Mockingjay (Hunger Games) Review--Spoilers

We have been having computer issues for sometime, this has limited my blogging and reading time. Alas I finally finished the book and here are my thoughts.

First off Mockingjay starts off real slow. The other books had much better starts, were more interesting and emotional in the beginning. There is too much waffling by Katniss in the beginning, too much complaining. I get some of it, but there is so much that it detracts from the overall flow of the book, it took me a month to get through the first 150 pages. It just wasn't that compelling, in a book that should have been.

I have to remind myself this is young adult fiction, mainly because the subject is extremely violent and brutal. In fact I think too much so. Collins wants to create a world that is violent, and it is, but she does so in young adult fiction using young adult writing. What I am saying is she either should have improved her overall writing and written for adults or toned down the graphics some. I thought this was a major weakness, she wanted to be graphic and 'real', yet the writing was not good enough for adults. I get its a violent society I don't need faces splattering all over to prove it. The books got more and more graphic but the overall writing never improved.

I found the actions scenes hard to follow. This is where I did the most rereading. Collins imagery was hard to follow. She failed to follow the old 'show not tell' motto of writing. I found most of the actions not as compelling as they should have been because I couldn't always figure out what was going on.

Not a fan of first person. It is a limited perspective. Would have loved Peeta's or Gale's perspective throughout the books. Katniss is a good heroine, but a teenager, confused, and jumbled throughout the series. I have always found first person books limited in character development, except for the main character--go figure.

Mockingjay was predictable, so much so that all the characters in the book knew what Katniss would do. I found that amusing.

Despite the criticisms of the book I do think the book ended on point. In fact I feel the ending was the most real part other than the very start of Hunger Games. Now some people haven't liked the ending, I guess you were reading a different series than I was. This was a brutal series, violent in every way, finally at the end the characters were affected by it. I knew Coin was the target at the end, she had to be. Katniss knew she had to kill her to end the cycle of violence. And then she was lost after that. Her mission over. She finally had time to mourn for those lost, especially her sister. This was the part I found most real. The action was over, she had time to mourn the dead. This is where the book hit its mark. In fact I have always said a good ending can make up for a lot.

Hunger Games begins with Katniss saving Prim, Mockingjay ends with her not being able to save her again. The irony is not lost. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and no matter how hard you try you can't stop it.

The books were about violence. They were about society. Collins was making a statement about war, the ends justifying the means. In this she did a good job. She created a brutal futuristic world. This view of a totalitarian government while not pretty, was well done. Her pictures of society, especially the Capitol were vivid. This was what she did best in the series. Totalitarian governments do whatever it takes to keep their power and that is exactly what the 'Hunger Games' did.

Now some people wanted a cheery ending, that wasn't going to happen, nor should it have. It would not have been true to the story if it did. In this point I thought Collins nailed it. I think deep down we knew all along that Katniss would end up with Peeta. Gale continually alludes to it, and knows her better than herself. I liked Gale's character a lot and found him to be my favorite. I enjoyed the last part where Katniss knows she should say something to Gale but can't. She had made her choice a long time ago, and was finally realizing it herself. The depression and post traumatic stress at the end were well portrayed. She finally had a moment to take it all in and found herself paralyzed.

Overall I think what the series does best is make you think. It is though provoking. You continually think what you would do and are glad you don't live in the society. I also think this series doesn't know what it wants to be. Too much for young adult fiction, not written well enough to be anything else. The story is compelling, but the action is confusing. Hunger Games starts strong, Catching Fire is written better, but Mockingjay ends on point. Collins is no JK Rowling and this series won't have the same lasting power because of the subject matter. But it is a great portrayal of totalitarianism and the lack of power its citizens have. It has been a nice break reading these books, but I think I am done with young adult fiction for now.