Truthfully, the story was not well written. Was it even written by Ms. Collins? I am not saying this because I did not like the ending ( I liked who she ended up with but not how). I struggled not to skim. I wanted to skip chapters they were so dry. I feel like I could have skipped 3 chapters and 4 pages and ended up at the same place....Katniss, crying, hiding, running, blacking out or sleeping in the hospital.
Katniss seems so dead inside. Even the Gale vs Peeta was not exciting. It seemed like the author was just putting up with the characters to get to her true end...making sure we received her heavily crammed down our throats anti war propaganda. I found myself very confused most of the time. The only reason I finished the book was because I wanted to see what happened to the characters I grew to care about in the 1st two books. I would have rather stopped at "Catching Fire" and made up my own ending.
I'm not sure this book should even be a YA, it is depressing and hopeless. Even the ending, which I guess is supposed to give some sense of hope, doesn't ring true. I respectfully demand a rewrite! Ms. Collins, take your time and stay true to your characters so that this can be a triology that we want to read over and over. I'm not sure I will even read the 1st two again since I know that the third book brings so much hopelessness and depression. The good thing is when this book makes it to the movies it will possibly be changed for the better because I don't see how anyone could watch such a dark, depressing movie for two hours.
P.S. I am not bashing her work. I would never bash another author's work. I am just so disappointed I needed to get it out somehow!
I so agree with you! But unlike you, I did skim and skip chapters and found myself reading the same thing over and over because it all seemed repetitive. While I was somewhat happy with the ending, it still left me wanting to know more about the other characters.....what happened to them? It almost felt like the book HAD to be written. Very disappointing, indeed....
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone agrees. I was happy with who she ended up with but not how. I feel readers were let down. She spent what...a page telling us how she chose who she chose...ugh...I still am bitter about this book! :(
DeleteI agree. Im googling every possible thing pertaining to this "great ending of a trilogy" im sad to admit how disappointed I am in how rushed through the book was. Just like the way the fourth book of the twilight series. Both endings were dry of emotion. It would of been amazing to have had an alternate ending to fall back on, I LOVE who she chose to spend her life with but would have loved a more in depth peer into the conclusion and ending. Knowing what became of the rest of the characters would have added a sense of closure to the death of the Trilogy. Suzzane Collins, beyond the shadow of a doubt is a talented artist/writer. I too am with you in the fact that with being how talented she is, could have made it better. at least the last few chapters. The ending feels forced. As a plea from fans, please S. Collins consider revising and editing keeping the ending concepts the same but better thought out and more of a painted picture. Thank you.
DeleteI completely agree with y'all. i think maybe she had her husband write the ending and maybe he hadn't actually read the first two, so he didn't know to be concerned about the love element between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. So you know what i did, i wrote my own ending. i am a complete dork, but i just couldn't handle it. In the process, i realized how difficult it is to write engaging dialogue and a captivating fiction in general. But if you want to read my ending, here it is (i didn't do a good job of grammar and maybe even spelling, but my heart was in it at least:o)..
Deleteactually, it's too long to fit here and probably not worthy of being on this website anyway. but i had fun writing it!
DeleteOkay if you do want to read it, you can find it at my blog, here..http://livinginloveandgrace.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-many-of-you-read-hunger-games.html
DeleteThank you for your responses. It is nice to know I am not alone in my views of the last book. I get a lot of weird looks when others rave about it and i tell my opinion. I
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine anyone raving about this book. I hated it, after loving the first two so, so much.
ReplyDeletei totally agree. i was lost the whole way through the books. the ending actually hurt me, and made a depressing time of my life happier. I didn't completely hate the book, but it was boring and not as original of an ending as i expected. So much questions unanswered. The book should I have been amazing with so much detail, and it could have been longer. Mockingjay is tragic because the whole idea of war and nothing good coming from it takes over the series. I think Collins just tried to show the readers that not all books have happy endings. I don't think everyone expected a HAPPY ending, but a SATISFYING one. All in all, I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteedit: the ending actually hurt me, and made a depressing time of my life worse* since i rely on books to keep me away from reality.--
DeleteI just watched the movies (I don't know why), which made me reread/scan the books (I really shouldn't have) because I read them years ago, and I really want a rewrite!
ReplyDeleteI agree; I am glad Katniss ended up with the partner she did, but the book was a muddled mess. We didn't get to see anything important because was so traumatized. Maybe she should have shifted perspective and let us experience the story with other eyes, Peeta, Haymitch, etc. Even the deaths of some of the characters were weird and so oddly constructed that those story arcs left me frustrated, angry, or confused.
It all just felt hollow and depressing. Katniss having PTSD is reasonable. Her PTSD taking over most of the final book the way that it did was unreasonably boring. Everything happened off stage while the reader was stuck in her nightmare for page after page after page.
Yes, Katniss should have been center-stage, but her breakdown took up too much of the book. Why were all the other characters basically relegated to the nose-bleed seats of the story? The characters that you grew to love or like got lost. She needs to rewrite the book and re-center the story on them. Sorry, but the first book was enthralling, the second book took a minute to get into, but the third book was a sheer disappointment that left me feeling unfulfilled.