As the story begins, Katniss's home District 12 has been obliterated during the end of the last Hunger Games, with under 1000 people getting out alive. She, along with her family and Gale are living as refugee/soldiers in the previously thought destroyed District 13 under the control of President Coin. Most of the other districts are or about to be in rebellion against the Capital and President Snow. And Katniss's fellow tribute Peeta is being held by Snow in the Capital.
The story goes a bit deeper into what happened during the previous Hunger Games while Katniss and Peeta were in the arena plus what happened to the other districts and especially District 13. The book (and really the series) doesn't go into near as much detail about this as I would have wanted, which I found troubling. If you're going to write about an dystopian future or an alternate world, I as a reader what lots of description about that world and how it got there. Maybe it's because it's a problem with YA in general and I don't really read YA...I don't know.
I liked the story overall, but there were things that annoyed me while reading it. I had liked how characters other than Katniss and Peeta were covered in Catching Fire, but even Fennick (who had a major role in that novel) seemed to be a very minor character in Mockingjay, despite being involved in a large chunk of the story. Gale and Prim both become more full characters, but they still seem not nearly as developed as they should be or, more so, I would have liked for them to be. Even when somewhat major (or at least frequently mentioned) characters died, I knew I should be feeling something for them, but through Collins's writing, really didn't.
The last 1/4 or so of the book (to be less spoiler, after the final assault) seemed tremendously rushed, with a lot of the action taking place away from the main characters for a while as things got sorted out. The villain of the novel was both somewhat obvious and underdeveloped. I found the end of the story both satisfying in Collins's look at humanity (at least I think that's what she was going for) and disappointing in that Katniss's outcome seemed so rushed and thin.
Plus, the vote by the former tributes about a new Hunger Games seemed almost out of place and out of character for Katniss.....and, btw...did they actually go through with the other Games? That seemed like a plot point just tossed in there and then forgotten, which completely bothered me when I got to the end of the novel.
I liked the first novels mostly because of the Katniss character, but she seemed less drawn out. Yes, she was more concerned with the world and the consequences her actions brought to other people, but it felt like I was reading about something different than the same girl I read about in the previous two stories and not in a way that she had grown as a character. It felt a bit....flat. I guess I can't say too much more about it without giving more of the ending away...
Ratings:
- Mockingjay 3.5 of 5.
- The Hunger Games Trilogy: 3.5-4.0 of 5. Enjoyable for the most part, but not fantastically wonderful in it's completion.
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2 comments:
"the vote by the former tributes about a new Hunger Games seemed almost out of place and out of character for Katniss.....and, btw...did they actually go through with the other Games?"
My impression was that Katniss voted as she did as a lie - a way to stay alive and carry out her final kill. The games did not go on as planed, as the government then changed power.
I am in the process of doing a "Meshing of Minds" review with my friend...in essence it is a duel review. Anyhow, I feel pretty much as you do about Mockingjay. It was a disappointment. There were a few sparks of interest within these pages, but overall, I did not like the storyline, and turn of events.
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