Comments on: On the Wings of the Mockingjay

By: hercdeisel

hercdeisel — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:32:58 +0000

I read all the books on some transatlantic flights I had for work…I think my biggest complaint about the third book is the repetition. So many shots of her shooting the propaganda shots unfolding in the same way over and over.

I actually thought the best part of mockingjay was the way that she completely and utterly fell apart. In the end she isn’t special in a way that puts her above being crushed by going through all of the physical, emotional, and psychological torture she endured as a political pawn. Sure, she’s a good shot. And she’s also brave and fiercely loyal to her family and close friends. Those are all nice qualities.

But there are no real mockingjays. There are no singular, superb individuals who can rise above their circumstances unscathed. There are only manufactured images, ideals made in the service of manipulating others (whether to noble or horrific ends). Behind such ideals are nothing more than human beings, and those human beings pay a steep price.

Her circumstances are extraordinary but she is not. Because no one is. Then again, this isn’t a ‘bad’ message because, more or less no one goes through her circumstances and so no one has reason to be as devastated and hopeless as she is.

By: Getsu

Getsu — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:21:35 +0000

I found that the third book was a very weak ending to the series. The first and second books built up a huge story that the last book just didn’t live up to. It also made me very unhappy to see just how sad of a character Katniss became. All throughout that book she seems to be going through the motions and trying to hide from anything and everything she can as she mopes. The ending was such a let down too. She’d been having the internal conflict between Peeta and Gale since the very beginning, and instead of actively picking one she just tells herself she can’t be with Gale because of Prim. She didn’t choose to be with Peeta but instead went with her only choice. Maybe I missed something, but I didn’t find the last book to be very good.

By: koalabear21

koalabear21 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 12:02:20 +0000

I remember being pissed reading the 3rd book. I was so unhappy with how she just stopped. It really felt like she ended up with Peeta because there wasn’t anything else she could do. It wasn’t like she _wanted_ to, it just happened. I don’t know if re-reading it will help (it did with ASOFIAF) but I am almost afraid to have the same reactions.

Don’t feel bad about the emotional roller coaster. I think I spent half the book in tears. They came back when I watched the movie. Even thinking about what happened has me tearing up at work.

By: ellori

ellori — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 07:39:06 +0000

Third book was odd; felt like the author was suddenly being pushed by the publisher and had to finish it in a rush. Some things had no proper build up; occurrences seemed random and out of the blue, and there was no proper closure for several incidents. Just odd and haphazard as hell.

By: Rush

Rush — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:52:44 +0000

I had a similar response on my first reading of Mockingjay, but when I re-read the series a while later, I saw more of Katniss’s descent earlier.

She’s a girl that just wanted to live her life in peace after her terrible experience in the arena, but circumstances kept pushing her into the fire. Forced to try and quell a revolt, to fight for her life again, to be the symbol of the revolt. All at the age of 16-17.

I think the empty ending is all that would work. Her life was empty after the revolution, all she had left was to live out the rest of her days, and hope the nightmares are a little less bad the next night.

The last book is the weakest of the three, but give it a second chance. There is so much there that can get lost in the rush of plot.