Mockingjay (book 3 in The Hunger Games Trilogy)
Published August 30, 2010
District 12 is gone. Peeta has been captured by the Capital. And while the other Districts wage an all out rebellion, Katniss and Gale are secreted away to the underground colony in District 13–the leaders of which plan to use Katniss’ Mockingjay status to fuel the revolution through to completion. Except Katniss is tired of being a pawn in other people’s war games.
Exhausted, drained of passion, and a bare survivor, Katniss emotionally implodes until she’s little more than a carcass, useful to no one–especially Peeta, who, for all her swearing to protect in the arena, is out of reach. Or so she thinks… But when President Snow dangles Peeta across the airwaves, taunting Katniss with the thin reality that she might still save him, Katniss pulls herself together long enough to become the symbol the Districts are looking for.
But will it be enough?
Revolution requires a price, and this one will be even higher than Katniss can imagine. Or most likely endure.
What I liked:
- Ms. Collins’ prose. As always. Perfect.
- Katniss’ compassion.
- The Capital’s underground passage system and the mutts crawling through it. Nice and creepy.
- Haymitch and Katniss’ relationship.
- Cinna’s handwritten note, “I’m still betting on you.” (I cried.)
- The multiple layers of relational tension between the characters.
- Kaniss’ singing (toward the end) when she has been emotionally stripped to the bone. Beautifully poetic. (And realistic.)
- Much of the emotional and psychological accuracy of the novel.
- The irony that we, as fans of this series, can be compared to the fans of the Capital’s Hunger Games. For instance, below, when I list what angered me…I’m pathetically aware it is because I wanted the Games and the love story and the happy ending without the bitter undermining of reality.
- Buttercup.
What made me throw a sissy-girl fit:
- Ms. Collins stripped Peeta down, shredded out his insides, then handed him back on a platter. For this reason alone, I was sad.
- The anti-war message. While not inappropriate, I felt that the level of reality to which Ms. Collins took it shadowed the characters in the book and robbed the readers of a satisfying story arc. While Mockingjay is a realistic take on war and its devastating effects—socially, emotionally, physically, and relationally—at the end of the day the book is a YA novel, not a Tom Brokaw war documentary. Reality in fiction is good, yes. But not at the expense of the story.
- The bait and switch tactic. The above wouldn’t have bothered me nearly so much if I hadn’t walked away feeling tricked and robbed. I fell in love with The Hunger Games for the beautiful imagery, incredible characters, fabulous plot, and promise of tension—both romantic and social. Somewhere along the way between the ending of book 1 and the ending of book 3, Ms. Collins got sidetracked into reality…and took us with her. (Can you hear me kicking and screaming?)
- Methinks she took the old writer’s adage “kill your darlings” too far. And those who weren’t killed, were taxed and tortured beyond emotional recognition so that I’d actually wished they had been. Katniss… Peeta… Haymitch… Ms. Collins, I love you. But you gave us the reality of hollowed-out victims when we were begging for fairytale victors.
- Katniss. It began to feel as if most of the book surrounded her curled up in a fetal position, confused and unable to make choices unless forced to. And aside from short spurts of passionate mutiny, all of Katniss’ choices are made for her. As one reviewer put it–Katniss spends the book reacting to circumstances, rather than acting with conviction. Instead of seeing her develop and grow to arrive at some form of internal strength and conviction, we see her unravel at the seams so that even in the end, we don’t get the pleasure of Katniss choosing between Gale and Peeta. Life happens TO her. Being the mockingjay happens TO her. And she has nothing left.
- The lack of romantic tension. (Okay…seriously? Katniss doesn’t know who she’ll fall in love with until the last 4 pages?) I desperately wanted the bleakness of the story (and of Katniss’ war-ravaged self) to be off-set by romance blooming. *sigh*
- The ending involving Gale.
- The one paragraph “relational” summary at the end telling that Katniss and (I won’t spoil this—so we’ll just say “the boy she ends up with”) “grow together.” Sorry, this was NOT enough for me. My sister called it right–I could have gotten over everything else in the book had we been offered one last chapter of watching Katniss and “boy she ends up with” actually growing together. I mean–what did that look like? Walk me through it please! Because after all–I spent 3 books with these people. At least allow me the pleasure of seeing their relationship as it finds resolution.
Obviously the fact that I feel so strongly on all of this reveals how much I adore the trilogy and its author. So, for that alone, Suzanne Collins–FABULOUS JOB!!!
What’s the mood noise of the moment? Linkin Park: What I’ve Done
Tags: book review of Mockingjay, does Katniss choose Gale or Peeta, Katniss + Peeta, Linkin Park + What I've Done + video, pros and cons of Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins anti-war sentiments
08.30.2010 / 3:47 pm
I COMPLETELY agree with all of it. I spoke to Kati briefly when I was about half way through and she warned me a bit of some disappointment but it was even worse than I expected. After loving the first two, after the unbelievable cliff hanger at the end of Catching Fire, Mockingjay left me numb and somewhat disgusted. The first half was sorrowful and crippling, the last half rushed and confusing, and the ending made me want to pull out my hair with how totally lacking in any TRUE resolution. Great, they “grow.” But, like you, I want to know what that looks like, what life is like as the country puts itself back together and the “other boy’s” true ending down the line. The extreme realism of war and the lack of development and victory for Katniss, or anyone really other than Buttercup, makes me feel like taking my copy to the used book store and never look back. OR rewrite it the way it was SUPPOSED to be. Just sayin’
08.30.2010 / 4:20 pm
I think I should read it again. I was so obsessed with reading it and finding out how it all ends that I need to go back and analyze instead of live it. When I dragged myself to bed after finishing it, Anthony asked “was it worth it?” and I told him I felt like I’d just run a marathon but crossed the wrong finish line. While the pressure and emotional intensity were perfect, I was frustrated by the TOTAL clipping of the mockingjay’s wings: every time Katniss got into an exciting situation where she could START to be herself, she’d get taken out and wake up in a drug-induced haze and mope around for pages. That got really boring and very frustrating. Every action ramp-up had that weird “pull Katniss out” thing and it really bothered me as a literary device. And I did NOT like the deus ex machina relational ending (very Mansfield Park–unrealistic and annoying). Heck, I didn’t even like the person “the guy she ended up with” had become.
I did appreciate the fleshing out of other characters — Primrose, especially. I also liked getting to know Gale a lot better (in fact, Mary, that text I sent you about liking Gale came after their initial foray to the hospital… what’s more awesome than taking out hovercrafts with arrows?). We got a glimpse of the other Districts, but I wanted to see more!
Like I said, I’m going to need to read it again (slowly!) and get a better feel for it. Of course, if I may end up breaking the spine by chucking at the wall again…..
08.30.2010 / 9:06 pm
Agreed. I need to read it again also since I blew through it the first time, but I do feel very disappointed with the ending. I felt a little hollow after finishing and felt that I had been robbed of my happy ending. I should have ended up with the feelings I had after Harry Potter – and I did not. I felt that it was anti climatic and especially the ending with the boy she ended up with – but also with the boy she did not – it was too neat and tidy and wrapped in a little bow. Not happy with that part at all.
I did enjoy looking into the other districts- but Katniss’ emotional roller coaster through the whole thing and the way her value of life keeps changing drove me crazy to confusion. I will read it again, but I’ll have a happy ending book waiting to relieve my fictional depression afterward.
08.31.2010 / 8:23 am
Lori, I think that’s an excellent comparison you made: ” I should have ended up with the feelings I had after Harry Potter.” J. K. Rowling gave us so much death and grief in book 7, but she balanced it out with an overall sense of victory and belonging. I heard someone say that Collins could get away with this because her writing is sci-fi versus Rowling’s fantasy…but that wasn’t a good enough reason for me.
Emily, “The extreme realism of war and the lack of development and victory for Katniss, or anyone really other than Buttercup…” That comment made me laugh. Awesome. Also, it bothered me that Katniss didn’t “name” her kids. As if she was that emotionally detached that she couldn’t call them by their names. Just “the girl” and “the boy.”
Dani, I agree with your thoughts. And “I told him I felt like I’d just run a marathon but crossed the wrong finish line” is the perfect description. I agree with the whole “clipping the mockingjay’s wings EVERY time” thing. I felt like we kept watching (and rooting for) someone trying to blossom into their own personhood, and instead, we watched her become crippled and crushed (so to speak). One reviewer made the point (in Mockingjay’s defense) that Katniss had already died…that she had truly given her life in the first Games and was just physically living after that, but no longer emotionally breathing. Hmm…interesting.
. *sniff, sniff*
And the action ramped and then peetering out device…ERGH. As to Gale…I loved how she began developing him. But didn’t the fancy job in the District seem completely opposite of his character and what he would have wanted? As to Peeta…he was robbed of being the character he should have been developed into. In the end, I didn’t like him either
Here’s a question for all of you:
Some of the reviewers have been arguing back and forth as to the ending…apparently some people are convinced that Katniss poisoned the white rose for President Snow. And that when she agreed to another Hunger Games, but then seemingly changed her mind at the last second by shooting off the arrow…that she was actually planning all of that all along (since her meeting with Snow). What are your thoughts on this???
08.31.2010 / 8:56 am
I felt like the ending was so convoluted and twisted… Katniss agreeing to another Hunger Games seemed like she was just caught up in PTSD hopelessness that nothing could ever change. I didn’t think about her poisoning the rose, but that would be an awesome stroke of poetic justice, since Snow was such a wretched, evil man, but I’ll have to get the book back from Tanya to see if there is actual evidence of this. Initially, however, I only saw that Katniss had lost all hope for the betterment of humanity and by firing off her arrow was trying to make things right in the only way she could.
And as for her kids… I really was hoping that they wouldn’t have children (which is not my normal philosophy). She was so paranoid about it through all three books, of her kids being taken to the HGs, that it seemed really bizarre that a) they DID have children and b) that she was so emotionally distant from them (at least in the few paragraphs we got). And that closing creepy image of her kids playing in the meadow where the mass grave was… *shudder*. It wasn’t a hopeful ending.
08.31.2010 / 8:58 am
P.S.
I keep reloading the page for this music video. It’s SO perfect!
09.1.2010 / 6:33 pm
I think you have voiced all the feelings I have had about this book. Loving the series so much put a lot of pressure on the author to pull through on the final book. But she totally dropped the ball on the love story portion. Even though you knew who she would choose, it HAPPENED to her just like you said.
As for the ending and her decision for the Hunger Games. It seems to me that she closed her eyes, and really considered it and voted yes. I believe that consideration included her decision of where to shoot that arrow. I will admit, I don’t normally see what’s coming, but that seemed like the logical decision to me. Keeping in mind Boggs warning of not to trust “them”. One enemy was going to die either way. The other “enemy” needed to be taken out and she had only 1 opportunity to do it.
I still love the series. But was a lot more disappointed with the final book than the others.
09.3.2010 / 9:07 am
Hmm…I agree with you, Kristin. But I still am not sure if she actually wanted there to be another Hunger Games, or if she was using her vote “yes” as a distraction from what she intended… Thoughts on that?
I thought the meadow was a good / horrible ending as well, Dani. Good in a literary sense, horrid in a “you just messed with my desire for happily ever after emotions.”
09.3.2010 / 10:16 pm
I totally think that she used her yes vote as a distraction. Absolutely. Her whole perspective was that she didn’t want to be a pawn in their games anymore. I don’t believe for a second that she would really have voted for the games.
09.4.2010 / 9:04 am
Ah…good point, oh wise one
. Thanks.
09.4.2010 / 11:56 am
The whole thing pissed me off.
09.4.2010 / 6:51 pm
Oh Bee… =D
11.16.2010 / 2:02 pm
I felt the same way about almost everything. I was so in love with this series–and honestly, it’s awesome, but the last book was just draining. Too much death and torture and not enough light and reprieve. I didn’t feel like Gale’s ending was consistent with who he was, and Katniss was almost damaged beyond repair. So while, it could have been worse (glad she and Peeta lived!), it was too much to me. See my review. http://brandyreneebruce.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/mockingjay-by-suzanne-collins/
11.18.2010 / 8:27 am
Brandy, totally agree. And I’ll check out your review! Thanks.
11.22.2010 / 7:21 pm
Wow! What a great discussion. Glad I’m not too far past the last comment to be able to chime in my elderly perspective on this YA series. Here are some of my thought–not meaning to argue with anyone–just to throw my impressions into the pot.
#1 – from the very beginning I sensed Katniss as a character with the fatal flaw of being either shallow by nature or cut-off emotionally. In fact, at first, I wasn’t sure if “Katniss” was a girl or a boy. She seemed detached from her feminine side. So–the lack of romance throughout the trilogy (in spite of Peeta’s great efforts to the contrary) stayed in line with her persona. Didn’t you notice her essential “unisexness” — even in scenes where she was nude. And her total lack of connectedness to being a bride, etc…as if the idea never had occurred to her, even as a child. So…for me, Katniss stayed “in character” throughout the trilogy as a conflicted female who (yes…to the person above) had “blown her wad” in the Games of book one, and never quite recovered. This does, of course, leave our story without a true hero or heroine. More on that below.
#2 – This trilogy was published by Scholastic – and DID have the intentional anti-war message as part of its marketing strategy. (Read the acknowledgements in the back of Book 3). This also might (MIGHT) explain the PG13 rating (my estimation) and lack of profanity and steamy sex scenes. I guess violence is okay now. In that regard (the anti-war message), I think the series has great potential to send a powerful message to youth. And, they can check their history books for the foundational models for Panem and its Games. (Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Hitler’s Third Reich, Stalin’s Soviet Union…to name a few).
#3 – I heartily agree that sending Gale off to District 2 seemed a bit contrived.
#4 – I do think Katniss voted for the Games as a distraction, but I don’t think she planned to re-aim that last arrow until the moment came. And I don’t think she poisoned the rose–because we, as the readers, would have known about it…because the book was written in her first person point of view and she isn’t supposed to be able to surprise us unless she surprises herself. (does that make sense?) But…from an editor’s POV—shame on Ms. Collins for not keeping us in the know along with Katniss.
#5 – No true hero or heroine. Well…that’s the anti-war message, is it not? Nobody wins. And because I’ve seen first hand the psychological affects of totalitarianism (although some of my Russian friends would argue vehemently against that term), the result is confusion, lack of initiative, and distrust of just about anything and anyone. Does that describe anyone we know?
Thanks for letting me sound off. Sorry about the long post. I get excited about books!
01.31.2012 / 4:32 pm
I finally read this series, and while I love them, it was exhausting. Especially Mockingjay. I hated what they did to Peeta, I hated how Gale changed, and I hated how the end didn’t restore any of the life that was torn away from all the people we grew to care about. And Finnick and Prim??? Nooooo!!!! I’m still grieving and in denial.