Mockingjay (now with spoilers. Jump in when you can)

[tinkercat]

I bought it around 5pm and finished it about an hour ago. I don't want to post any spoilers, but I will say that it wrapped up the trilogy very nicely. There are a few things that surprised me, but it was very good overall. I want to read it again and really savor it more. Tonight, I was just so eager to read it and find out what would happen at the end.

 

[Holly]

I finished it this morning.


It's an emotionally difficult read in some places, for sure, but very good overall.

 

[erincon23]

I bought it yesterday and finished it last night (with DS14 hanging all over me, "MOM, I SAID I WAS GOING TO READ IT FIRST!" Yeah right, who paid for it?). I think I should have reread the other two first. I thought this was great! I loved the way the author didn't sugarcoat Katniss' feelings, the anger she had, her confusion. I can't help comparing it to the "City of Ember" series -- that one petered out, I thought, where this one kept you intrigued.

 

[NewCrew42]

All this hype has me reading Hunger Games. I started last night.

I'm trying to catch up to all you "cool kids."



Oh, I really like Hunger Games so far.

 

[RitaE]

nsmermaidzlagoon so?????

I am half way through, would be done but had to be somewhere tonight.

What does everyone think?????

I finished it last night. There's about 923 layers of emotional complexity to the series. I don't want to spoil anything for current readers so I'll just wait for another discussion thread to say more than that.

 

[wdwiala]

I am only 5 chapters in. My college classes started on Monday and I've had to spend time reading textbooks.

I am changing this to a spoiler thread. Feel free to start commenting in detail and the rest of us will jump in when we can!

 

[Ephany]

I really enjoyed it. It was delivered to our Kindles yesterday and was waiting for me when I woke up, so I might have read in class yesterday. In my defense I'd had this professor before and he gave the exact same powerpoint presentation he did last year for another class. I thought it ended well, although some of the characters weren't fully fleshed out IMHO. I like that the series was so grey, rather than black & white and I still can't think of a better ending that would still be realistic.

 

[minniebeth]

Oh boy, I better unsubscribe and come back after I've read it!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I really liked the book, but thought the ending was really depressing.

 

[RitaE]

I agree. I came away with a very depressed feeling too. Katniss and Peeta survived, but were so physically and emotionally damaged that their lives were probably never really happy. I think it would be generations before those scars would heal. I guess it all ended with the way it began. Katniss volunteered to sacrifice herself in the beginning for her sister, and in the end she gave herself up emotionally and morally for all the future generations of children. In a way, all the people who were allowed to die had it easier.

And poor Gale, I think he knew from the time Katniss volunteered for the Hunger Games that he lost her forever. His desire for vengeance had to be overwhelming. For him I just wanted to cry my eyes out.

So in the end, probably much more realistic than the tie it all up in a nice bow of victory like Harry Potter, but it left me with a huge down feeling.

 

[wendy46001]

I liked the ending, i wasn’t happy, but happy for them
the whole series really surprised me

have to admit i didnt see the whole Coin part coming...and totally loved it

 

[wdwiala]

Just finished. It was a depressing end. Sigh..

I thought the last chapters were a little to much thrown in all at once. It started getting difficult to follow during the battle in the capitol and then got even more strange after that. Several fade outs and, a few days or months later, more story. Then it fades out again. Etc. They could have easily stretched the series into four parts.

The Hunger Games was always a statement about war. It was very clear in the last book. No pretty, happy endings.

That said, I was glad to see Peeta "back". Would have liked a bit more time to say goodbye to Finnick (or keep him!). Pleased to see them get rid of Coin quickly. I had really wished to see the mayor's daughter come into a more concrete role. She had great courage in the first two books.

 

[fun4me]

I really loved the book!! I cried my eyes out.

I read through it so fast I am going to read it one more time. I am really sad the series is over. I'd love to read more about Peeta and Katniss.

 

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

I am somewhat disappointed. There be spoilers below!

1. Huge gaps in the story---i.e. I would have loved to read about Peeta's rescue from the Capital.

2. Hated that Peeta's personality was sucked out of him---even if he did regain much of it, I felt the character was somewhat ruined.

3. Gale disappearing at the end. How tidy. I cannot imagine Gale taking an important job and moving on just like that. Very uncharacteristic and seemed like a lame attempt to get him out of the picture.

4. Felt the whole thing was rushed. The book could have been much longer.

 

[wdwiala]

I am somewhat disappointed. There be spoilers below!

1. Huge gaps in the story---i.e. I would have loved to read about Peeta's rescue from the Capital.

2. Hated that Peeta's personality was sucked out of him---even if he did regain much of it, I felt the character was somewhat ruined.

3. Gale disappearing at the end. How tidy. I cannot imagine Gale taking an important job and moving on just like that. Very uncharacteristic and seemed like a lame attempt to get him out of the picture.

4. Felt the whole thing was rushed. The book could have been much longer.

Agree with it all. It almost seemed for a small moment that they would send Gale off with Johanna. I can't believe they left Annie alone! She needs Finnick!

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I did not read any posts in this thread LOL..

but I am like halfway through it. At this moment ...I forgot everything that happened in catching fire so I had to go back and quickly read it in like a day and a half.

 

[kristilew]

I've been lurking on this thread. I had no idea until ya'll started posting that adults read these books! DD12 got hooked on Suzanne Collins in first grade with the first Gregor book, and kind of has grown up with her. The books have aged nicely along with DD. She is now devouring Mockingjay.

Wanted to let you HG fans know that I found some fabulous jewelry on etsy inspired by the books. There is everything from necklaces to cell phone charms, and many price points. Just type in Hunger Games on the search bar. I got DD a great little charm for her cell phone for a very reasonable price.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I am somewhat disappointed. There be spoilers below!

1. Huge gaps in the story---i.e. I would have loved to read about Peeta's rescue from the Capital.

2. Hated that Peeta's personality was sucked out of him---even if he did regain much of it, I felt the character was somewhat ruined.

3. Gale disappearing at the end. How tidy. I cannot imagine Gale taking an important job and moving on just like that. Very uncharacteristic and seemed like a lame attempt to get him out of the picture.

4. Felt the whole thing was rushed. The book could have been much longer.

I agree with this as well! Pretty much sums it up for me.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I've been lurking on this thread. I had no idea until ya'll started posting that adults read these books! DD12 got hooked on Suzanne Collins in first grade with the first Gregor book, and kind of has grown up with her. The books have aged nicely along with DD. She is now devouring Mockingjay.

Wanted to let you HG fans know that I found some fabulous jewelry on etsy inspired by the books. There is everything from necklaces to cell phone charms, and many price points. Just type in Hunger Games on the search bar. I got DD a great little charm for her cell phone for a very reasonable price.

you can also find t-shirts at Hot Topic!

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I am somewhat disappointed. There be spoilers below!

1. Huge gaps in the story---i.e. I would have loved to read about Peeta's rescue from the Capital. I agree. However, it would have been just more battle scenes played out.

2. Hated that Peeta's personality was sucked out of him---even if he did regain much of it, I felt the character was somewhat ruined. Actually, I thought it brought Peeta to an entire new level. He isn't always the "nice" one. He, too, is vulnerable and angry. I thought this was a great use of the characters. If they had rescued Peeta from the Capitol and now he was just a rebel fighter like the rest, he would have had zero depth.

3. Gale disappearing at the end. How tidy. I cannot imagine Gale taking an important job and moving on just like that. Very uncharacteristic and seemed like a lame attempt to get him out of the picture. I disagree. Gale has always wanted to run away. As much as he was filled with anger and a desire for vengeance, his first thought was to flee with Katniss into the wilderness. Since he knew Katniss could never be his (because of the bomb that killed Prim) he had to live a life somewhere away from her. Perfect sense.

4. Felt the whole thing was rushed. The book could have been much longer.

That would have been nice!