College Students! discussion

Let's start a discussion on Mockingjay. Impressions?

This was such a good book. Not as good as the other two, IMHO, but certainly a fitting end to the story. I was so shocked when Prim died. Also, the inner turmoil that Katniss was feeling as she was realizing 1) that the rebellion was taking on a lot of Capitol qualities and 2) that she was losing both Peeta and Gale was really good. I thought the violence was a little disturbing, but overall, very, very good novel and series.

David, I also agree—I thought Catching Fire was much better and much more shocking than Mockingjay, but it was certainly a fitting end. Prim's death shocked me but I could hardly contemplate it because of all the other elements going on in the story, so I'm still processing that.

President Coin ended up being quite terrifying. I'd be interested to read an academic's perspective on the Hunger Games trilogy, particularly one well read in historical revolutionary activity or empires.

I found Peeta's "hijacking" sad but fitting. I'm glad it worked out though.

Prims death was deffinately the most shocking part of the whole book and it sadden me that we didn't really get to know her that well.
I thought that Peeta's hijacking was just what the book needed becuase it brought out a different Peeta than the one we knew. He was not the nice guy from the two other books. We saw a whole different side to him.
Coins death was not a bit shocking to me and if I was Katniss I would have done the same thing.
I think that the ending could have been better but I do love that Katniss ended up with Peeta. However I did not like how throughout the whole book I didn't get any strong hints as to who she really loved. It was confusing.

I think the whole love story was that she loved both of them and had to decide for herself. It was interesting to see her psychological progression as she discovered who she really loved.

I predicted Coins death, but not Prims.

I did not like the ending. Maybe after I've had some time to think about the book I'll like it better. But I wanted Katniss to have a more majestic ending. The image of her as the Mockingjay was just so cool to me. (Excuse the term, I couldn't think of anything else.) I wanted her to go out with pride. And I thought the ending was too rushed.

I just felt like it wasn't a happy enough ending for me. Although I still feel that Katniss dying would have been a fitting ending too.

BUT I did really enjoy the book. A tough read though, the characters went through so much.

Kimberly, when I first finished the book I didn't like the ending. But now that I've been thinking about it I like it better. It's not what I had hoped for...but it's growing on me.

Prim's death shocked me. Especially since it was partly Gale's fault (but I think I read the Gale/Beetee part too fast so I kind of don't get why).

I wish Gale had a better exit...more than he's in District 2 working at a fancy job. I'm sure he feels guilty about Prim but I wish we knew what he's been up to.

I also wish the epilogue was a little bit longer. What is Panem like now that there are no Hunger Games/Capitol. Are there still districts? What happened to Haymitch?

I know Suzanne Collins probably did it on purpose BUT I want to know what Katniss and Peeta name their children! I'm guessing the girl is named after Prim, Rue or Madge. The boy, maybe after Katniss's father?

Jen- I'm hoping that it will grow on me. I'm starting to be okay with it.

I just really wish that Katniss had retained her title as the Mockingjay, and as The Girl On Fire. It's like after all she went through, everyone just forgot about her. She lost all of their respect and love.

I do wish that there was more detail in the epilogue. There was so much more I wanted to know about how the country was changed.

None of the characters really seemed happy at the end either, which makes me sad.

Which death affected you the most? Prim's was sad but Finnik's broke my heart.

Finnick's was terrible, especially since you read about it in graphic detail. So sad. But his legacy kind of lives on, since Annie gave birth to their child.

I agree, I also wished that we could have found out what Gale was up to. The epilogue felt a bit rushed.

The ending did feel a little rushed. I was hoping she'd break into the mansion or something like that.

Jen - the book says that Beetee and Gale didn't know if it was one of their bombs that was used. I don't think it's think they would have allowed it to be used like it was (not on the children, but on the rebels and rebel first aid givers...I think that was Coins doing).

Finnick's death was terrible. You really got to know him better this book. I'm trying to figure out why the rebel leader from District 2 wasn't in the meeting of the surviving games members when they said all of them were chosen for that vote.

I agree that the ending felt rushed, but I would have been more than happy with an extra 300 pages just to keep the book going. I also just zoomed through the book so I'm sure there are lots of little things that I missed.
In the final fight for the Capitol it seems like perhaps the fight had gone on for long enough though and it just needed a quick end. I wish that Katniss's group had gotten to the capitol first and taken Snow but I guess then we wouldn't have had Prim's death and the realization that the new regime wasn't any better than the last.
What did everyone else thing about them voting to have a final set of Games? I was really disappointed about the whole thing, eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Do you think they went long with it after Coin's death? They may have mentioned it again but I was probably reading too fast.

Ultimately, I didn't think this book was amazing. I reviewed it on The Broke and the Bookish here: http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/2...

I thought it was all too rushed, and none of it really grabbed me. I kind of stopped caring about most of the characters and was just curious to see how Collins would end it all.

I also thought that the ending was rushed. I thought that at least Katniss would have somehow gotten into the mansion and had a knife to Snow's throat or something.
I did not like the voting on having another set of Games it just felt so wrong to do it to other peoples children. These people knew what it was like to be placed in that situation and yet they wanted to do the same to others, its not right. I don't think that they went on with it, and if they mentioned it after I don't remember reading it.

I think that the voting on another set of the Games—even with the Capitol children—just plays into that eye for an eye scheme. It doesn't work. History doesn't even out that way.

I don't recall them going on with it either, but I was probably racing to the end at that point.

They didn't mention it after that, I think it ended with Coin's death.
I thought the ending was rushed as well, and like the rest of you I'm a bit frustrated not knowing the names of Katniss' children or more about her life and what's going on in Panem. I thought the part from where Katniss shot Coin till the end was confusing.

I was SO shocked Prim died! I cried at the scene where Katniss finds Buttercup, she and that cat break my heart.

I was also sad when Finnick died, I kept wishing it was just a misunderstanding and that he somehow got out (not very likely without a head, but still). He'd been through so much, I thought he deserved a happy ending as well.

I remember being on Team Gale before rereading Catching Fire, but during my reread and reading Mockingjay, I got on Team Peeta and I'm really happy they ended up together.

I think I'll have to re-read this one as well, I couldn't believe how many stuff I'd missed in Catching Fire the first time.

On my end, I'm kind of happy not to know the names of Katniss' children. (I remember the disappointment at reading Harry's children's names during the epilogue of Deathly Hallows.) But I think it would have been more satisfying, nonetheless.

Has anyone read Tahleen's review of the book at The Broke and the Bookish? I think she pretty accurately summed up how I feel about the book.

Thanks Jess. :)

Anna, that's exactly how I feel about it.

I am so glad I reread the first two. I realized that I really didn't like Gale. I also felt different about Peeta and Haymitch too. That said,

I really enjoyed this book. I knew Coin was as bad as Snow towards the begining when she was introduced, and I was anxious clear through to see when everyone else would wise up.

Finnick's death was the hardest for me. I think it was because he finally was happy with his life, then all of the sudden it was gone. The others, though they went through rough times, didn't have near the horrors he suffered.

I was totally expecting Katniss to die. This was the only real shocker to me. Especially after the part where she was burnt and the morphling was making her see everyone that had previously died I thought, yes that is how it is supposed to end for her.

I wish we found out more about everyones "after" in the end, not just Katniss and Peeta. What about Gale, Johanna, Annie and the baby, etc?

As for the final vote for a new Hunger Games. I understand why they all voted how they did. I bet people were shocked at Katniss voting yes, but that was the exact point she realized that things would be different but really pretty much the same with Coin instead of Snow. Voting yes, was what Coin wanted, and I am sure it was the only reason Coin let Katniss shoot that arrow. Coin believed the yes vote as meaning Katniss was on her side.

I agree with you Tami that the only reason Katniss voted yes on another Hunger Games because Coin wanted it that way and it would show that she was on her side when in reality she was not.
Also, Finnicks death was the saddes because after so much missery that he went through he was finnaly happy and he ends up dying. Wow. How sad is that? At least his wife has a child from him. But I still wonder what happend to everyone else.

The pregnant Annie thing was a little too much for me. Not too long ago she was barely able to care for herself is it really possible that after Finnik's death she would be able to pull it together to raise a child? I guess it's not impossible just unlikely.
It makes a lot of sense to view the vote for the next Hunger Games as not exactly a vote for revenge but a pledge to be on Coin's side, except that Katniss's inner thoughts were focused on revenge. And I would think that after she played Snow's game and still lost that she would have been a little wiser about playing Coin.

I don't really think it's possible either for Annie to pull it together enough to care for a child herself. But there'd probably be enough people to help her with that.
And I agree with you Tami, Coin would never have let her shoot that arrow is she hadn't been pretending to go along with her plan for the Hunger Games.

I found this book to be a let down as I had great hopes for it. It fell flat though. I'm happy she ended up with Peeta, i doubt anyone isn't. But Gale wasn't the same Gale we knew, and I feel Collins did this purely to get him out of the picture. As Tami said, I wanted more of what happened after the rebellion, yes she ends up with Peeta and the kids but what else? You can't just end a rebellion on that note! it felt unfinished and ah honestly, its such an unsatisfying and depressing end. Finnick's death was the only death that moved me, I felt absolutely nothing when Prim died. At that point I wanted to just get to the end.

I just did a huge spoiler filled review over here but I will sum my biggest win and biggest gripe.

Win: I loved what they did to Peeta. Now that I sound like a sadist, let me qualify. In the rest of the series he was defined by his love for Katniss, not to say he wasn't a well developed character but from what we saw a lot of it was about Katniss love. Take that away and what do you have? you have a relationship that needs to build up from the bottom. I loved how she devloped their story and how it wasn't all roses in the epilogue. Also from a purely curious standpoint the manipulation of memories! wow. harsh! i would have read that book if it was a case study.

Fail: I did not like the end. The climactic buildup was there and then all of a sudden there is no awesome showdown, no aftermath of bombing (and then rebombing) children. Just hospital and now depressed, traumatized Katniss going through the motions. Now I can see how it has to go there after what happened, but I just wanted an awesome climax and was left with "wah, wah" I dont count Coin dying because I saw that coming. Poo.

I also missed the Hunger Games... wow I really sound like a sadist now... lol

Hmm I thought the first book was great and it gradually went downhill from there.

The ending was fine... I mean, yes it was predictable but it was the end we were all waiting for.

Also... in the last book there were way too many unnecessary deaths. I mean, when Finnick died, there was barely a paragraph devoted to it, it was just like "bam he's dead" and then you have Katniss going "I can't believe he's dead" and that's about as much of the mourning as you get. (Not even a paragraph or a page devoted to telling Annie about it!) I felt his death was probably the most unnecessary to the plot which made me angry because I liked Finnick. He was quite a character. It really felt like Collins was just killing people off at this point but didn't have the courage to just kill of Peeta, Gale or even Katniss at the end. Then you get deaths of other favorites like Prim and Cinna... I didn't even have time to be sad for Prim, it was just like... wow Prim's dead, Katniss is going to be really really upset now... (me, I got nothing).

I guess what I'm saying is that none of these deaths lived up to Rue's death in quality and telling. The ending wasn't as disappointing as the book in general. I'm not saying it was bad, I'm just saying it could've been a lot better.

One more thing, wtf is with Gale just suddenly disappearing at the end? I felt like Katniss should've told him out right that she chose Peeta over him. I mean it was obvious but that doesn't mean Collins could just make it end like "It's obvious Gale knows, so he's just going to go away to work in another district now... "

I agree too, I felt like she just wanted to kill a bunch of characters one after the other.

Even though it had it's flaws I still really liked it. I just got into the series though so I hadn't been waiting forever and building anticipation. I felt like Collins didn't know what to do with her characters once she got the to a certain point so they either died or sunk into the background. I like the idea of the book to remember all the people who died, and the fact that they returned to district 12 along with other people starting fresh.

i guess my first thought about the book is that i didn't know if i liked it or not... it really is disturbing all of it .. the other two were more shocking and beuatiful

I finally finished it, and although I liked the book it really didn't go at all like I'd hoped it would. Like most of you said it was rushed and I don't think things at the end got explained very well. Some things I couldn't figure out were how the hell the team rescued Peeta, and the others from the capital the first time. If the pods were always there then how did they get in, and why couldn't they just do that again to get Katniss in to kill Snow. I'm sure they would have changed the security levels, but Peeta's rescue sounded like a trip to the grocery store.

Also, I didn't understand why Katniss would say yes to having the Hunger Games again for the Capital's children. Like Peeta said, "It's exactly what the rebellion was about in the first place". In a way I felt like Katniss betrayed me when she said that.

The thing that hit me the most was Finnik's death. I absolutely loved his charm, and warmth. To me he was the one guy in Katniss' life that we didn't have to figure out if she loved or not, and to lose him was such a heartbreak! I think it affected me even more then Prim's death, as sad as that is. I was also a little hurt that Gale never came back in the end. I’m happy she picked Peeta, but I also really liked Gale, and would have liked to hear more about her pick between the two. I’m super happy Collins didn’t kill of any of them!

I loved when Katniss killed Coin, as she would most likely have run things just like Snow. Had she not killed her I think the book would have been a one star for me, Coin was irritating through the entire book imo.

After all it's set backs I still really liked the book, but I couldn’t give it the full 5stars, because the first two books, made me fall in love, and this one was just there as a filler, if that makes sense.

I am thinking I need to do a reread. My mom is reading it right now, and noticing things that I sort of remember, but not really. She is barely to the point where Katniss is filming the first advertisement. :) She mentioned that district 13 was just as bad as the capital but in different ways.

One thing I remember being mentioned in the first I didn't really think of was when Katniss noticed that Coin's hair looked to perfect, to evenly cut, and wondering if it were a wig. Does anyone else feel that maybe Coin was a capital refuge that couldn't quite give up that way of life? Sort of how most rebellions start, from within. Just wondering your thoughts, because I don't think it really mentions any of that.

Not really a spoiler but you will only understand if you have read the books. I saw a shirt yesterday that was a baseball tee. It was a Hunger Games theme shirt and across the chest area it said "Real or Not Real"
Laughed so hard.

hahaha. Where did you see it at?

Me too I'm rereading it at the moment.

http://www.zazzle.com/hunger+games+ts...

That's awesome!

I'm moving this up to the Monthly Group Read folder since it's our group read for the month.

Please, keep talking.

So I talked to some friends that had read it and one of them has a 14 year old daughter who had also read it, and it is so strange how different we all felt about things. The one consensus was Finnick's death really sucking. One of them cried during reading. One was hoping Peeta would end up with the other girl from district 12 (can't remember her name right now, but she was the upbeat one that always smiled). I am still the only one that didn't like Gale at all through any of the books. :) But, one friend said he was just as bad as Snow during this book. The whole "at any cost" mentality.

I really didn't like that in this book Katness appeared as weak. I didn't like how little we know about the future of Gale, I felt as if Katness chose Peeta because he was the only one, Gale wasn't there any longer (and the part about why he left her, him being the creator of the bomb.. it wasn't convincing. I liked how dark and real and tragic the atmosphere of the book was, but overall it could have been much better. The Hunger Games is still my favorite.

I thought the book was great, and second in the series to the original "Hunger Games" book. The thing that kept it from surpassing the original for me was the flow. The second one didn't have that flow either, however this time around I did not feel that it concentrated on the love triangle far too much like "Catching Fire" did. I thought the end was very fitting. Katniss went through such horrible things. It was war and "Mockingjay" paints a devastating picture of how awful war is(yes, good people including friends die).

For me it seemed that the entire series was written from a libertarian perspective. Particularly the respected treatment of the free-market(the hub) and distrust of all government(ie both presidents Snow & Coin being antagonist of all free humanity). The problems in all the districts had been caused by governmental interference and regulations. Collins even refers to "The Capital" as well as it's conjoining government as "the State" at least twice in the first novel. Anyway that is just a brief overview of what I took away from it.

"The State" as a derogatory term is used by radical anti-statist such as libertarians and anarchist.

Tami wrote: "... I am still the only one that didn't like Gale at all through any of the books. :) But, one friend said he was just as bad as Snow during this book. The whole "at any cost" mentality. "

This is exactly why I thought she would end up with Peeta from the first book.

Here is my review. I had to make it spoiler-free for my blog, so that's why it is so ambiguous.

Considering all the hype, anticipation, and general excitement about this release, I feel like it would be pretty hard for this book to live up to everyone's high expectations. And while I don't think that it quite redeemed the mediocre quality of the series, it was a definite improvement over the second book, and it definitely brought some new and exciting ideas to the table.

First, the bad things. Katniss was at her most annoying in this book. Stubborn, distrustful, anxious, and generally paranoid, I felt like she never stopped whining. While I admit that she had been through a lot and deserves some sympathy, I got the sense that she was often just being contrary for the sake of being contrary. Snapping at friends and allies like Gale for honestly trying to help her is not a character trait I look for in my heroes. I mean, we understand that you've been to hell and back, but do you always have to be so dang negative? Can't you save your angst for the things that are legitimately your fault?

The plot of this book couldn't decide if it was good or not. Again, the action and conflict parts were great, but I felt like there was a bit too much emphasis on the publicity/propaganda aspect of Katniss's role. Watching her run around getting filmed all day isn't exactly exciting, and while I understand why that is an important plot element, I feel like it could have been handled differently. I also thought that her little crusade near the end of the book was reckless and stupid. While that doesn't mean it was out of character for her at all, I felt like it was just a device Collins used to show off the horrors of the traps in the city and to get Katniss to the city square at just the right time. Something about it just felt so futile. I also didn't like the way that Finnick's death was handled. Maybe I was just speed-reading that part, but I didn't feel like it was given the amount of time that he deserved. He became a really important character in this book, and I felt like he deserved more than he got.

I felt like this book had some good things in it that the others didn't have. There was more emphasis on a message or meaning to the books, rather than it just being a story. I know that Collins wrote this series as a way to comment on violence and war and what it does to people, especially children. In this book, I really feel like she got that message across. Some of the things Katniss says about the futility of war are actually pretty moving. I feel like this is also a way that Collins gives Gale a bit more personality. He stops just being the supportive male companion and becomes more of a ruthless fiery rebel, willing to do anything for the cause. I never really felt anything at all about Gale in the first few books (except to wonder why on earth he liked Katniss) but in this one I actually started to understand him, even if I disliked what he was becoming. And yes, I definitely disliked him by the end of the book. The thing that happened with Peeta was also kind of a surprise. At first I thought it was kind of a stretch, but I think it actually made him a better character than the puppy boy we met in book one.

Again, the action writing was very intense and fast-paced. The emotional writing tended to be a bit melodramatic like in the other books, but there were some moments that were touching. The ending seemed a bit boring to me. Her coping mechanism was cute, but pretty cheesy. I was also expecting more of a scene when she chose who she loved, but it kind of just happened eventually after everything was over. I guess that is more realistic so I can't argue too much, but after such a fiery book I was expecting the ending to be more of a bang than a sigh.

All in all, this book and the entire series were ok, but they definitely weren't worth all the attention they got. It's an interesting light read, but no more.

Rating: 3

For a review of the whole series, see my blog:
http://readingwhilefemale.blogspot.co...

So..I finished it a while ago and realized I never said anything.

I was kinda disappointed with it--compared to the other two which rocked my socks off. Too much hype/anticipation? Or a lackluster end from Collins? I don't know what the problem was. I mean, I really did LIKE it but I was just so exciting about it. Collins needed to BRING IT but she didn't really.

1. WTH. Finnick has to die?! He was by far one of my favorite characters up until his random and off screen death. I was reading along and then I had to go back and reread and I was like.."Wait..WHAT? He died!?" He was such a great character and I think Collins made the wrong move with how she made his death seem so emotionless. I mean, maybe she was just trying to make it seem like a jaded effect of all the fighting and dying but I think no matter how much death you seen, someone like Finnick would have stirred up something within Katniss.

2. I think the ending was a cop-out. I was definitely Team Peeta ever since Catching Fire after being a ruthless Team Gale kinda girl in The Hunger Games but I think Peeta deserved better. Katniss didn't have to choose at all. Gale was never coming back! So, she was left with Peeta. Maybe she wanted to be with him but I hate that she didn't have to make that choice. I read a really great post by a blogger friend and she said that she reread it and that all along it seemed the signs pointed to Peeta and that she thinks it was readers who really read more into the Gale thing. Interesting thought!

Anna--That is a good point! Did the cycle repeat itself or did society become more civil! I'd like to know that as well!

I agree she could have done so much more, I wonder why she felt like she had to wrap everything up so fast. I don't think the last book was what anyone was expecting.

I just finished Mockingjay. Yesterday I finished Catching Fire. I couldn't stop reading. The things that happened and the way they happened or were presented was unexpected and dealt with in a way that made me wanting to know what happens next, and next... Finnick, Prim, and the Capitol children's deaths stand out for me at this moment as the most painful. Finnick sticks because he suffered for so long under the Capitol's sadistic ways and was finally happy with Annie before leaving District 13. The fact that Annie had their son helped me to not hate the end of the book. That and the fact that Katniss and Peeta were able to mend and have children together.
I agree with a lot of the comments that the end felt very rushed. I'm not sure what have could have gone differently for it not to have felt that way, but I think the utter despair from Katniss and that I felt for her after Coin and Snow's deaths was stretched to an uncomfortable degree. I would have liked to have known a bit more about the fallout. I feel like maybe it was a four-part series that was forced into being a trilogy.
All that said I thought it was a fitting end to a terrific trilogy that I loved.

I just finished rereading this and read over my comments right after finishing it the first time.
I feel like I took more time to read this properly than I did last time (even though I still only started it this morning, was at work and have managed to finish is before going to bed somehow). It still gripped me the way it did the first time, but now I had time to appreciate the writing more and allowed me to pick up more details.

I still cried at that scene with Katniss and Buttercup towards the end, that was beautiful.
Before I said I thought the last part of the novel was confusing, reading it a second time, it's not anymore. It all comes together logically and the thing I missed the first time around is Katniss knowing that Peeta really would always be the only one that she could ever truly be with. (I would like to say happy, but I don't think that's an option)

And one moment when they were on their way across the Capital I loved: Peeta is going crazy and Katniss asks him to stay with her, he answers 'always'. In that moment he is the boy with the bread again.

I feel slightly incoherent after the emotional rollercoaster this book is, so excuse my rambling :)

Oh my god I'm about to start this book and I'm so excited :D. I will soon find out how it all ends!!!!

Catching Fire made me hungry for what happens and how it ends, but I've heard that Mockinjay unfortunately is kind of a let down :(.

Richard it really depends on the person. I know some people that hate it, and others that thought it was the strongest of the three.

Ahhh okay. That gives me more hope and confidence going into it. I'm sure I'll love it, but it'd be hard for it to top the first one.

I really loved Mockingjay and thought it was a fitting ending to the series, hope you enjoy it!