Wednesday I finished Mockingjay. Blogger has been down for a couple of days, but when I finished reading I immediately sat down to write about it... and I couldn’t. I just didn’t know how I felt about it.
Maybe I still don’t.
This is what I can say. As part of the trilogy it’s truly amazing. Thrilling, really. Exciting. Unexpected. Emotional.
But the problem with a good great trilogy is that three books later, once you’re hooked on the characters and the story and the relationships, it ends. And that’s all you get. Three books.
This is where the problem lies with me and Mockingjay. Although I don’t think it’s on exactly the same level as the other two, it is still fantastic in its own way... I’m just left feeling that sense of “emptiness” (for lack of a less dramatic word) that it’s over. I don’t need to rush out and get the next book because there isn’t one.
There also doesn’t need to be one.
Throughout the whole book Collins really gives incredible insight into the minds of people who struggle with coping after disaster strikes... and then strikes again, and again, and again. This book, more than the others, places a heavy focus on what’s happening inside our main character. Any confusion I had about character plans, motivations, and alliances were well warranted and simply mirrored the confusion of Katniss. And there is a lot of confusion. And mind games. And action. And confusion. (I mentioned the confusion, right?)
Again, I won’t dwell long on the exact happenings so as not to spoil anything, but it was a satisfying read. Harder to get through than the others (though I still read it in about two and a half days, if you can consider that “hard to get through”), but a solid conclusion to a standout trilogy.
If you haven’t read it, please do. It’s incredibly worth it.
Get in the game!
2 comments:
Amanda I have a dilemma. You have me really interested in reading The Hunger Games et al, however, there is a movie adaptation coming out next March that is sounding like it will be pretty solid. I just read that Donald Sutherland has been cast in a main role, and I am a big fan. To get the most enjoyment out of books and the movies they are based on I like to watch the movie first and then read the book. (We all know that the movies are generally let downs if the book has been read first, so by watching the movie first it makes the book just that much more amazing instead)
So your advice is required: wait until the movie comes out in March and then read the books, or are they just too good to wait for and worth making the movie a bit of a let down? (I have considered the possibility that the movie will be awesome either way, but I'm not sure if I want to make that assumption)
Thanks :)
Vikki! The books (obviously) are fantastic. And I'm constantly following new additions to the cast of the movie... So far, I'm pretty pleased too. (Come on, Lenny Kravitz!? Liam Helms-whoever!? ...Very good-looking, but also very appropriately cast).
My book/movie philosophy is always read first, watch later. Though I agree that it tends to make movies seem less great (aaand I'm a huge judger of what was added/removed from the original which always tends to annoy people, and myself). SO, I'm not sure what to tell you. My choice was to read them first, and so far I don't regret it. Honestly, I don't think I'll regret it when the movies come out either. It's such an exciting and creative story, that I doubt Hollywood can screw it up.
I'd say, if you're traditionally a watch first, read later kind of person and you can hold out a year to see what the fuss is about, power to you. But if books are your thing, I'd go ahead a read them. The endings of each are so exciting that I'm glad I didn't wait for a movie.
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