*sigh*
okay, so I finished Mockingjay.
Wow, it was depressing. Holy shit! Suzanne Collins upped the depressing factor to 11 when writing this book. I mean, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows, but this was REALLY depressing.
I enjoyed it, though. I mean, the setting and storyline are depressing to begin with. I really, really like the ending. I'm glad that Katniss allows herself to be healed by Peeta. And I'm glad that their children are growing up in a world without the cruelty of the Games. But I'm still not really feeling them as a couple. I just...I feel like Katniss spent as much time hating Peeta as she did being in love with him. But still. I'm glad they live happily ever after. (oh, and speaking of after, I think that Mockingjay has one of the best g-rated sex scenes of any book I've ever read. All Collins says is "after". And that one word has so, so many implications)
I think it's a testament to how awesome and strong a character Katniss is by comparing her to a character we all love to hate: Bella Swan. One of the things that I so strongly disliked about New Moon was that Bella fell so totally apart once Edward left her. Just left her. Nothing bad was even happening to him. He just...left. And she acted like she had had a big part of her soul ripped out. But Katniss - in Mockingjay, both of the boys she loves are tortured, both of them turn against her, both of them are separated from her for extended periods of time, and SHE DOESN'T EVEN STOP GOING. She only cries once in relation to them, and that's because ONE OF THEM TRIES TO STRANGLE HER. She's so, so strong! And awesome. I really admire Katniss.
And speaking of Katniss and the boys, this leads me to another point: Gale. I admit, I still like Gale, even after all the baaaaaaad stuff he did in Mockingjay. I admire his resolve, and his dedication to his family. And his dedication to Katniss' family. But I do think that his feelings - the whole "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" mentality - were wrong. War is not the answer! I don't think I've ever read a book that pimps that idea out better than Mockingjay. There are some truly heinous war scenes in this book. I mean, the guy whose flesh melts off like candle wax? Yeck! I'm not squeamish with gory scenes, but some of the descriptions in this book made me a little woozy, I must say.
I liked Peeta better in this book, I have to say. I mean, I never really hated Peeta or anything - I just thought he was kind of a pain in the ass. But in this book, I stopped disliking him so much. I got to thinking, he has experienced the same horrors as Katniss, but he comes across as a lot less damaged by it all. He's probably the weakest character physically, but I think he's the strongest mentally. So I am now a Peeta fan, sort of. I don't know why everyone pictures him as being hot, though. I never thought that when I was reading the book...whatever.
So, in the end: read The Hunger Games series. They are all excellent. I think my favorite is Catching Fire, actually. I don't know why...I just like it.
On an unrelated note: I saw Scott Pilgrim last night, and it was hilarious. I really loved it. Go see it.
I leave for school tomorrow...I'm not packed yet...