Books, Blogs, Authors and More discussion

Thoughts on the whole series - if you've not read the whole trilogy then beware as there may be spoilers...

So - Mocking Jay - why do people (generally) seem to like it less than the other books?

Personally I went HG 5*, CF 4.5* and MJ 5* - so I don't know :)

I went HG 5* CF 5* MJ 4*
FINNICK!!! :(

I think if there hadn't been so many pointless deaths, the peeta thing and the epilogue I might have liked it

Yeah - that wasn't done well. I had to go back and re-read as I actually missed what happened - he was a good character, it could have been a lot better.

Maybe if I'd liked Finnick more it would have dragged it down for me - but I still thought the whole book brought everything to a decent end.

what's the 'peeta thing'? how he turns out?

I hated the epilogue because in the first book Katniss had stated that was exactly what she didn't want and apart from Peeta Finnick was my favorite character

Melanie wrote: "what's the 'peeta thing'? how he turns out?"

Yep because of president snow. I don't want to give too much away

Melanie wrote: "So - Mocking Jay - why do people (generally) seem to like it less than the other books?

Personally I went HG 5*, CF 4.5* and MJ 5* - so I don't know :)"

I'm with you Melaine, I marked the books the same :) I think the masochist in me really loved all the drama and the pointless deaths. Perhaphs I should be worried by this..... :L

Emily wrote: "I hated the epilogue because in the first book Katniss had stated that was exactly what she didn't want and apart from Peeta Finnick was my favorite character"

I agree with you there, I wasn't too sure about the whole Katniss getting what she had stated she didn't want. I know the point in the book was that she didn't want it because of the Capitol, but it still felt a bit off, but then, I think it was supposed to, I don't think it was supposed to be a happily ever after.. :/

I think MJ went the best way it could - maybe could have killed some people more considerately, or not at all in some cases - but I think you're right (Becky) - how do you get to 'happily ever after' when people have been so mangled up by their experiences?

Maybe I liked the idea that after all the high-profile action and roles people played that something close to being real, pre-HG was what happened in the aftermath.

I don't think I would have minded too much if I actually realised they died, I had to read back twice and they Finnick got about a line whereas everyone kept going on about rue

I did the same thing - it was a little like they turned around in the next scene and you were wondering where the others were. He deserved much better than that tbh and Collins missed a trick in tugging heart-strings as he is so popular - maybe she didn't realise that when she was writing...?

Maybe. I heard they might change it in the movie so there are less deaths. Let's hope one is Finnick!

I hate MJ because uno, Gale killed Prim (Don't start me on this I already have a whole argument about it on here, so go there to argue.), dos Finnick died!! He was my favorite character. Tres, I hate depressed main characters. New moon, Wolfsbane, and more. Normally they get the depressed stuff over in the second book, this one it's the third. I'm done now! XD

Funny thing is: I loved how twisted the ending of Mockingjay turned out (please don't kill me Emily). Of course, Finnick's death was sad and all that, but I think that most was pretty awesome. I liked how Peeta had to learn to love Katniss for what she actually love, I didn't love the Gale and Prim thing so much but oh well, it had to happen and I kind of loved how even after the war, they were still messed up, because come on, who would be able to fully recover from that?

I kinda agree with Hayley :P

Me too (safety in numbers) :)

OK - I have another question then - aside from Finnick being bumped off - is there anything else people wish had gone differently in MJ or CF?

The epilogue was stupid and unneeded

Yes! I was annoyed by the fact that Collins created a strong female character but then decide to have her faint so she could participate in the final showdown! Extremely annoying.

I am not a fan of The Hunger Games. I think that it is an overrated series. I would give it 2.5 or 3 stars.
But maybe that's because usually I don't like dystopian fiction...

Wow that's the first negative I've heard

Lucy wrote: "I am not a fan of The Hunger Games. I think that it is an overrated series. I would give it 2.5 or 3 stars.
But maybe that's because usually I don't like dystopian fiction..."

I enjoy dystopian fiction and I did not like the Hunger Games. I suppose it's because of the hype surrounding the books (and later movies).
I expected more from it. I'm not sure why - it is a YA book after all.
Possibly the shortage of blood and suffering
After reading lots of manga, the series seemed too bland (and I daresay unoriginal)...
Sorry for the lack of definite reasons

I have to comment here. I enjoyed The Hunger Games as a singular book. Then, because the second movie is coming out, I decided to read Catching Fire. The second book, I thought, was amazing. I went out the next day to buy Mockingjay. However, the ending was a huge let-down for me. I agree with a couple other people on this blog. If you're going to have an epilogue, it needs to be more in-depth than simply referring to Annie's child and explaining that Katniss broke down and decided to have kids. After all the romance Peeta was lavishing on Katniss in the first two books, I feel like Katniss should have learned a bigger lesson and been able to show more of her feelings to Peeta to help him cope. I don't think this was explored enough, although it would help explain why she decided to have children for him. I didn't need a "happy ending" but a more complete one would have been nice.

I'm with Nicole...

HG was okay (3.5) ... 5 for originality.
CF was awesome... 4
MJ just fizzled and popped... You can't string a reader along over a supposed love triangle and then drop it like a bomb at the end. It was just wrong.

Personally, I thought the whole series tried to draw parallels with Twilight knowing there was an active market for it and then failed... But I may be wrong.

It did not do it for me...

As a parent I also found the whole children killing each other bit hard to swallow... Especially when I saw the film!

Hope my comments are useful
Vanessa :)

I completely agree with mj having a problem mainly with the ending. It was so much building that led the a short, rather unexplained end. Everything was so intimate, then she seemed to just seemed to get tired of writing. I was personally left confused and wanting something more.

The series affected me so much I created a book review lens on Squidoo for it. I need to write the review for Mockingjay this weekend. Needless to say, it's a toughie. I think the internalizing of everything by Katniss slowed things down... but also was the point of the third book, which had such a different tone from the first two. From hopeful to... well, you know. It turned out to be quite an anti-war manifesto.