Comments | alexandral: Mockingjay: the end

alexandral

Mockingjay: the end

Jan 05, 2012 18:29

"Hunger Games" is a big disappointment of 2011, something I expected to like following almost universal praise this series receive in Lj land.. This disappointment goes quite deep covering many different levels and I feel compelled to write this down while I remember, even though I am probably re-capping some of the things I said previously:

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hunger games, books

Comments 28

saxify January 5 2012, 18:39:58 UTC

Mockingjay was such a giant disappointment, ugh. I loved The Hunger Games, and even Catching Fire was an enjoyable read but Mockingjay was just terrible. I was expecting much more, probably due to all the great things I heard about it :/

alexandral January 5 2012, 20:30:03 UTC

I think this was the same for me - I expected much more from this series, and it didn't deliver!

charlie_bz January 5 2012, 18:40:39 UTC

"The last two books are exponentially weaker than the first."

Yes! I couldn't have said it better or more succinct.

I was very disappointed by this series. All your criticisms are valid. I wanted more of Capital city, more about Gale and Peeta and the mentor guy whose name I've forgotten.

I'm now rereading Game of Thrones in anticipation for the new season starting in April. Can't wait!

alexandral January 5 2012, 21:18:07 UTC

Oh, I wished we got to read more about Haymitch (the mentor guy), or Peeta or Gale. It was all : memememememe about Katniss and this became almost unbearable at the end. I know the book is written from the first person's POV, but I remember some other books like this where I didn't feel this constant "me me me me" stream.

Game of Thrones - I am going to start my re-read of Clash of Kings now I am over and done with Hunger Games!

fauxkaren January 5 2012, 20:25:49 UTC

I didn't like Mockingjay on my first readthrough, but I think it might be my favorite of the series now. The first book is very much an action-adventure story. The second one starts to bring in an more motional element, but the third one is all about Katniss and her character journey which is why I love it ( ... )

alexandral January 5 2012, 21:10:37 UTC

I feel as if you are talking about some series that are NOT Hunger Games. Admittedly, I have listened to the series, not read it, but my audio book was unabridged which means it wasn’t changed ( ... )

embitca January 5 2012, 20:30:09 UTC

Your post makes me so happy I didn't proceed beyond the first book. I just knew that there wasn't going to be anything there for me. I wish Battle Royale was available on Kindle. I'd love to read it. Maybe I can at least see the movie.

alexandral January 5 2012, 21:22:12 UTC

I would really recommend "Battle Royale" the film, it is an absolute classic. I promised myself I am going to give myself a treat and re-watch it after the tedious ending of the Hunger Games trilogy. :)

lydzi January 5 2012, 22:44:17 UTC

Book >>>>> movie. And the movie is great already (even if I'm not fond of the teen actor) which says everything.

lydzi January 5 2012, 22:43:16 UTC

Lol YOU DID predict everything!! You have no idea how my face looked liked when I read your first topic on the subject ^^. I was "ok we have Nostradamus here" (now you need to put your Sherlock brain onto Games of Thrones asap :p ( ... )

alexandral January 5 2012, 22:54:43 UTC

Lol, I don't really HATE the series, 6/10 is a pretty decent rating. :D

I think for me the problem was that I have seen quite few "OMPH! Katniss! The most feminist girl character ever written" posts , so I expected something more. And where I might believe that after reading Twilight , "Hunger Games" might seem like a slight step in feminist direction, this doesn't work for me. I AM NOT IMPRESSED. :D

I don't know if I express myself correctly: I don't dislike Katniss as a character. I feel for her. but I do dislike the things that this character signifies: another dose of tropes about young girls.

Oh, don't start me on Prim's death. This was so unnecessary but the worst thing? It was another character death/torture (the same was with Peeta's brainwashing) that was there for the single purpose to give Katniss reason to suffer . OH POOR SUFFERING KATNISS.
Oh wait, there was another purpose! Prim's death was there to get rid of Gale! And how badly executed that was!

lydzi January 5 2012, 23:06:33 UTC

Lol Gale ending up somewhere on District 2 was so random but I have this perfect story where Joanna goes there sometimes and they hook up somehow. Gale and Joanna are a good match in my mind.

Katniss was delusionnal from the start about Peeta so the question about who she was going to end up with was never really worrying to me. I believe that if she really had the choice, she would have choose neither ( ... )

alexandral January 5 2012, 23:25:27 UTC

You see, I would have loved it if Katniss chose neither Peeta or Gale at the end. Because the way I see it -she didn't LOVE neither of the two and THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A REALLY FEMINIST ENDING. A girl doesn't need a man in her life "for survival purposes only"! I am a strong believer that you must marry for love only (another of my big problems with Hunger Games)

I thought at some point in the first book that she loved Peeta, but the way Katniss acted after he was brainwashed? NO, she didn't love Peeta. Marriage is not just for good times, it is also for bad times - what is going to happen when Peeta will get old or ill? I just can't see Katniss to be able to care for him.

This all said, the epilogue was quite good. If only the author hadn't written Mockingjay but went straight from "Hunger Gzmes" to the epilogue? I would have like this much better. :D

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