Mockingjay

Was a terrible conclusion to a pretty admirable series. I don't know what happened.

OK, yes I do. It died.

My first gripe against the concluding novel of The Hunger Games is that the characters, built so well through the first two books, were replaced with static puppets. Katniss, whose head we are in FOR THE WHOLE TIME, is reduced to a status symbol that spends all her time hiding in corners and weeping and other such drivel. Seriously, with the option to spend time in the head of Katniss (in Mockingjay), or Bella (in Twilight), I really think I would seriously consider Bella. Katniss has a few opportunities to shine, to react with violence and power as only a survivor of the Hunger Games could, but the author never allows her to do so. On top of Katniss' destruction, Peeta is turned into a government experiment, and essentially removed from the greater portion of the book. When he returns he is a broken wreck who either tries to kill Katniss, or spends his time begging for death. Gale is the only character that takes on more life in this book, but it's really just to fill the hole from the absence of Peeta. All the other characters are minor.

My second complaint is that the plot felt very jumbled. Outside of the time Katniss spends being pathetic, there's a lot of discussions and conferences about tactics. And no good action sequences. Even the infiltration of the capital seems unrealistically conceived and executed.

Actually the entire "War" is completely ridiculous. Collins seems to be trying to expound on the terrifying effects of war, but THERE IS NO WAR IN THE ENTIRE BOOK!!! Through the first two books, the Capitol is supposed to be an all-powerful machine. They crush rebellions easily with their sophisticated arsenal of weaponry. But in book three, District 13 (the rebels) waltzes through the entire country without any resistance at all. Of course, none of this is shown. As far as I know, the war never even happens because there are no real visual sequences of it, and the effects of it are never shown. Except for the jumbled sequence when they finally assault the Capitol, which is one big booby trap.

Another, smaller, thing that really annoyed me was the incomplete concept of Katniss' special bow. Which somehow recognizes her voice so she can turn it on and off, but what does it do? Nothing. The arrows are explosive, but we've seen that in Rambo. I don't think the author even knew the real capabilities of the bow.

The biggest problem with the book is the absence of resolution and catharsis. Katniss has a chance to be a noble hero, to stem the flow of blood that has been spilt, but instead she encourages the idea of a new version of the Hunger Games (which could be argued as gambit that allowed her to kill the new enemy, but it's a hollow argument), and then murders the leader of the rebels. Right. She murders the rebel leader, not President Snow, who has been built up as a snake in the grass for the rest of the series. Forget everything you know, the Rebel leader, whose name I can't even remember right now, is the enemy who engineered the death of Katniss' sister. And then Snow dies naturally.

And the love triangle resolves itself because Gale conveniently disappears and Peeta conveniently returns. Katniss never actually has to choose. Then there are two-ish pages devoted to the rest of Katniss' life with him. After 350 pages (in this book) of scarring Katniss (and the audience) Collins only gives us two pages to heal. Which isn't enough.

Story: D
Characters: F
World: B-
Writing Style: B

Total: D+