Lezersrecensie
Traumatizing
Spoiler heavy review!
I have been very conflicted about the rating I would give this book. It's definitely my least favorite of the three, but I absolutely bawled my eyes out, so it gets 5 stars from me.
The main reason I rate this book lower than the other two is because I'm generally not a fan of books about war. Reading about tactics and maps tend to bore me. I didn't mind the parts in district 13, but a lot of the missions lost me, especially in part 3 of the book. The raiding of the Capitol with the many pods and different kinds of horrors went over my head, because I just couldn't visualize it. Some of the scenes were also a bit too gruesome for my likings, but then again, it's war. There is no pretty way to describe that.
I'm also not the biggest fan of how overlooked Finnicks death was. He was such an important (and beloved) character and he just dies, barely to be talked about again. His death felt kind of wasteful and mainly there for shock value.
I've seen a lot of criticism on how (trauma)heavy this book was. I for one liked how realistic and fleshed out everyone's struggles were in this book. I definitely understand this was not everyone's cup of tea.
I do feel like people went in expecting one big epic conclusion (so did I) and instead got a story the main character didn't even really break through in. But I think that was the point of Mockingjay. In the end, Katniss is no hero, she never was. She's just a teenager, a really brave one at that, who had the misfortune of accidentally being the person to push people over the edge. She didn't choose to be a rebel, she even wanted to run away in the second book. She didn't want to be the Mockingjay, she got forced to be. Yet a lot of us expected her to be exactly to be what de rebellion wanted her to be: an icon, the one to bring the Capitol down, something that can't be expected from a traumatized child. In the end, there is no big climax where she rises up victorious, there is no happily ever after, there is no inherently satisfying ending, because in the end, a war has been fought, people are dead and nothing will ever be the same. I think Collins chose for an ending like this to drive home her point that there are no winners or heroes in war, just like there were no real victors in the hunger games (as touched upon in Catching Fire).
I also like the symbolism of the vague epilogue. We don't get to see how Katniss and Peeta grow closer, we don't get to hear the names of their kids. Their lives have been on television since the 74th hunger games. Now they've managed to back away from public judgement and are trying to heal at their own speed. This doesn't mean i wouldn't have loved to read more about their journey, but I understand why Collins end their story like this.
I started crying the moment Katniss screamed at Buttercup and didn't stop crying until the last page. Despite this book's many flaws, I can't overlook the fact that it was very effective in conveying the emotions that needed to be there at the end
I have been very conflicted about the rating I would give this book. It's definitely my least favorite of the three, but I absolutely bawled my eyes out, so it gets 5 stars from me.
The main reason I rate this book lower than the other two is because I'm generally not a fan of books about war. Reading about tactics and maps tend to bore me. I didn't mind the parts in district 13, but a lot of the missions lost me, especially in part 3 of the book. The raiding of the Capitol with the many pods and different kinds of horrors went over my head, because I just couldn't visualize it. Some of the scenes were also a bit too gruesome for my likings, but then again, it's war. There is no pretty way to describe that.
I'm also not the biggest fan of how overlooked Finnicks death was. He was such an important (and beloved) character and he just dies, barely to be talked about again. His death felt kind of wasteful and mainly there for shock value.
I've seen a lot of criticism on how (trauma)heavy this book was. I for one liked how realistic and fleshed out everyone's struggles were in this book. I definitely understand this was not everyone's cup of tea.
I do feel like people went in expecting one big epic conclusion (so did I) and instead got a story the main character didn't even really break through in. But I think that was the point of Mockingjay. In the end, Katniss is no hero, she never was. She's just a teenager, a really brave one at that, who had the misfortune of accidentally being the person to push people over the edge. She didn't choose to be a rebel, she even wanted to run away in the second book. She didn't want to be the Mockingjay, she got forced to be. Yet a lot of us expected her to be exactly to be what de rebellion wanted her to be: an icon, the one to bring the Capitol down, something that can't be expected from a traumatized child. In the end, there is no big climax where she rises up victorious, there is no happily ever after, there is no inherently satisfying ending, because in the end, a war has been fought, people are dead and nothing will ever be the same. I think Collins chose for an ending like this to drive home her point that there are no winners or heroes in war, just like there were no real victors in the hunger games (as touched upon in Catching Fire).
I also like the symbolism of the vague epilogue. We don't get to see how Katniss and Peeta grow closer, we don't get to hear the names of their kids. Their lives have been on television since the 74th hunger games. Now they've managed to back away from public judgement and are trying to heal at their own speed. This doesn't mean i wouldn't have loved to read more about their journey, but I understand why Collins end their story like this.
I started crying the moment Katniss screamed at Buttercup and didn't stop crying until the last page. Despite this book's many flaws, I can't overlook the fact that it was very effective in conveying the emotions that needed to be there at the end
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