Book Review

[kenjari]

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins


This book concludes the Hunger Games Trilogy, and it does so with some surprising plot twists and a degree of grittiness that can be both refreshing and shocking. While this is not quite the optimistic resolution I was sort of expecting, it was incredibly well-done and all the ways Mockingjay stomped all over my expectations led to something that actually turned out to bring deeper satisfaction.
First off, District 13, despite their opposition to the Capitol, is not necessarily a better place. In a lot of ways, Katniss has less freedom and individuality there than she did in District 12. 13 is a very regimented, tightly engineered place that is in some ways just as dystopic as the Capitol. Also, as the Mockingjay for the rebellion, Katniss is once again forced into a role that she must perform for an audience, where her actions and feelings are manipulated and used for purposes that are not always entirely her own. Even though she is safer than she had been, Katniss must still struggle and fight for herself and to protect those she loves.
In addition, Collins is not afraid to kill of characters, even major and/or beloved ones, sometimes in ways that seem a little random. But this is war, and war does not play fair. Finnick's death in a random mutt attack was unexpected. It certainly did not seem fair to have Prim survive so far, only to be killed in a brutal and largely pointless bombing right at the end of the war. However, this is how Collins really makes it clear that in war, no one is really safe, no one is guaranteed survival or even to remain whole.
Katniss does spend a lot of the book hovering near psychological collapse and thus not always at her best. However, this did not annoy me the way it might have. Katniss has been through some really horrible stuff and her fragile state never felt exaggerated or implausible. How could she not be so close to the breaking point? I love that Collins was not afraid to go there, to have a heroine who does have her limits, who is not endlessly tough and stoic.
The resolution to the love triangle appealed to me a lot. Sure, there was no grand sweeping romance, but there was an honest look at the way traumatic experiences can bring people together or rip them apart, or sometimes a bit of both. I do feel like Katniss ended up with the right person. Even though in Catching Fire I often felt like Gale might have been the better choice, I think ultimately, Peeta was the right one. The war changed Gale, or maybe just brought out certain sides of him, that created an impenetrable chasm between he and Katniss. And then he failed at the one thing he could do for her that no one else could. And then she ends up with Peeta not through a grand sweeping gesture or moment, but through a process of healing, reconciliation, rediscovery, and rebuilding.
This is not a fairy tale with a riding off into the sunset happily ever after ending, this is a sharp and gritty story of people surviving and coping when facing some of the worst things their world contains. Nothing's easy, nothing's guaranteed, and it's all the more affecting and rewarding for that.

Comments

[cerridwynn.livejournal.com]

I wondered what you'd think of book 3. I didn't love it -- i thought that some of the pacing and character chemistry that made the first 2 so fun were missing in the 3rd book. The scale of what was going on became too big for the book. And the booby trapped city just didn't make much sense to me.

Also, Prim's death really bothered me. It made the whole series feel totally pointless -- like all of Katniss' efforts had been in vain, since saving Prim and making a better life for her was Katniss' primary motivation all along. Not that i don't appreciate tragedies -- i think Prim's death could have been interesting -- but it happened too late in the book for it to really be handled with the substance it deserved. It felt like she became a plot device rather than a character. :-/

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

Prim's death bothered me and I agree that it could have been given more substance, but I always did feel like she served more as motivation rather than being a fully-fleshed out character. And her death proves to be the catalyst for Katniss seeing that Coin would just be a replacement for Snow and her regime ultimately just another version of the Capitol. Also, I think that one of the themes in the series has to do with loss, so I couldn't help but admire the way that Collins wasn't afraid to take that to the hilt in some ways.