I thought the concept was okay, but that was until I read more on the subject and realized it had been done quite a few times.
I also thought that it would be a interesting psychological/moral read, seeing as Kat would have to kill her peers in order to survive. But somehow, conveniently, her peers turn out to be total arses, letting her kill them without flinching. And Rue gets killed by someone else, and she gets to keep Peta. Problem solved ... and I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong. I didn't want to read about Katniss turning into Jack the Ripper, but I wanted to see her struggle. Seeing her skip the obvious ethical problems with impunity really irritated me. The writing style was ... I don't know? A bit off, if you ask me. She's always using these odd derivatives, which seem to be nothing more than her own ... tangent. They could be easily edited out and not affect the story in the slightest. I always thought things that were in books should be there for a reason. Other that that, the writing is serviceable enough to keep you interested.
Also, Catching Fire was a BIG disappointment. It's Hunger Games returns with exactly the same plot except Katniss is faux-pregnant. WTF?
Mockingjay review:
I actually liked it quite a bit more than I expected too.
When I read Catching Fire, I was really disappointed, and I thought her ideas had deteriorated. I liked the books, but wasn't convinced Suzanne Collins could pull off a full-scale rebellion.
Well, it's sort of true. She can't, not really. But what she did instead was make it a very psychologically-based action book, without delving into the whole 'rebellion' a lot. I liked that. If she tried and failed the rebellion, that would've been awful. Instead, we focus on the girl we think we know, but don't really. Katniss. And we find that we really haven't been in her head as much as we liked to think. With these last few months, Katniss has been under so much duress, she's never had time to dredge up guilt, or doubt. Now, she's finally come trying to come to terms with her life, and who she is, and who she can trust, and who she can't.
I enjoyed reading about that, and I thought that the twist with Gale's attitude was very interesting. I didn't think the ending was depressing at all. You'll always have people like Coin, who are out of establish themselves when there is a power vacuum. And for the good to win and come out fully unscathed is very unrealistic in a world like Penam, and would never happen.
As for Katniss, I don't really think anyone could go through what she did and recover fully. That's why, in the epilogue, she tells the reader that one day her children will know why she wakes up sobbing, why she screams at night sometimes because of dreams that plague her. We she she's not healed, that the scars from the past will continue to haunt her. But the important part is, she didn't let it stop her. Of course it hurts. It will probably never stop. But she's trying, and she's obviously moved on quite successfully, and she's also making a memorial of sorts for all the tributes. I thought that was touching and sweet.
I'm actually quite pleased with the book overall. I'm glad Suzanne Collins didn't try to overreach and fail on a epic scale, but focused on what she was good at.
Another VERY good review of Mockingjay and the Hunger Games: (spoilers abound)
Hunger Games book review
