Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Why I Found "Mockingjay" Disappointing *SPOILERS*

!!WARNING: If you haven't read "The Hunger Games" trilogy or are waiting to see the movies, SPOILERS!!

     I really enjoyed the first book. Collins is a good writer, better than Meyer, and I love a female heroine who is brave and self-sufficient. Katniss was maybe a little too clueless in some ways for my taste, but I liked her, and Collins' imagery was sometimes poignant enough to make me cry.
     The second book was good, again, excellent imagery. But Cinna, one of my favorite characters, dies, which pissed me off. And I kind of got the feeling that the books weren't going the way I anticipated, which is rather egotistical I know, but I like happy endings. There's enough tragedy in real life, I don't want it in my entertainment too.
     "Mockingjay" just continued in the same vein. Great imagery, but too realistic. Prim DIES! The center of the inciting incident for the whole goddamned story, and Collins kills her off! This made me a touch irrational. I understand the whole "girl-as-pawn-of-powerful-competing-forces" thing, but FUCK THAT. Finnick dies, and Katniss ends up with Peeta, which is great for him, but frankly, I wanted her to end up with hot hunter Gale. In my mind, the only redeeming things were Kat's shooting of Coin and the death of Snow, but neither of them made up for my general disappointment. Also, I was glad that Buttercup survived, but he's just a cat.
     I dunno, maybe I'm too sensitive, maybe I take things too personally. I understand that Collins was writing for a young adult audience, and she felt the need to add some realism to her escapist fantasy. Life isn't all sunshine and daffodils and children need to know that, as if they don't already. I wanted more romance and less cold reality, more the way things should be, and less the way they are. Oh well. I do wonder if and what the movies will change, though. After all, Hollywood does share my love of happy endings.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yep spoilers. I like being spoiled though. I probably won't read the books now. Oh uhm *smooch*