🟨 Mockingjay (2010) Review - The Book That Killed Me | Book Waffle

Mockingjay (2010) written by Suzanne Collins

Well. It was better than I remembered it being.

Mockingjay continues the story of Katniss Everdeen after the events of the 75th Annual Hunger Games. She and a few other victors are kidnapped from the arena and taken to District 13. Meanwhile a full-blown civil war has erupted between the districts and the Capitol.

District 13, long thought destroyed, has survived and thrived underground since the conclusion of the first civil war. A strict, militaristic society, it has bided its time, hoping to reemerge and lead a second war against the Capitol. That time, it seems, has finally come. 

Led by the enigmatic President Coin, District 13 plans to use Katniss as a rallying cry for the districts' cause.

I can't tell you how hyped my preteen self was when Mockingjay came out. I'd torn through the first two books like mad. Scoured the internet for everything I could on leaks and details. Did Hunger Games roleplay on video game forums. I listened to Suzanne Collins read the first chapter on the Scholastic website. Never before or since have I been so eager for a piece of media to drop.

And when I finally got my hands on it, boy howdy did it suck ass.

Stopped dead in the center because I couldn't take it anymore.

Years passed. A decade. Then more. I picked it up from time to time. Read a page here and there. But this year something possessed me to finally get it over and done with.

So, after rereading the first two novels and, at last, completing this finale, I can finally say that Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is FINE.

Old characters are flat. New characters are boring. Names blend into each other. There's way too much angstiness. The rebellion flies by way too fast and is almost entirely offscreen. Where we end up at in the end feels forced AF.

But, and I hate to admit it, I've read worse. Much worse.

At least Mockingjay is a coherent story. It flows decently. The plot points aren't half bad, and the twists are creative. Things do happen, and the story moves forward. 

High praise, I know. Put that on the adverts.

"Things do happen, and the story moves forward."

Did I enjoy it, though? No. Not really. 

Somehow the climax that I avoided all these years was the most boring part of the series. It feels forced. President Snow was already a lackluster villain, but the antagonist of this book is extra underdeveloped. 

Near the end, I realized I was reading so I could say I finished it. I was not reading because I wanted to see the end. That's always a red flag.

Then the ending comes around, and I didn't give a hoot. Instead I had a resounding feeling of "That's it?"

Rue didn't die for this.

Maybe that's why I've held such resentment toward this book. Because it ruined reading for me for a decade. Not because it was bad, per se. But the previous two books were so great. So revolutionary for me. They made me fall in love with reading! And this... This is just so... Meh.

Mockingjay is disappointment made manifest in my eyes. And, sadly, I don't think that will ever go away.

I'll finish by linking this excellent review I found from 2012. It touches on some major aspects that Mockingjay fumbles. Yes, the video is potato quality. That makes it all the better imo.

🟨 Rating: 4/10