniss is a real girl, like you said. She doesn’t have to go out guns blazing every time to be an intriguing character.

    • The love triangle was really bugging me. I know it was mostly there so it can get the readers curious and interested, but isn’t there another way to do that besides the love triangle. I really respected Katniss for here strength and independence. She didn’t seem like the person who would lead people on like that especially people she really cared about. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE:
      When she first realize that both Gale and Peeta love her, she should gathered them both in one room and told this:
      “I am sorry if I lead any of you on, but I do not love anyone. I see you both as my true friends and would protect you guys with my life, but right now I am not ready for that sort of commitment.”
      And from that moment on she would not show any body language or physical interaction between Gale or Peeta. Don’t allow them any hope of being with her, because it will only build up over time.
      And if she decided that she love Peeta she should let Gale know before showing any affecting for Peeta.
      I know that she cannot stop them from loving her but she sure can make it easier on them if she ever rejected one of them.
      I am also not saying that it was all Katniss fault that this Love triangle stayed for so long it just would have been more clear and less painful on all of them. Because Gale and Peeta defiantly took advantage of Katniss at times. Peeta for annoucing his crush on Katniss to the world making her look bad if she did not love him back or killed him in the games, and Gale taking advantage of Katniss vulnerability during the time Peeta was captured and tortured. In the end it is important that she does not lose any of them. I think that it was good that she finally saw that Peeta more than just another person to protect, but someone that can protect her and make her feel safe like she was when her father was alive. And I am glad Katniss was able to show Gale that they both make a good team and know each other better than anyone else but that is it when it comes to affection and emotional communication it doesn’t end well. That is why they can only be true friends and that will never end.
      Don’t be too disappointed about the ending.
      The goal was to bring equality and safety for all of Panem and that is what happen. Katniss was finally able to relax. There was no one for her to take care. The love triangle conflict ended, she got to finally show affection without feeling guilt. And she can go hunting with her father leather jacket. Soon she can get married and have children that she know will have a better life because of her. In the end it does not matter what everyone else thinks. As long as you respect yourself, love yourself and have true friends that surround you in a safe free home that is a truly happy ever after.

      P.S I literally had a mental breakdown when Prim’s Cat came in the house look for her and when Peeta was planting primroses. I actually was crying when Boggs died but when Prim died I wasn’t just crying I was CRYING CRYING i probably woke up the whole the whole neighborhood. There seriously should be a warning with this book that says:
      WARNING NOT FOR FRAGILE HEARTS!!!

  4. I agree about the epilogue. The same kerfluffle was had over the epilogue to the Harry Potter series, which I actually found appropriate. However, this one seemed unnecessary and out of place, especially after the strength of the closing chapter. There is hope in that place, and that is all one really needs to survive.

    • CONTAINs SPOILER ALERTS
      Mockingjay words can not describe the feeling I have right know. I just finished mocking jay and unanswered questions linger my mind. I have this thing called a fiction series obsession where this series is all I can think about,talk about, watch about, and read about. My first obsession was Harry potter, my obsession lasted a couple of years since there were so many books. At the seventh book I relized the last word was the end of my obsession that carried through my childhood. At the end I felt closed,happy that my favorite trio was alive and well. They had children each found there lover and voldemort was dead. Even though many of Harry’s loved ones died in the process of the war Harrys love and friends stayed alive. although I was extremely pleased with the ending i also found it unrealistic.Though you may think the hunger games and Harry potter are really different they actually are alike. They all focus on War and killing one person that will end there distress. In mocking jay I felt katniss spend the book in a district, she gets hurt and ends up back in the hospital in 13. I wish Collins didn’t waste half the book on explaining how katniss was in the hospital I thought the strong parts were in the Capitol after she got all the districts to be rebels. I was really upset about the mutt peeta. I’m no author but if I were to give advice to Collins about writing the book I would tell her to keep peeta the way he was. Without being hijacked by the jabberjays. The third book was when peeta sweet and caring personality was supposed to help katniss through the war. I thought that the third book was for peeta and katniss to finally realize that there star-crossed lover act was not for the games. It was time for them to realize that they really do love each other but katniss gave up on peeta and started to have a little more romance with gale. The whole book really features the choice beetween gale and peeta and I really thought that katniss would pick gale because of there deep history and he remembered her and peeta didn’t. but as he started to get better katniss remembered the guy she really fell in love with in the arena. I think the author made the right choice when she made katniss pick peeta. Because gale was to violent and fired up but peeta was calm and gentle and at peace with the world and thats what katniss needed. BUT after all the comments i read nobody mentioned anything about gale leaving. I think that was the worst choice Collins made. Gale was katniss hunting partner, her best friend.  he was he guy who kept her family alive during the games, he was the one who kept katniss going in the games knowing he was at home. Knowing she could come home to district 12 and go into the woods to there special place there and hunt. Gale was the one who helped her fight the war. Gale was the one holding katniss together. He was always there when she neededg him. And then gale disappears into a fancy job in district 2 and leaves the book and katniss forever. Even though katniss  picks peeta can’t  she can’t have gale as a friend? but I guess Collins decided that you can’t have both. Overall the book was beautifully plotted and written but the ending I got to say I did not like. I do understand with war comes consequences and not everything has a happy ending but I’d prefer not having a happy ending and a closing that I feel I can walk away knowing exactly what happened and not questioning. But I’m glad katniss children can live in peace without the hunger games and the odds will be ever in there favor.

      • I agree about the petah mutt part. COMPLETLEY UNECCECARY to add that. I wanted a different better ending. A sweet romance I guess. Also, gale wasn’t right for her. He had to much anger and for katniss. So, really I just wanted petah and katniss tobe totally in a sweet soppy romance. And finnick shouldn’t have died XD

  5. i read all three books back to back to back last year for the first time and felt quite confused by the third book too. i felt like the author took the easy way out with the whole katniss, gale, and peeta triangle and i also thought all the characters were insane! they weren’t the characters that i fell in love with in the first book. but i was talking about the series with another friend and she was telling me that the change in the characters made sense because of the situation they were thrown into and i guess i could see that.

    i also completely agree with you on the whole epilouge thingy! i would of liked it alot more if “real” had been the last word. that had a much stronger finish then the little story she added onto it.

  6. Thank you for such a thorough and insightful review. I have been on the fence about reading this series, but thanks to what you have written here, I think I will pick it up and give it a read. I was worried that it may not live up to all of the hype that has surrounded it and I would be disappointed, but maybe now I can see things differently.

  7. Saw Hunger Games movie on opening weekend. Decided to read the book. Took a week to read. Hooked. Read Catching Fire in 2 days. Read Mockingjay in 1 day. I rarely finish any book I start much less in a day. Mockingjay really messed with my mind. It caused many serious emotions. I’ve never had that happen to me from a book. I was genuinely depressed after Katniss’s reunion with Peeta. I’ve started reading it again. This time I’m going to take my time. While I agree the epilogue seemed like an after thought, it was good to see that Katniss and Peeta FINALLY get together. I could go on for pages.

    • Wonderful. I agree.

    • It took me less than a week to read all three books, three days for the first one, i started mockingjay immediatly after finishing catching fire, i just couldn’t stop at “Katniss, there is no District Twelve”.
      “Mockingjay really messed with my mind. It caused many serious emotions. I’ve never had that happen to me from a book.”
      That is EXACTLY how i feel now !! I finished it yesterday and yet can’t stop thinking about it, my mood keeps shifting while rethinking about it; happy, angry and sad. I think if katniss didn’t kill coin it would’ve hunted me forever, but still i can’t bear how much wounded an damaged she is at the end ,morally and physically, to the point that even her reunion with Peeta (wich i have been wating for a really long time) doesn’t seem to me as a happy ending ..

      • Oh and where is that pearl ??!
        I kept waiting for Katniss to show it to peeta while he was lost, to play some little part in his recovery, but it seemed to me like the author forgot about it 😀

  8. THIS IS MY REVIEW.

    I think it was an absolutely breathtaking and masterful piece of work Collins has created. Though some of you are annoyed with how there wasn’t the ‘usual’ happy ending, where heroines fully regain their power and strength and lover and happy ending blah blah blah, I think this is what sets Mockingjay apart from other great novels like Harry Potter and Twilight (if you think so). I’m sure all of us are fortunate enough to never have been involved in a war. We don’t know how giant the emotional scars it can cause. The fact that Collins made the story sort of hang in the air and Katniss without a fully complete recovery of her old self makes the reality and raw consequences of war shine through. It makes us wonder if war has really that big a power to destroy a part of someone’s life. In this case, yes.

    ABOUT THE ROMANCE. Firstly, it was never really the main point of the book. The fact that the last line of the entire series says “Because there are much worse games to play” (which by the way is a beautiful, beautiful line) shows that the message of these 3 books after all is about war. How peace is important and war does nothing but wreck the lives of millions including previously thought indestructible girls on fire. It shows not a single soul can ever escape from the harm of war, not even the bravest.

    A fitting ending to a fantastic series. Real or not real?

    Real.

    Also, I loved Peeta from the very start, and he is still my favourite character, and it kills me to know he was never the same again. But the choice to make him this further enhances the meaningful message on war Collins wishes to send to millions of people who turn her pages. I cried like hell when Finnick died (didn’t you?) , and just as Katniss didn’t even have time to mull over her close friend, her readers didn’t too, and so we experienced first-hand that pain of having to let a loved one go without even a final word of goodbye. The thing is, because of the skillful way Collins picked up her pen, we were able to feel exactly how Katniss felt. Pain. Grief. Joy. Hope. Love. Hate. Every single bit of it, in its truest form. That’s why this book will stay in readers’ hearts for a long, long time to come.

    In conclusion, I feel Collins have crafted a raw, realistic, hauntingly beautiful piece of 388+ pages that breathes new life into the themes of love, war, and sacrifice.

    • Re-read Mockingjay. I feel much better about the last third of Mockingjay than I did in my first reading. Everything seemed a little clearer.

      Seems the last couple of chapters are the parts of the book that most folks had a lot of problems. Was for me on my first reading. Prim’s death was still painful. I really felt for Katniss as she sorts things out after talking to Snow. I don’t think that her vote for a final hunger games with the children of Capital officials was real. I was also painful to see Katniss after she killed Coin. She wants to die. The mental illness verdict was interesting to me. Maybe it was clear to all of “new” panem that Coin was really a ruthless leader, not much different than Snow. Katniss did everyone a favor.

      There are several poignant sections in the last few chapters. The conversation between Gale and Peeta. Who’s she gonna pick? The one she needs to survive. She says she doesn’t need either of them. Same ‘ol Katniss. She sets Peeta free, releasing him from his bracelets and hugs him. The hugs will never be the same. The return of buttercup. Her inability do anything in the victory village house. Greasy Sae taking care of her.

      The last few chapters and epilogue were great. I didn’t feel this way on my first reading. Collins really does wrap up the Gale-vs-Peeta and Katniss “Peeta and I grow closer”. Gale pretty much knows it over when Katniss asks him if it was his bomb that killed Prim. “That was the one thing I had going for me. Taking care of your family.” It’s over. You can see a glimpse that the old Peeta is back. It’s implied that he wanted to be with Katniss before “Dr Aurelius wouldn’t let me leave the Capital until yesterday”. Finally that special kiss with Peeta happens. “It would have happened anyway”.

      There are such a wide range of reviews of Mockingjay. Love or hate it. Not many in-between. This speaks to the genius of these books. Hats off to Collins.

      I think I may finally be ready to put these books behind me.

  9. I’m really glad to hear that you enjoyed it, and I’m glad to read your review! I still enjoyed the epilogue, and I need to reread this series, especially after seeing the movie. Back when I read Mockingjay the first time, I reread it, and then reread the whole series, and maybe that contributed so much to loving it.

  10. This is really interesting. I’ve just read the series for the first time and, having been a little undecided up until Mockingjay, really took against it after the series. However, I’ve read plenty of things that make me think I need to reconsider it. I wonder if, like you, I might appreciate it more on a second reading.

    My review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

  11. I read the 3 novels almost back to back and each in a matter of hours. And my heart is broken and I feel down. The issues surrounding these three books go way further than the charcters, storyline, plot, romance etc. It is the nature of the human race, power, motives, leadership and our depravity. Made that much more real by “likable characters” and “friends”.

    That is what makes this final book a conundrum! The story vs the reality, vs the truth. The truth is Katniss is not real. But we are and the human race is. And that is scary.

    Hope – what they tried to steal from her, can be so easily stolen from us too unless we as humans make sure we never get to that place. That is the scary and depressing part, because when i look around and see the news, i realise that her world is not far fetched and that in some ways i may be one of those characters in the book – and how will my life be? Will I be one of those who dies hiding or dies standing up or lives at all.

    This is more than a story but should in fact be a reality check.

  12. I loved the trilogy but am left with a sense of dissatisfaction. I know it was the only plausible way to end the books with Peeta and Katniss getting together but I feel so sad at the loss of Gale. It saddened me much more than any of the deaths (except maybe Finnik’s which also seems a little overlooked). Why does no one else miss Gale?!

    • I do! It should always have been Gale. As If she didn’t have enough choices taken away from her, Peeta had to drag her into his speech and decide, without her input, that he’s going to sacrifice himself for her, making her feel she owes a debt and taking from her the choice of who she gets to fall in love with. She should have just shot him.
      In fact I’m absolutely devastated she ended up with him. Solely his name frustrated me beyond belief, along with the word ‘muttation’. It’s mutation. And Peter. If you’re going to make up new words at least try and put some effort in.

    • I was gutted at how they finished Gale’s part in the books. I love the books but also felt unsatisfied by the ending. Not saying it should be all roses and happily ever after, but after such a build up I found the ending really rushed and lacking.

    • I totally agree finnicks death was so important and Collins completely overlooked I wish katniss reflected on this a little more

  13. This is the best review I have found yet about Mockingjay an I have to commend you, especially since I feel the exact same way.
    Up early December of last year I didn’t even know the Hunger Games existed to be entirely honest. I saw the preview when I went to see Breaking Dawn and something captivated me about how entirely different this movie looked. I could tell just from the 2 and a half minute preview trailer that it was not a love story like the one I was about to watch, but an actual Young Adult war story, dictator story etc.
    I asked my mom to buy me the series for Christmas so I could read the books. (I am very into books and will read about anything but have been a huge Twilight (book) fan and MEGA Harry potter fan (almost too a point of extreme or obsession!).

    So She bought me The Hunger Games as well as Catching Fire but could not find Mockingjay anywhere.
    I did not read the hunger games at first. In fact until Two weeks ago I had never gotten past the 46th page!
    I decided to start at the beginning since I didn’t go far and let my mind wander into this story. Normally when I am very into a novel I read it in a matter of hours (took me 6 days to read all the Harry Potter books and 4 to read all the Twilight!). But with The Hunger Games it took my 4 nights (even being as short as it was) I loved it. In fact fell IN love with it. With the characters. ALL of them. They are more unique than any characters I have ever read in my life (and that is REALLY saying something). There is no perfect character in the hunger games. Not a single one. They all have personalities that conflict. All have strengths and weaknesses. And for the first time, the main character (Katniss) is perhaps the weakest character from the beginning of the trilogy to the end. The only thing that fuels her is her family. She lives to survive, not survives so she can live. She is a strong character in SOO many ways but has so many weaknesses that she doesn’t deny (like the fact that she always finds herself owing other. In another persons debt).

    So immediately in the 4 nights I took to read the book fell into It. Was completely captivated.
    It was so real and so true because of there being nothing perfect about it, while in contrast, I couldn’t see the book being any more perfect as a whole.

    I especially fell into it because although it was 800 page novel like half the Harry Potter books, it had 10 times the content. 10 times the action (and this is coming from a Harry potter obsessed fan!) the short novel in page length had so much too It and was so complex it blew me and everything I ever thought about literature away.

    This continued to remain true in Catching Fire. Perhaps even more so. The part of the novel involving the Quarter Quell was so short page wise, and took up so little of the book, but it didn’t lack in emotion. The second book is fantastic because of its ability to bring new characters in, have them grow, have Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch surely grow. The relationships between ALL the characters grow immensely. Not necessarily meaning that people grow closer together, but for instance: Katniss and Gale gain so much during the beginning of the novel in their relationship, but it is pretty much lost when Katniss decides to let him and her family go when she knows she will never go back. This was incredible for me because we go through the entire Hungrr Games book doing nothing see Katniss fight for her family, mainly Prim.

    She really hates Snow now and is so intent on the rebellion to come because she hates that he would subject Peeta (and her but mainly him) to another even more grotesque Hunger Games after her an Peeta and all the other victors were granted immunity after winning a Game. Her love for Peeta is beyond something of a love story. She needs him to survive mentally. She feels so in debt to him and to others because of the events during the Quarter Quell.
    Peeta faces the challenge of wanting to save Katniss (again!) while knowin that their chances of surviving is slim to none. The whole novel is intense and the ending is so unpredictable but so realistic and so heart wrenching.

    I waiting desperately a week after reading the first two books to get Mockingjay an read it. I had went and read reviews on the book and was hesitant to even read it. All I saw was negative after negative after negative after negative after negative! How they hated how it ended, how the whole book Katniss does not grow as a character, no one does, she just sits in a closet the whole time addicted to drugs, that Peeta looses his mind and becomes insane, etc etc etc.
    I realized then when reading these reviews that the reason people had a problem with Mockingjay is because it stayed TRUE to the Hunger Games. Honest true and perfect for a storyline after what the first two books (that everyone loved) held. So why did everyone hate it? Because it was not another Twilight. It didn’t have some unrealistic fantasizing ending and was not some love story which people seemed to think it was.
    The Hunger Games trilogy is about a war and government control. A war that is the result of The DICTATOR having a rich and bountiful Capitol while the other 12 districts that provided their food and materials suffered from hunger and had to participate in the Hunger Games each year as punishment for the rebellion 75 years before.
    The war was to stop the Hunger Games and let people have happy lives without fear an cruelty to their families and friends and children.
    This was the purpose from the start of the hunger games. From Gale talking about the Capitol and how cruel they were. This was what it was all about.
    Not some love story or triangle people thought was happening.

    The truth is that Katniss not ever once wanted some love relationship because she knew that unless the hunger games was abolished, she never wanted a family of her own, condemning her children to the same fate she and hundreds of others faced in the Arena.
    Mockingjay is no different of a story than the others, it Is just the climax. Finally luck didn’t play Katniss in favor (which is again, a first for a main character in a novel), and everything in her world crashed down when the Quarter Quell was ended and Peeta was taken prisoner.

    Her life from the second Prim’s name was called at the 74th Hunger Games reaping just consisted of one tragedy and battle after another. After the result of Catching Fire, there is no wonder why she broke down. She didn’t hide in the closet though. She was battling everything that happened during her TWO Hunger Games experiences. No different than Finnick or Haymitch. They struggle to function normally after the horrid experience in the arena. For Katniss, losing Peeta meant losing herself. She went into the Quarter Quell arena prepared to face death head on, and do everything in her power to make sure Peeta one. Everyone else in the arena that was her ally also had this same intention (well saving Peeta because it was the only way to save Katniss as well).
    Now that everything fell apart for Katniss and Peeta was gone, possibly being tortured by the Capitol, she had no reason to function. She couldn’t stop facing the horrors of the recent past.

    She does function though to the best she could. She is active in the life of District 13, she just isn’t all there 100%.

    She eventually does play up to become the Mockingjay and once Peeta is saved she wants nothing more than to kill Snow when she realizes how much Peeta has suffered and has become cold as cruel and DESPISES Katniss because of being tortured.

    She doesn’t give up. In fact she does so much to support the rebellion. What she does in district 8 and district 2, this is huge growth in her character as it is something she never would have done before without Peeta by her side guiding her along with his words.
    She has acted on her own and has strength she neer had before, but it is all with intention that Snow must die.

    Really the events in Mockinjay I thought were entirely appropriate. From beginning to end (almost). Everything that Peeta went through and what happened to him and how changed he is , was just remarkable to do to a character so liked throughout the series.
    It is obvious that Peeta’s kind heart still existed, his mind is just confused and altered. His kind words to some of the people in the capitol when their military group goes there is the true Peeta. Him knowing he must be shackled and ties up so he doesn’t hurt Peeta is a true sign that he knows that He as Peeta cares about her, but the capitol altered mutt Peeta wants no more than to brutally murder her and make her suffer.

    Prim’s death and Finnick’s death was tragic because it is when a real book reader and hunger games fan sees that their death is President Coins fault. Things that we know personally about Snow and the Capitol is that they would NEVER murder children of the capitol (why they wont enter them in the Games). Katniss sees this and especialy after talking to Gale, that Coin is the reason Prim was dead. In fact wanted her dead. Wants Katniss dead too. When Coin says about another Hunger Games, Peeta says no way because no matter the fact of using Capitol kids, the whole point of the games was to get rid of the Games, not seek revenge on the innocent capitol people after snow was dead

    Katniss realizes how wrong this is. Eventually of course the book begins to close and when I realized that there were about 15-20 pages left to resolve the novel, I would not be satisfied.

    I was content until in the last chapter when Katniss talks about how she wants to start a book. Reflecting on everything that happened since Prim’s name was pulled from that ball: I knew hated the rest of the book. That whole part was fine, but the next couple pages conaists of just describing how Peeta and Katniss eventually grew back together. Then the epilogue was just horrendous waste of a page and a Half.

    The thing with Mockigjay is this: I LOVED the book. Perhaps was my favorite. I like the trilogy even more than the Harry Potter series.
    BUT the book HAD a happy ending.
    Snow was dead, no more Hungrr Games, coin dead, Paylor president, many people still survived. Annie has a baby. People can move back to districts. People can move between districts and have incredible freedoms they never imagined. Peacekeepers no longer exist. And Katniss and Peeta are together in the end.

    THIS is a perfect happy ending.
    But the ending of Mockingjay was as far from perfect as it could get! It was like reading go. Another book really.
    After Katniss talks about the book she wants to write, there should have easily been another 100-200 pages.
    Instead a Happy Ending was described in 3 pages.

    There should have been an epilogue but I could have been closer to 100 pages long not a page and a Half and after that part with Katniss when for the next 5 pages it is just her describing how Peeta and her grow close together should have also been another 50-100 or more pages.

    I LOVED the last page of the book. Where Peeta and Katniss are lying together and Peeta asks “love me? Real or not?” and Katniss answers “Real”. That was perfect. That should have been the ending of the book. But again, between Katniss saying about writing her book and that last page could have been 100 pages of Katniss and Peeta growing together. Seeing their struggles to return to a new normal life and actually falling love off camera. But this is again, just describe. Then the Epilogue could have came after that last page and we would be more satisfied, in fact very satisfied. Because Mockingjay had a happy ending but it is pointless because it leaves us all unsettled. It is almost not fair. The epilogue would have been a great ending if it actually meant anything to us. We are told they are back together. Still atruggle and wi always struggle, have. Some kids. The end.

    I still love the novel, but I will always think of my own ending. Really not my own just a longer more descriptive version of Suzanne Collins. Actually Katniss and Peeta becoming a couple leading up the that famous last “Real” and an unforgettable epilogue.

    Just don’t forget: This book has a VERY happy resolved ending, even with all the death, but it is what it should be, just the way the ending was in the boom was horrendous do to the resolution being literally less than 10 pages.

    I am going to read all the books again. Just a little slower. I read Mockingjay in one 8 hour straight sitting. The others I also read quickly. I know how I feel about the novels and I won’t change my feelings

    I love them. Actually I adore them. I think that the ending of the MOVIE Mockingjay wi however satisfy all of us when the time comes because I am sure they will actually put it to a higher standard than the author did.

    I love the Hunger Games because of its reality and how complex it Is. How fantastic it is because of the character. How wonderful the entire plot is from beginning to end. The resolve of the novel is happy even though the entire trilogy is raped with tragedy after tradgedy, death after death, conflict after conflict: all the results of a very serious war.

    The Girl of Fire will never lose her flame.

    • all i can say is wow to what you wrote- you literally wrote down everything i was thinking but couldnt form into words. my brain was a jumble for the end of mockingjay, but now i can think more clearly about it. Great review type thing!!!! I just wished she wouldve made the epilouge longer, like showing what happenes to haymitch or gale(did he ever talk to katniss again?) or her mother (did she go back to see their children?) or what the government ended up like or finnick and annies kid. A little more closure wouldve been better, i guess im going to have to make all of these ending things a happy ending in my head because i couldnt have them be sad. Also, I haven’t seen anyone else write about Buttercup- i feel like that was a great end with Katniss and Buttercup before the Peeta and Katniss thing. an i loved how Prim’s final words to Katniss before she went to the Capitol was that the next time they see each other they’ll be safe- this only makes me want to have hope of some sort of after life even more, even though katniss and prim arent real. okay im done but again, great review.

  14. I really enjoyed the first two books but was really disappointed in the last one. Suzanne Collins is a phenomenal writer but failed to capture my attention in Mockingjay. It took me over a week to read because it was so boring.Half of the book involves Katniss being drugged or in the hospital and the rest of the book she’s depressed. Katniss never fully reached her potential. It annoyed me that she didn’t become the hero everyone wanted her to be. I know she went through a lot but she was never that emotionally involved anyway. In the first book she was so strong and independent. And all that dissolved in the last book. Even her relationship with Gale didn’t survive. The whole love triangle was mentioned several times but didn’t develop. It was just there. All in all it was an okay book. Even though it was so emotional and well written, that couldn’t save it from being a disapointment.

  15. I really enjoyed how it ended. I completely agree that it left me confused with whether I liked it or not but after consideration its sort of a breath of fresh air. With the Twilight and Harry Potter books everything fall to nicely into place. With this book your left having to deal with the death of Finnick, Prim, Cinna and countless more which makes the story so much more believable.

  16. The Hunger Game series is one of the best YA series I have read. I would definitely have to agree that the Mockingjay was bittersweet for me. The book was packed with adventure as well as downtime. As much as I wanted the super, happy ending, I really could not expect that sort of ending in this series with all that occurs. I give kudos to Suzanne Collins for writing the ending the way she did, even if it may disappoint people. It made the series more believable.

  17. great review.

    I finished mockingjay just last night. It left a great feeling of mix frustration and satisfaction caught up with digesting the entire story in memories of each character, it’s like I am on limbo or something.

    I love how it ends.
    It is sad but realistic,
    frustrating and yet a it makes your hands grip on tighter,
    there is a lot of loss feeling but it also makes you hopeful.

    The book, the entire series captures me.
    It might not hit all the right notes, might not explain a lot of things, might not satisfy what we think the character deserves but all of it is just “real”.

  18. Very great review ,I love this book.

  19. I have to disagree. I hated the climax as I felt it was incoherent with the rest of the plot. You either write realistic novels or absolute piece of fiction. There is no mid way. Hunger games was always a piece of fiction flooded with unexpected turn of events to make good prevail over evil. I mean Katniss surviving 2 hunger games despite the presence of trained assassins from district 1-4, capitol not using it’s nuclear arsenal to wipe out the districts while facing a certain defeat, district 13 being able to not just survive but garner a pile of armoury underground to fight the capitol and eventually all 3 stars surviving their bloody trail to the capitol. So why make it realistic by reducing the most lively character of the novel into a war victim. The answer is simple. Suzanne Collins is am ambitious writer. She was an instant hit with the masses with the very first novel. So she used the last one as an opportunity to appeal to the senses of the critics with a grim unorthodox climax. But in the process she ruined what could have been an inspiring work of fiction that could bring hope and unparalleled exhilaration for generations to come.

  20. when I read mockingjay, I thought: why is she almost all the time in the hospital ? why ‘misses’ she so much?
    but now I kinda remember how much I hate it when the main character fights everyone and wins. that just can’t happen. it’s not realistic.
    so now i realize that this book IS realistic, if you know what i mean.

    thank you for you review, it’s geat!

  21. Deflated/

    I think the most irritating thing was being on the edge of my seat during all three books, but at the ending of mockingjay being left completely deflated. unsatisfied. From the moment Prim died, the story was rushed and I suspect Suzanne Collins was on a deadline.

    How Katniss overcame about Prims death in my opinion was lacking in depth, as well as empathy from Gale or Peeta, or Katniss’ own mother.

    After killing Coin, Katniss was absent for months and then the information we were given as to what had happened in the passing time felt, unsatisfactory.

    Although Katniss was in a state of despair and the portrayal of her was realistic, there wasn’t much substance into Peetas recovery nor any expansion on how he and Katniss fell back in love?

    All three books were riveting and the although the ending was flat I thoroughly enjoyed Peeta and gale in the love triangle, willing katniss to want to be with one or the other at various points.

  22. I have finished it today, and I don’t know. I mean it’s really really good, but the last book on the end is really depressing. I don’t like how Katniss choose, and I can say I don’t really like Katniss at the end. As Gale and Peeta talked about, he will choose the one who can protect themselves, and nothing about who she loves. On the other hand it’s really good to read a book, where the main character is a character who is far from perfect, and at the end the book is not everything about the perfect happy end. Hamnitch remains an alcohol addict, Katniss and Peeta will be never the same, etc…

    Really mixed feelings, I think I will need a few days to clear out my head, and think about again.

    Sorry for the weak expression, but it’s much harder to tell in english how you feel after reading this book, like in my mother language.

  23. I am absolutely obsessed with the hunger games.After a read all of the books I read millions of reviews to try and make out what I thought about mockingjay.I constantly think about the hunger games.The movie I found was amazing and I watch it all the time.I have gone into a depression over the hunger games,I know it sounds silly but I dont know what to do.Im in love with gale!! I don’t really like peeta as gale has been there for katniss for her whole life.I think gale deserved a better ending than he just “got a fancy job in 2” .to be honest I would love to have gone Ino the arena,much better than my life as it is.I think it would be a good place to die for me,or maybe become a victor because I think I would really kick some ass:) I mean I would love to go into the hunger games? I’m being stupid I know but seriously help:/

  24. I just finished reading Mockingjay and feel confused. The third book seemed so much darker and far more fatalistic. As a former Jr. High teacher I am a bit concerned about offering this book to that particular age group. With the first two books in the series, there is a very central plot and a definite conflict–good vs evil. The third book seems so much more scattered with numerous plots and an underlying theme of “moral relativism” ; there is no more right or wrong. Katniss and the main characters pay the price becoming people of undetermined character. It was more bitter than sweet. I understand that war is hell, I just don’t know that it should have been force fed on this age group.

    Gale–Take a deep breath and go out and volunteer at a charity you feel drawn to. Going too far inward is not healthy.
    Blessings

  25. i have never cried while reading a book. the part that unleashed my torrents of emotion was where Katniss broke down crying for Peeta and the only person she would seek some kind of comfort in was haymitch… it got me good

    I was really upset when it hit on me that Finnick was being chewed away by those horrible mutts.

    Overall, it was a great book that swung me around in a hell of roller coaster ride of emotions.

  26. Warning! Spoilers and length.

    I’ve never left a comment on a book before but this left me feeling pretty…I don’t even know. I feel like Katniss, like I’m just a jumble of emotions and lost and can’t figure out what I should be feeling. I thought this series was exactly the type of story I’d enjoy, the type of thing I like. I have bad problems when it comes to stories with tragic endings, I get too attached, and too upset, so before I even opened the first book I’d made sure the ending was happy (no main characters dead, romance in a good place, not spoilers but I knew it wasn’t a tragedy). I had no idea what would happen though, I could never have expected to get exactly the ending I wanted at the beginning, and still feel so absolutely gutted.

    I suppose more than anything my main problems are all about Peeta. I loved Peeta’s character, have since the very start. He was like the symbol of hope, the one who wanted to stay pure more than he wanted to survive, he was the one who felt so bad about the one and only person he killed in the first games even though it was an accident, the one who loved Katniss unconditionally and never asked her to chose, never asked her even to love him in return, he just loved her.

    Katniss was right too, he was better than the rest of them, because he went through the games and kept himself, he didn’t lose who he was to the capitol, no matter what. Katniss wasn’t herself after the Hunger Games, she’d changed, but through everything Peeta never seemed to. He was like an embodiment of hope, and not just for Katniss, but for me too. I can honestly say the exact moment my heard sank to the floor and I realised this trilogy is completely not the kind of thing I should be reading was the moment they explained about the hijacking and Katniss knew without a shred of doubt, that Peeta would never ever be the same. The actual explanation of what had been done to him made me feel sick. The very thought of it, of his memories of Katniss, the one thing in his life that he loves, the only thing he has, for that to be destroyed, distorted into something horrifying and frightening and maddening – well, it was horrifying, frightening and maddening for me too.

    I think I felt a little bit inside me die then, and after that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the pages(although I’d been practically glued to them already anyway), I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep (it’s 3 in the afternoon and I haven’t been to bed) I just kept reading. I kept hoping, even though all hope in the book was completely gone. The remaining pages got smaller and smaller in my hands and I felt Katniss’s despiration, the revolutions desperation, and I think I might have gone a little bit mad with Katniss along the way, seeing everything crumble even though we were getting what we wanted. The revolution was winning, Peeta was getting better, Gale was still alive. It just didn’t feel right.

    When the war started it really affected me. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was because of my pent up emotions from my crushing disappointment – because that’s the only word that fits for what I felt for Peeta – maybe SC really is just that good a writer, but for whatever reason, when it came to the actual war in the Capitol it horrified me. Not the fighting, but the devices. The oil, when it first appeared, the assertion that it wasn’t mechanical and wasn’t natural, it freaked me the hell out. I have no idea why, it doesn’t even sound that scary, but I read it over and over again, absolutely trembling with how much the book was getting to me. Needless to say, by the time they got through the tunnels and mostly everyone was dead (Finnick!) by those Mutts I literally felt like the reason I could no longer put the books down was now not because of needing to read read it, but because if I didn’t get a resolution to this horror I’d be going to bed with nightmares.

    By the time it got to the Snow and the children I could hardly say I felt much of anything, but seeing little glimpses of Peeta gave me that hope again. I wish it hadn’t, I really do, because it was all for naught. So when Prim was killed, I can honestly say I didn’t actually even feel sad, I felt as drained as the story. It’s like in winning the war and finally getting what they wanted, they gave up who they were, just like all the participants in the Hunger games, just like everyone in the book except Peeta. Who is ruined. As Katniss doesn’t fail to remind us again and again. I definitely felt as mad as Katniss after she’d killed Coin, again Peeta was there with that tiny sliver of hope, but even that didn’t make me feel any better at this point. Not with Katniss calling herself and Peeta Fire-Mutts, when even the word Mutt written on the page was giving me shivers and turning my stomach at this point. It was just so freaking twisted and reaked of injustice and tragedy even though it wasn’t.

    I kept hoping though, because despite the odds they were still all alive, Peeta and Katniss and Gale and Haymitch, and that’s what I wanted from the start, so I got my ending. I knew she’d chose Peeta from the first book, so I wasn’t worried about that, it was so obvious. I hoped for that light though, that final something to show that there was still something worth reading for. I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut when Katniss said she didn’t feel anything when she knew she’d probably never see Gale again, that he was gone from her life. She felt relief? I wanted to cry, but I was still too numb.

    I’m crying now though. Then, the one last thread of hope snapped right at the end, when Katniss told Peeta she loved him, because it wasn’t nearly enough, not by a long shot, not in any way, shape or form was it enough to touch on all my frustration, desperation, hope, love, this madness that had taken over my mind from immersing myself into this word for three whole days straight with barely food or water and practically no sleep. From first book to last I read them all one after the other, unable to put them down, giving my all to the characters because that’s what I always do, because I always know I’m safe, that the ending won’t be tragic.

    But I feel like, after everything, that all I really wanted was for Katniss to show Peeta what she showed us – that she loved him, that he was everything to her, that he wasn’t her second choice and that he wasn’t only chosen because Gale was gone, that he was the one she wanted to be with, the one she’d always have chosen. She couldn’t even do that. They got less than a page after everything they’ve been though, and I’m supposed to accept this? Just being told “Peeta and I grow back together” Don’t just tell me that, after spending so long ripping them apart! Then the book was over. With one epilogue that tells me nothing but that there’s no hope for Peeta and Katniss, ever. At least if I hadn’t had the epilogue, I could have imagined that they recover, slowly, or at least that between the two of them, they finally figure out how much Katniss loved Peeta like he loves her.

    I know it was an amazing book, I know they all were. I know the focus was never on romance, but what can I say? I wanted some semblance for Peeta and Katniss after all their suffering, and all I get is a marriage where I’m convinced Peeta will never know how much Katniss loves him and Katniss will never be able to even sort through her feelings and find out herself. I know the ending words between Peeta and Katniss are exactly what’s needed for the book. But it really has left me feeling terrible. I can’t even explain it yet.

    I feel sick, still shivering slightly from the thought of the Mutts.
    I feel so hopeless, for Peeta, the one pure soul in all the word it seems, his only wish to keep himself, and he’s stripped of even that.
    I feel so lost, for Katniss who never seemed to know her own feelings and it seems never will.
    I feel frustrated, for Gale who was so unjustly swept out of the heart of the one he loves so much with no good reason.

    Most of all though, I just feel sad, sad and drained and unable to process much of anything but my horrible disappointment that even though I got my typical ‘happy ending’, the book even took all pleasure out of that. Just like the winners of the Hunger Games, just like the winning of the war, just like Peeta, just like Katniss.

    I guess that means the books a success. It’s just not for me, and I’m the sucker who read it.

  27. I read the books to see what all of the hype was about, and I have to admit I was not disappointed. After reading many of the reviews, I realize many people have mixed feelings. In the beginning, Katniss resented her mother’s tuning out after her father’s death. However, Katniss herself does the same thing after Prim’s death. I think the story is about Katniss’ self discovery. As for the love triangle, I liked when she came to the conclusion that she didn’t need Gale or Peeta. It shows that she was complete without either which is a message that young girls today need to hear. There are many layers to peel back when reading this trilogy which get overlooked on the first reading. The ending leaves many readers asking questions which is what a good book should do.

  28. I love the first two books and hated the last one – Mockingjay. It has too much information that i think are just nonsense. and I specially hate the ending. I wish peeta and katniss would talk about how they felt. peeta atleast tried to explain how hard it was for him being hijacked.

    I could have forgiven everything that happened and how many the information was if the ending was good…

  29. im twelve and ive read all three books

  30. I finished Mockingjay about 10 minutes ago and I am so in love with Peeta from Catching Fire!!! After Peeta came back I waited and waited for him to get better and he never did! I feel like at the end of the book he only loves her because he thinks he is supposed to and that’s what his old self did! I feel like Gale didn’t mean to kill Prim but he still loved her and she should have choosen Gale because Peeta will never love her again!

  31. Mockingjay frustrated me. The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were great. I especially enjoyed Catching Fure because the games were so…different, and exciting. But Mockingjay made me confused and mad at the same time. The best characters were killed off (Prim&Finnick), Gale and Katnisses mother moved to different districts and their relationships didn’t turn into much. I would have preferred th ending if Katniss and Gale ended up together, but instead the author teased us with their flirtacious moments when you think maybe, just MAYBE they’ll work out. But no, Peeta is hijacked/insane and it’s as if the author forces their relationship. No explanation, it’s just there.
    I was quite satisfied when she killed Coin though, she was a worthless woman and was just as bad as Snow, imo. I’ll still watch the next 3 movies, but I think she could have made the book series longer, in more detail, and not forced into anything so fast.
    Prims death made me cry. And it may seem ridiculous, but that part was heartbreaking. Katniss already lost Rue and her Father, then her little sister dies. It was a tragic way to end the chapter and I had to put the book down for a little while, because it angered me so.
    Being written in first person, I got more attached to the characters, so I guess Prim seemed like my own little sister and the thought of losing her upset my stomach. Not to mention, these books play out in my head like a movie, which only made it worse when she blew up.

  32. *spoiler alert*
    firstly, the ending frustrated and amazed me. it was clear that this was the only ending Collins could use to truly touch her audience and this book will stay with me forever.
    the thing that frustrated me was that Collins’ final book was mainly focused on katniss’ s emotional trauma throughout the rebellion, as it was very descriptive the impact of every event on katniss. what frustrated me was the lack of description of the impact of prim’s death, losing gale and her realisation of her true love being peta. providing a descriptive ending would have eased the readers from losing their happy ending and been more capable of accepting the ending and happy for katniss and her life with peta. instead, because the sum up lacked information, follow up and description it was very morbid making katniss the damaged, tormented war survivor settling for whatever came her way, meaning peta. she didn’t choose peta, peta was just her only option left, the ending seemed rushed it had something but not everything. but I must admit when prim’s cat returned and katniss had that break down I could not stop crying. but I felt that was as far as katniss was going to grieve.
    truly an inspirational book, recommended it to everyone and I thought Collins is an amazing writer.

    • i could not agree more. Everything you said is true. Maybe the movie-script writer will be smarter. i don’t see how a movie can end in this way.

  33. SPOILER ALERT.

    I just finished reading Mockingjay and I only can say that I absolutely hated the book. I don’t know if it’s because of all the horror and tragedy, or because I just got too attachted to the people who passed. I don’t think it was a good desicion to let Prim and Finnick die.. Prim because she just deserved to grow up as a successfull doctor and Finnick for Annie. Their son kind of made me feel better, but it didn’t make me feel… better. Collins should’ve let him live.

    I also didn’t like how Gale just disappeared. Her soulmate, which she ~could~ forgive but didn’t find the words for. Gone forever and never told about again.

    The end looks like she rushed them, and now I’m talking about both the epilogue and how Paylor became president. Katniss shot Coin, drugged herself with morphine, planning how to commit suicide and then she just got out of that mood (after months, but it went too fast in words) and explains what happened? The epilogue was just.. not enough, short, limited. What happened with Haymitch? Did he continue to drown himself with alcohol? Did he find somebody to love? Had he passed from all the alcohol or couldn’t he take it anymore at some point? Katniss’ mother? Did she continue to work her mourn away? Johanna? Is she a morfling now? Annie? Her nameless son, is she strong enough to raise him without Finnick’s arm to hold her when she has her absent-minded, flashbacking moments? And I think this is why Finnick deserved to live, to do that.

    This book was ~for me~ too much action and not enough plot. I think Collins didn’t know what she did as much as Katniss when she wrote about the mission to kill Snow. She focused too much on all the horror and pods that activated on the streets than actually focus on how to get actual good end; because this wasn’t one.

    I also just hate Katniss’ behavior, but that’s just me. Oh, and now I think about it, she shouldn’t had dhfdkjhfds’ed Peeta up that much. I wish they’d found a remedy for the hijacking stuff.. BUT I love how the book is realistic in emotions. I like that Katniss explains that she still has her nightmares after more than fifteen years and that she kind of learned how to live with it. I like how she became normal and not-important again.

    Summary: I just didn’t expect the book to end like this and I hated it, though I love how the charachters deal with their emotions.

  34. I didnt like the way the book ended so i wrote an alternative ending:

    …..Peeta and I grow back together, but after a few days together again, I realise that Peeta isn’t the one I can’t live without. It’s Gale. But Gale is all the way in District 2 and I’m stuck here in District 12 with Peeta. Peeta. How can I tell him that we can’t be together after all he has been through? After hours of wondering how I’m going to break the news to him, I realise it would be easier for us both if I just tell him the truth.
    When Peeta comes home I tell him everything that’s been on my mind, and surprisingly he understands.
    “Me and Gale always knew that it had to be one of us”, says Peeta, “but I understand that if it’s Gale you have chosen, then I will have to respect that. It will hurt to let you go but no matter where you are or who you’re with, I will always love you”.
    We exchange a hug and then I pack my hunting bag ready for the long trek to District 2. I don’t look back once I’ve left because I know it will only bring me tears, so I just carry on walking towards my future.
    I decide to sit down on a small log after walking for 3 hours. By now, I think, I must be in District 10. 7 more districts to pass before I get to Gale. I can’t help wondering what could happen when I arrive, if I arrive, at District 2. What if Gale has found someone else to love or if he feels that being with me will bring back memories. But then all these thoughts fly straight out of my mind as I see something in the woods. Gale.

    28
    “Gale! What are you doing here?”
    “I could ask you the same thing. What happened to Peeta?”
    “What happened is that I realised that it was you all along. Gale, you’re the one that I can’t live without. You’re the one who makes my life complete. But I still don’t know why you’re here?”
    “I’m here because I was trying to get to you in District 12. I wanted to tell you that even though you chose Peeta, you’re still the girl who I love. I don’t care about Katniss, the girl on fire or the Mokingjay, all I care about is Katniss Everdeen, the girl from District 12 who I’m deeply in love with. And now that you have changed your mind and chosen me, you’re now the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
    “I was hoping you’d say that. My only problem now, is that we have nowhere to go.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong! We have the woods. We can start a new life out here, just you and me! We could build a house and we can hunt. This is where we belong, Katniss, in the woods, just you and me.”
    “Just you and me, I like that. Just like it used to be. The odds are definitely in my favour today.”

  35. *SPOILER ALERT!*
    I loved the first two books but Mockingjay is unbelievable. It lives behind a lot of unanswered questions, especially about Gale. Then Collins went along and destroys Peeta and he never fully recovers! And then i think of Finnick and i feel like yelling because he didn’t deserve to die, especially Prim, innocent Prim, how can she do that. Then that leaves another unanswered question if it was Gale’s bomb that killed her and now she can’t stop thinking it. Katniss could’nt forgive her mom for that breakdown after her dad died but she did the same thing. And then there’s the end and how that sucked cause after what’s between Katniss and Peeta’s destroyed all we’re told is “Peeta and i grow back together”. Then she has kids and all she does is stick around at home with the boy with the bread and then lt comes again “what happened to Gale?”

  36. this book was ok i wish they would have added more detail!!!….but waht eever

  37. I love this book and I can not wait til I get to see the movie just like Sierra said I wish that they would have added more detail because I really wanna know more I wish the series will never end

  38. ***SPOILERS***

    i agree with you on many points. The first time i read Mockingjay, i was so into it because i just wanted to finish it. I wanted to finish it because i wanted to read a great ending. When i finished the book, i was so angry. i hated how everyone was dying for no reason, how it was realistic even though the whole plot has never been realistic, how Finnick died, and how Katniss was either hiding or in the hospital the whole time.

    The second time around, over a year later and much calmer, here are my thoughts:

    What i liked: There were some really clever lines thrown in there and a lot of references to the previous books. It’s what the last book should have. One of my favorite moments was when the author put the song in the epilogue. It brought back so many emotions from when Katniss sang it t Prim and Rue.

    What i don’t mind: Having Katniss hiding and in the hospital was not a problem anymore. It made sense. i also was able to get over Cinna’s and Bogg’s death with satisfaction.

    What i will never get over: How it is too realistic when this is a fictional story. There has to be some happiness. Finnick’s death. There was no reason for him to die. He was a loved character and died without any kind of satisfaction. i hate that a lot. Also, we never really know what happens to Effie.

    The biggest problem of the book: Prim’s death. The whole book spiraled down after this. I understand that it’s war and people die, but i don’t think that’s why the author wrote her death in. i think she needed a big plot twist and a way for Katniss to end up with Peeta. After Prim was dead, Katniss hit rock bottom when i already thought she hit rock bottom. Gale, a huge part of the novel, just leaves because there is absolutely no way Katniss can forgive her best friend for something he didn’t mean to do. The rest of the book was depressing and annoying. i got so tired of reading about how sad she was. i was about to put the book down. Everything after that was summaries. “Peeta and i grew back together”. I wanted to see that at least. Then epilogue. I didn’t really get the feeling she loved her kids. It was more of a fact.

    So all in all, Prim’s death ruined everything. i really hope they change that in the movie.

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  1. REVIEW: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog - [...] The Infinite Shelf: “I related a lot more to Katniss this time around. Knowing in parts what was coming…

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