![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greenconversesI finished Mockingjay yesterday afternoon, but I was roadtripping with some friends to Lincoln so you can only imagine how much of an anti-social grump I was to hang out with after that. All I wanted to do for the rest of the day was shake someone and scream, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT I JUST READ. I AM IN EMOTIONAL TURMOIL RIGHT NOW, HUG MEEEEE." Or, you know, just get online and capslock all over the place. Whatever's more socially acceptable.
There will be spoilers of the most spoilery kind under this cut. I have been holding it in for a day and I'm going to burst if I don't get these thoughts out somewhere. So if you don't want to know who survived, how the love triangle ended up, or basically anything about the book in general, don't click under the cut. Because I'm spoiling something big off the bat. Last warning!
I'm satisfied with the way the series ended. Not happy with everything, but satisfied, and I think that's better than being happy. Mockingjay's a hard book to read because it's so intense and emotional. I couldn't put it down but I almost had to at some points because Katniss' emotions were so overwhelming and everything that was happening could be so draining.
And okay, so I'm just going to get the distraught wailing out of my system right away:
WHY FINNICK WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY
Mockingjay was a bloodbath for sure, but Finnick's death just gutted me. I still can't believe it happened. I loved him so much in this book - seeing him fall apart and come back together, the frienship with Katniss, his reunion with Annie, learning about his past and how the Capitol used him, him finally being happy - and - and then he just dies in the most horrible way possible. I was on the edge of my seat that scene because I knew someone was going to die, but I figured Finnick was safe and that this would be the place where either Gale or Peeta would kick the bucket so I was worrying myself sick over the two of them and then... like I'm still going back and re-reading that section because I just can't believe it happened.
So, again with my wail of WHY FINNICK WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY
And speaking of deaths I wasn't expecting (although I probably should've), Prim. And Boggs. And pretty much everyone in the book that we were introduced to and died horribly at some point. T.T But Way to hit us where it hurts with Prim, Suzanne Collins, seriously. I feel like Prim's death was just kind of a, "You went through two Games for absolutely nothing," moment for Katniss. That scene with her and Prim's stupid cat at the end would've driven me to tears had I not been surrounded by people.
I probably would have sobbed no matter the amount of people around if Peeta had died, so thank god he made it through. But his scenes were still so heartbreaking, I almost couldn't stand it. The greatest part about his character is that he's been the incorruptible good one in the series and then Collins breaks him and takes away his ability to see hope and goodness where others can't. Watching him lose it was just so tough, especially since I thought Katniss might just give in and kill him like he asked. I do wish more time had been spent on Peeta's recovery and when he realized he was in love with Katniss again because I feel like that was pretty rushed through.
I loved that we finally got to see Gale's character developed, and his arc was one of my favorites. I know a lot of people at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
themockingjay are complaining that his character was completely destroyed, but I don't think he had enough screentime in the earlier books to be "destroyed." But what we've seen of him in the first two books, especially in Catching Fire, supports what we saw of him in Mockingjay. He was always more vehemently anti-Capitol, always more ruthless and warrior-minded than Katniss. Katniss was thrust into her position in the rebellion - Gale wanted it from the beginning. Does that make him evil? No. Does it make him a dark, interesting character? Hell yeah.
It's also important to point out that, even at the beginning of the book, Gale's not the boy Katniss knew from childhood any more. He watched his best friend go through two Hunger Games, he watched his home burn and people he knew die, and he wanted revenge, no matter what the cost. He had a very different view of the war than Katniss and that's what ultimately drove them apart. His association with Prim's death was only part of it - you could tell they were pulling apart at the seams already during the scenes in District 2. And I thought that was a realistic way to end the love triangle - no overblown declarations of love or stupid, heroic sacrifices - just an honest, traumatic dissolution of a long friendship because of war.
I also know that a lot of people were disappointed by how low-key Katniss/Peeta were in this book, and I'll admit, I like the romance as much as anybody, but you were definitely reading the wrong series if you were hoping for it to dominate the books. I wanted the book to be primarily about Katniss and her role in the war, and I got that in spades. I kind of hated that she was so out of it and passive in this book compared to the others, but at the same time, it was an arc that was realistic and fit with her character.
Katniss was never a warrior and she certainly didn't want to be a leader of a rebellion; she just wanted to save those who mattered most to her. She's also a 17 year old girl who's gone through unimaginable, terrible things and so of course she's going to lose it at some point. People can only handle so much before they crack and she reached hers in Catching Fire; Mockingjay was her trying to put herself back together and constantly falling apart, and while that was frustrating for me as a reader, it was understandable for her character.
And to round up, I was satisfied with the ending. Not just because I can do the, "My ship won again!" dance, but because it was a good, solid ending. Katniss got to return to District 12 to be normal, and savor the peace she earned with her family and Peeta. She has a better future and hope, and that's all she really wanted from the beginning anyway.
So I'll end this with my favorite Katniss/Peeta quote from the book, aside from the one I quoted in the cut:
P.S. My other favorite and the HBIC herself Johanna survived. Yay Johanna! :3
...that's all.
In addition to being finished with Mockingjay, I am now the proud owner of a THG T-shirt. So be jealous.
There will be spoilers of the most spoilery kind under this cut. I have been holding it in for a day and I'm going to burst if I don't get these thoughts out somewhere. So if you don't want to know who survived, how the love triangle ended up, or basically anything about the book in general, don't click under the cut. Because I'm spoiling something big off the bat. Last warning!
I'm satisfied with the way the series ended. Not happy with everything, but satisfied, and I think that's better than being happy. Mockingjay's a hard book to read because it's so intense and emotional. I couldn't put it down but I almost had to at some points because Katniss' emotions were so overwhelming and everything that was happening could be so draining.
And okay, so I'm just going to get the distraught wailing out of my system right away:
WHY FINNICK WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY
Mockingjay was a bloodbath for sure, but Finnick's death just gutted me. I still can't believe it happened. I loved him so much in this book - seeing him fall apart and come back together, the frienship with Katniss, his reunion with Annie, learning about his past and how the Capitol used him, him finally being happy - and - and then he just dies in the most horrible way possible. I was on the edge of my seat that scene because I knew someone was going to die, but I figured Finnick was safe and that this would be the place where either Gale or Peeta would kick the bucket so I was worrying myself sick over the two of them and then... like I'm still going back and re-reading that section because I just can't believe it happened.
So, again with my wail of WHY FINNICK WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY
And speaking of deaths I wasn't expecting (although I probably should've), Prim. And Boggs. And pretty much everyone in the book that we were introduced to and died horribly at some point. T.T But Way to hit us where it hurts with Prim, Suzanne Collins, seriously. I feel like Prim's death was just kind of a, "You went through two Games for absolutely nothing," moment for Katniss. That scene with her and Prim's stupid cat at the end would've driven me to tears had I not been surrounded by people.
I probably would have sobbed no matter the amount of people around if Peeta had died, so thank god he made it through. But his scenes were still so heartbreaking, I almost couldn't stand it. The greatest part about his character is that he's been the incorruptible good one in the series and then Collins breaks him and takes away his ability to see hope and goodness where others can't. Watching him lose it was just so tough, especially since I thought Katniss might just give in and kill him like he asked. I do wish more time had been spent on Peeta's recovery and when he realized he was in love with Katniss again because I feel like that was pretty rushed through.
I loved that we finally got to see Gale's character developed, and his arc was one of my favorites. I know a lot of people at
themockingjay are complaining that his character was completely destroyed, but I don't think he had enough screentime in the earlier books to be "destroyed." But what we've seen of him in the first two books, especially in Catching Fire, supports what we saw of him in Mockingjay. He was always more vehemently anti-Capitol, always more ruthless and warrior-minded than Katniss. Katniss was thrust into her position in the rebellion - Gale wanted it from the beginning. Does that make him evil? No. Does it make him a dark, interesting character? Hell yeah. It's also important to point out that, even at the beginning of the book, Gale's not the boy Katniss knew from childhood any more. He watched his best friend go through two Hunger Games, he watched his home burn and people he knew die, and he wanted revenge, no matter what the cost. He had a very different view of the war than Katniss and that's what ultimately drove them apart. His association with Prim's death was only part of it - you could tell they were pulling apart at the seams already during the scenes in District 2. And I thought that was a realistic way to end the love triangle - no overblown declarations of love or stupid, heroic sacrifices - just an honest, traumatic dissolution of a long friendship because of war.
I also know that a lot of people were disappointed by how low-key Katniss/Peeta were in this book, and I'll admit, I like the romance as much as anybody, but you were definitely reading the wrong series if you were hoping for it to dominate the books. I wanted the book to be primarily about Katniss and her role in the war, and I got that in spades. I kind of hated that she was so out of it and passive in this book compared to the others, but at the same time, it was an arc that was realistic and fit with her character.
Katniss was never a warrior and she certainly didn't want to be a leader of a rebellion; she just wanted to save those who mattered most to her. She's also a 17 year old girl who's gone through unimaginable, terrible things and so of course she's going to lose it at some point. People can only handle so much before they crack and she reached hers in Catching Fire; Mockingjay was her trying to put herself back together and constantly falling apart, and while that was frustrating for me as a reader, it was understandable for her character.
And to round up, I was satisfied with the ending. Not just because I can do the, "My ship won again!" dance, but because it was a good, solid ending. Katniss got to return to District 12 to be normal, and savor the peace she earned with her family and Peeta. She has a better future and hope, and that's all she really wanted from the beginning anyway.
So I'll end this with my favorite Katniss/Peeta quote from the book, aside from the one I quoted in the cut:
So after, when he whispers, "You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real."
P.S. My other favorite and the HBIC herself Johanna survived. Yay Johanna! :3
...that's all.
In addition to being finished with Mockingjay, I am now the proud owner of a THG T-shirt. So be jealous.
