Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

If you liked the book and don't want to read a rant, then don't read this post. If you're curious or are aching to share your rants about Mockingjay, too, then by all means, go ahead. You, however, have been warned.

Oh, one other thing--this review has spoilers. Just so you know...

I am a fan of Suzanne Collins, based on the strength of Hunger Games and Catching Fire. My review of Hunger Games says as much. And though I liked the first book better, Catching Fire was a pretty decent sequel that actually upped the stakes of the first book.

So it's no surprise that I, along with millions of other fans, was counting the days till the third book came out. I did the fan thing--pre-ordered it from our local bookstore, NBS, because if you did, you got a free t-shirt to go along with it. Then, when Blooey invited me to be one of the panelists for the book discussion at the Mockingjay Launch Party, of course I said yes! After all, I owe the good people of Scholastic, one of the sponsors of the launch party, for introducing me to this wonderful series. Then, I proceeded to pimp out both the book and the launch party to my friends.

On D-Day, I went to work in the afternoon so I could pick up my book from the store in the morning. Soon as I got home from work that night, I began reading. I was so excited to find out what happened to Katniss after she gets rescued by District 13, and what happens to Peeta, who is in President Snow's hands. And so I read. The beginning seemed promising--Katniss back at the ruins of District 12, receiving a sinister warning from President Snow; Peeta's heartwrenching first interview; more of Prim and her cat.

But I think the first grimace came before page 50.

If I don't like what I'm reading or what the author has done to the story, I grimace. Sometimes, I roll my eyes. If it's really bad, I do both, plus let out an exasperated sigh, and shut the book. I think I did all three for Mockingjay.

Ok, let me qualify. Maybe the book wasn't that bad. I mean, at least there's a story. But let's just say I was supremely disappointed in it. Hence the grimacing, the rolling of the eyes, the exasperated sighing, and the periodically shutting it out of annoyance. And, my apologies if anyone's disappointed in me for reviewing it this way, but I reserve the right to say what I think in my own blog.

Now here's the real rant...Mockingjay felt like a real cop-out. In Hunger Games and Catching Fire, Collins brought us to the action. She told a coherent story and put us in the scene of the most important plot points. But she doesn't do that in Mockingjay. The basic rule in good writing--Show, don't Tell--didn't seem to apply in this third book. *Oh, we're off to rescue Peeta, so just sit back and wait for us here. Hey, what do you know?--Peeta's rescued, but he isn't himself, blah blah.* or *Oh, hey, we're about to enter the President's mansion. Oops, a bomb goes off killing Prim, so, sorry Katniss, you're unconscious and back in the hospital again for the umpteenth time in this book. So, we just gotta tell you what happened instead, blah, blah, blah.*

I was also disappointed at how many of the events and the way the characters were developed did not make sense. Basically, it lacked story logic. Katniss didn't see Gale's connivance with bombs coming? For real? Then she must be dumber than I thought, and I didn't like it. Because Katniss wasn't written to be dumb. At least, not how she was written in the first two books. Maybe a little blind, but not dumb.

And for real? District 13 thought that they could put Katniss in a studio and film a revolution, and it would work? Come on. I wish Collins had given District 13 better credit. I mean, the whole success of the Hunger Games was that it was REALITY TV. Something must have badly addled their brains to think that it would work.

And that whole scene where Haymitch is the only who figures it out is so contrived. Really? Could no one have figured it out, too? Didn't anyone watch the Hunger Games, and know what it was? 

Collins didn't build up the story enough, too, so by the end, when Prim dies, I hardly cared. She wasn't anyone I was invested in. And, to be honest, it also seemed Katniss wasn't that invested in her, anyway. 

Let me tell you, though, I was invested in the whole Gale vs. Peeta thing. I was always Team Peeta, but, for some reason, I thought she'd eventually end up with Gale. Seemed more poetic that way. So you'd think I'd be glad she ended up with Peeta, huh? In a way, yes, but not totally. Because I didn't like how it was written. The independent Katniss, the one who makes choices, got this choice taken away from her. Gale was "bad" because he might have made the bomb that killed her sister. So the obvious choice now is Peeta. Come on. Why take the choice away from her? Why write one character off so she'd obviously end up with the other one? I would really, really have preferred for her to make an honest-to-goodness choice between two great guys without any dealbreakers.

Also, just because it's dystopian, tries to talk about war, and kills off a lot of people doesn't mean it's good. As a discourse on war, I think it falls flat and reeks of preachiness.

Ok, I know I can go on ranting, but I think I've shown enough of how disappointed I was. Fine, I expected a lot, which stands to reason I'd be easily disappointed. Then again, I don't think so. Is it too much to expect a well-written story? Is it too much to expect that characters would act and develop in a way that makes sense to their characterization? Heck, no.

I would've been ok had Collins written a book that didn't match the pacing and the complexity of the earlier two, but at least had a story that made sense and did not look rushed. But for her to come out with this one--*heavy sigh.*

I have expected a lot before, from another dystopian YA series. I expected a lot from the 3rd book. And you know what? It delivered. And more. I'm talking about Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series. And oh my god, I could not stop raving about it. But when Ness's last book came out, Mockingjay wasn't out yet. So, though I loved Ness's series with all my heart, better than I loved The Hunger Games and Catching Fire together, I know I left some room my little old heart in case Collins blew Ness out of the water with Mockingjay.

But, oh my God, she blew it, all right.

So here it is. Read The Hunger Games, because it is a great book. Read Catching Fire, because it is a respectable sequel. And read Mockingjay, just so you can finish the series and find out who she ends up with and blah, blah, blah. But I wouldn't really tell you to expect anything from Mockingjay beyond that.