After finishing Catching Fire with that cliffhanger, I really had to go on start and finish Mockingjay.
Again, a fair warning: Spoilers ahead.
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans — except Katniss.
The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay — no matter what the personal cost.
For context, I just finished the second book a couple of days before reading this last one. And as you can read from my recent review, that second book was so intense with a cliffhanger that completely left me hanging. So of course, my anticipation was high and I was still fresh from the intensity of the last book. Expectations have been set, so have they been met?
The short answer: Yes. And no.
Making the Choice
One of the expectations was Katniss will be able to make a choice, or be forced to make a choice— Peeta, Gale or none at all. I was glad with the outcome of this, since I was actually rooting for that pairing. My thought was, “they were meant to be damnit!” And am very glad they did. The way how it all went out was depressing though, but still thought out well, considering the circumstances.
How everything turned out
Near the end, where they finally got to the Capitol and already face to face with Snow, I found it odd that everything was so convenient. Too convenient. Fine, Coin, the head of District 13 had her own agenda sure. And it was just too convenient as well that Katniss had to be unconscious while the pandemonium and matters settled ((twice, may I add)). Showing the rebellion as someone else’s plan to ascend into power is a actually a good twist, though I wonder if that idea should have made apparent more, and not have ended too quickly and neatly. Or I was just not paying too much attention.
In Conclusion
After reading the whole thing, it was like following the Spider-man movies. The first one was cool; the second one was sooo awesome it could be right there at the top of the comic-turned-movies; the third one, however, left you wanting something more, preferably a completely different turn of events.
Or maybe I was just expecting too much, and hoping my expectations will be met. I still recommend this though, for closure. It’s still a good story, just not what I was expecting. And it doesn’t really bring the whole series down, since it has its own merits.
Rating: 3 of 5 stars [?]
And it was just too convenient as well that Katniss had to be unconscious while the pandemonium and matters settled.
This is one of my major “meh” moments in the novel. Why is she always out of commission when the good stuff are happening?! Eh.
Same thing for me. I loved Catching Fire, but Mockingjay wasn’t all that. It’s okay, but it’s not the absolutely awesome, at least for me.
So true. I would’ve wanted to see how she reacted to those things while awake. And what she would’ve done. So because of that, everything felt rushed. 🙁