Book 17: Mockingjay

Mockingjay was the final and least captivating book of the Hunger Games series. I’ve been enthralled with these books for a week. They were so interesting and so good. It was a bit of a let down to see the final chapter work out the way it did.

The book started off pretty well. Katniss was in District 13 and adjusting to a much more regimented life. Well sorta, she was skipping out on some of her scheduled activities  for a while and was just not herself. The last hunger games really started to catch up to her and she was upset that Peeta was in grave danger by being in the Capitol’s clutches. After a lot of prodding a few promises, Katniss agrees to be the focal point to the rebel cause.

There was a part when they get Peeta back only to find out that he’s not the loveable Peeta that we got to know in the first two books. It was something where you go, that’s so not right. You expect him to be damage but to try and kill Katniss on first sight was not expected (sorry about the spoiler, I promise it will be the last one-but did you really expect him not to make an appearance in the book?)

One of the major points that come up in this book is the love triangle between Peeta and Gale. That became a talking point between a couple of my friends. I was outvoted on which was the better guy for Katniss. I like Gale. He was well suited for Katniss but he didn’t let love blind him from reality. Peeta is much more the romantic. I guess it comes to down to the fact, I don’t want someone to give up their dreams and hopes just to be chosen by the one they love.

But my favorite character in the book was Finnick. He was one who just continue to grow for me. I love that. He was someone who was sweet, a little weird but has so much heart.  It was the character I probably ended up loving the most.

Mockingjay also brought up my frustration with Scholastic Publishing. They have great talent at finding and publishing great series. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and others. But the problem with these hit series, the final books in the series seem to be printed and published too soon in order to satisfy public demand.  Quite frankly the books lack the polish you come to expect from the author.  In the first two books, I didn’t have to reread any parts of the book for clarity. But in Mockingjay, I had to reread earlier parts to see when a character would appear or reread a sentence three times. Quite frankly, I would have preferred to wait a couple more months so the gaps are filled in and the book has the same level of writing the first two books had. This is my same exact thought with Harry Potter when I read the seventh book.  It’s not always better to print a book in order to get a quick buck from the readers. I’m tired of subpar books to finish out a series when half the problem is poor editing.