Hey everyone! I'm back from NYC (which was actually NJ), but that story is going to be coming to you tomorrow. I was actually going to describe it in a post today, therefore doing two posts in a day, but I'm not sure what I would write about tomorrow anyway. Also, I'm too lazy to write two posts in a day. I'm already doing one each day; that's enough.
My short non-spoilery review of Mockingjay:
Wow. It was amazing and perfect, and completely unexpected. It's much darker than the other books, and there are a lot of deaths. Well, it's a war, so that's to be expected. She ended up with the perfect person, whether or not I originally thought they were going to be perfect. If you haven't read the series yet, I really suggest that you do.
Now, below, I'm going to do a very spoiler-filled review of the book.
IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED READING MOCKINGJAY, DO NOT READ BELOW UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED COMPLETELY.
Oh my God, this book is brilliant.
It was completely different from what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected exactly, because obviously there was going to be a war, and wars aren't fun. But wow, it was brilliantly written.
I believe that someone on the Ning said this, but I completely agree with them so I'm stealing their opinion. Unlike many other YA authors, Suzanne Collins didn't try to make Katniss as relatable as possible. Katniss could get annoying at times, and there were definitely points in the book where I screamed at the page because of her poor decisions. She's just so real of a character. Katniss has all the best and worst parts of a human, and she was described perfectly.
I've read reviews that said that the only reason that they didn't like the book was because it was so real. People who have been in war were having terrible flashbacks, because all of the emotions were exactly the way they actually are. People who have family and friends that have had memory problems could barely handle the Peeta hijacking scenes, because they've played the "Real or Not Real?" game. I think that just proves how great of an author Collins is.
My favorite quote in the book is at the beginning of Chapter 24:
"As if in the end, it will be the question of whether a baker or a hunter will extend my longevity the most. It's a horrible thing for Gale to say, for Peeta not to refute. Especially when every emotion I have has been taken and exploited by the Capitol or the rebels. At the moment, the choice would be simple. I can survive just fine without either of them."
I actually have that part of the book marked, so I can go back and re-read it. I love that quote so much, especially the bolded part, mainly because of some of the discussions that I had about the book before it came out. How we decided that Katniss didn't really need a man, and we should only be worried about everyone's survival, not who "won" in the love triangle.
There were only a few deaths that hurt me so much that I had to put down the book. Surprisingly, Prim's was not one of them. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was devastated, but I was crying really hard at other parts. I don't believe that we knew about Cinna's death before this book, and that was the first part where I just put the book down and cried. I love Cinna. He was one of those people that I never even considered could go; he was a bit of the "Hedwig" of the book for me, if you'll allow me to make an HP reference. Also, I was very sad at Finnick's death. I didn't really like Finnick in Catching Fire, but he definitely grew on me during Mockingjay. The wedding scene was adorable.
Only problem: I didn't really get to enjoy the wedding scene, because I knew that something had to go wrong. Each chapter ended on a cliffhanger, but they were quite different than every other cliffhanger that I experienced before. With these cliffhangers, I just could barely find the strength to move on. When a chapter ended with Peeta choking Katniss, I just wanted to close the book and walk away. But I didn't. And at every touching, calm, or adorable part, something bad was just on its way. I remember muttering, when I got to the wedding part, "Aww, this is so cute. But it's just going to lead to something horrible." I couldn't get myself to enjoy it, because I was afraid to get comfortable.
Now for the ending. I'm very glad that Peeta and Katniss got together at the end, but I'm just so glad that it wasn't a super happy ending. I got this empty feeling radiating off of them, which was just perfect. I am extremely happy that Katniss didn't become president, because that would've been awful. That's not something that she would normally do, especially after the war. I like that Peeta and Katniss had kids, and I'm glad that Gale was gone. He was pretty much a childhood/college best friend. They can be very important to you, but sometimes they don't remain that important throughout the rest of your life.
My only complaint: I felt that the last couple chapters were a bit rushed. That may have just been because I read it very quickly. I never actually got around to reading the book a second time. I will eventually, but I want to be able to take my time.
I think that is a pretty thorough review. There are so many more discussions that I could have about this series. I don't have the energy to go back and re-read everything that I just wrote. So please tell me in the comments if anything doesn't make sense.
No song lyrics for you. Too many words.
-Jess
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