Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Spoiler Filled Review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a spoiler filled book review. This review is for Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. 

Since this is a sequel, there will be spoilers for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, so if you haven't read these books and you wish to, I wouldn't recommend reading this review.

Let's get into the review!

I shipped Everthorne throughout this book. Real, or not real? 

Not real. I shipped Everlark, even though Peeta was a bit out of reach. Especially after Gale's whole District 2 incident.

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From the moment Finnick stepped into the arena in Catching Fire, I knew he was going to die. He had to. Especially after the wedding. He couldn't not die, seeing as most of my favorite developed minor characters always end up dead. I just didn't know when. I didn't know if he'd die in Catching Fire or Mockingjay.

I have to admit, Prim's death shocked me, even though I was accidentally spoiled by my sister earlier in the year I read this. Katniss spent all that time in the Games protecting her sister from death, and after all that time, she dies anyway. 

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This book left me on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen to Peeta. Of the three books, this one is my least favorite. I finished this one months after I had initially picked it up. I wasn't bored with the plot itself, nor the writing style. Moreso with the characters.

This one did not have the Katniss I expected it to have. She was more on the sidelines than I would have personally preferred. There wasn't as much of that Katniss we had come to love, which was the bow wielding, arrow shooting Katniss.

The political and worldly aspect of this book was more developed and focused on in this one more than the other two, which was a nice change of pace. Though I feel Katniss wasn't exactly Katniss. She didn't have a bow all that much in the entire book. 

She had it in the mission where Finnick died. She has it at the beginning. She had it toward the end when she was supposed to kill President Snow, and instead flipped the tables and killed President Coin. As far as I remember, that's pretty much it. 

Katniss was very much in and out of the fight far too much in my opinion. I understand she's only the rebellion symbol, not the rebellion leader. And I understand they'd want to keep her safe because without Katniss, there's no rebellion. However, when she's for the most part only getting pulled out to do propos, it gets a bit boring.

It wasn't as action packed as the last two, which I have no problem with either. I like books that are more descriptive. Sometimes, I like when the plot and characters are developed and then the action happens. That is, after all what happened in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.

This book just didn't have the Katniss I was expecting is all.

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Minus one error, Suzanne Collins' writing style shines again. The only error came on page 257, paragraph 5, or line 19-23. The book says, and I quote, 

"Actually Katniss isn't complaining because she has no intention of staying with the "Star Squad," but she recognizes the necessity of getting to the Capitol before carrying out any plan. Still, to be too compliant may arouse suspicion as well. " 

Unless Katniss is referring to herself in the third-person, (which she never does) it seems as if Ms. Collins accidentally made a mistake while revising her final draft, moving from first-person narrator to third.

Mockingjay was a crazy, roller coaster, in both good and bad ways. This book is actually my least favorite in this series. The Hunger Games and Catching Fire just went the extra mile for me, and the conclusion fell short. Mockingjay is a lot of people's favorite book in this series, but for me, it was kind of a letdown. 

I intend to reread it at a future time, so I can really form a better opinion, but at this moment and the moment I finished it 3 years, it was a disappointment. I think it was interesting to read more about the politics of Panem, but I just didn't love the Katniss in this book. I found her boring and dull, moreso than I did in the other two books because I genuinely love Katniss as a character. 

Overall, I didn't hate this book. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads, which is a pretty low rating for me, but I still enjoyed it. 

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌