I Finished Mockingjay - Read-Along Readers, Are You Ready to Discuss? SPOILER ALERT

I had a bit of a hard time getting a hold of a copy on the on-sale date, but by Thursday of last week I had a copy of Mockingjay in hand, and by Saturday night, I was done. And wow, it was pretty great. I enjoyed the experience of reading Mockingjay more than I did that of Catching Fire, which to me, seemed to go too quickly, I felt it was over in a flash. So, onto the questions for Mockingjay.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED MOCKINGJAY.

1) How did you feel about Katniss' attitude toward the rebellion when the novel opened?

2) What did you think of Peeta's transformation from the torture he endured? And of Katniss' reaction to his transformation?

3) I was glad to have more of Prim and Gale in this novel, rather than having them mainly off-screen as they were in HG and CF. Did seeing them in action more change your perception of either of them?

3) Would you rather live in District 13 as it was depicted in the opening of Mockingjay, or in District 12, as it was depicted in the opening of The Hunger Games?

4) Did you anticipate what happened at the execution of President Snow?

5) Were you surprised that Katniss ended up settling in District 12, or with the mate she chose?

I'm looking forward to everyone's answers and reactions to the book. It was really fun reading an entire series like this in just a few weeks, thank you for joining me! Suzanne Collins is on tour through the beginning of November, look to see if she's coming near you!

Comments

[Lauren]

I really loved this book, so I have a lot to say. Please don't mind my lengthy comment. :)

1) I understood it. Her wanting to run away and hide by herself made sense. People keep using; of course she was cautious and, well, upset with everyone.

2) It was SO SAD. However, extremely interesting. They really showed how a POW would react after such a gruesome experience. I wish Katniss had a bit more patience with him - but, again, I'll contribute that to the fact that she's still young and losing everything. What upset me most, though, is how in the end she left him to go off on his own. It was just like the end of Catching Fire - and that felt wrong to me.

3) Yes. I really like how Prim aged and became almost a new person - and how Katniss realized that. I loved her character. I also found it interesting that the whole thing started with Katniss wanting to save Prim and, in the end, she didn't. As for Gale, I think showing his growth just added to the end, when he chose to live in an authoritative position in district 2.

3) Yikes! Probably District 12. Although poor and horrible, at least they were relatively free.

4) Yes and no. I figured he'd die in the end, but NEVER like that. Here's where I REALLY analyzed the book - and please tell me what you think. I think, despite how much she hated snow, Katniss trusted him in the end, which is why she shot Coin. It started when she saw him in the rose garden and he practically told her that she was lying to herself about not believing the rebels had to do with the bombing. And then Gale and Haymitch more or less agreeing by Gale saying he wasn't sure if it was his bomb, and Haymitch not answering any of her questions (and being drunk again. His state showed that things weren't better, even with Snow's falling). I think the whole "we agreed not to lie to one another" wasn't him saying he was lying, but him telling her that she's lying to herself, which is why she gained Coin's trust by saying yes to another Hunger Games, just so she could, well, kill her. I hope that all made sense. So - yes, I was really shocked with how everything played out, but it was right in a way.

5) I wasn't really surprised with anything at the end - by that point I didn't have predictions, I just let it happen. I think the end was perfect. Not entirely happy, but REAL. I was So happy with who she chose, because he was right for her. And the fact that they had kids in the end showed that the government didn't fail again - that things are going on and everything - despite the mental breakdowns - would be okay.

PHEW.

[Kandace]

1) Considering she was never really very interested in the rebellion it didn't surprise me. It makes sense with who she was.

2) I was surprised by the change in him and saddened. One of the main things in the book was how much he loved Katniss and all he was doing for her. So for this big of a change to occur changed the whole dynamic of how Katniss could deal with things.

3) I was happy to see more of Prim and Gale as well. I liked Prim a lot, and Gale not so much. It became easier to see him as more than just what Katniss saw him as. She always saw him as one thing, but the war showed him to be something else entirely. It made the loss of the Real Peeta in her life even harder. I didn't even see the point of the random death of Prim. It didn't seem to affect the end of the story much except to send Katniss into a downward spiral.

3) District 13 did not seem near as Free as they liked to depict themselves. The only real difference is they didn't participate in teh Hunger Games the way everyone else did. I'm not sure I'd choose to live in either place. I'd probably have chosen the idea of just running away to live away from everyone.

4) I was somewhat surprised, but I think it was good. Coin would have been just like Snow. Look at her treatment of Katniss' team when they wanted bread? And the way she decided Katniss had to die jsut because she did not support her 100% and sent Peeta as her killer. Katniss made a good decision, the decision a Real rebel against that sort of control would make.

5) I was not surprised by her settling in District 12. I don't think she could ahve been happy anywhere else. As for her mate, with the way Gale turned out I did not want her to choose him. I was glad she chose Peeta since he was the one who really loved her the whole time, even though he went through his trauma. He was finding his way back to himself and his love for her. I was a little surprised the author went so far as to wrap things up with a list of where people went and her having children though. I would have expected her to leave it still a little open, with her choosing Peeta and him choosing her, and Gale leaving.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I'm still not too sure about the ending. Prim's death, Katniss having children, that whole thing. But it's not enough to make me Not recommend it to others.

[Dmytro]

1) I felt like I could understand her motivation/reasoning more completely than when she clawed Haymitch at the end of Catching Fire for using her as a pawn. The only thing I was afraid of that her inner rebellion would last for more than a few chapters and was glad when the action started to come back and Katniss could focus on new challenges.

2) Shocked. And horrified and scared that we were actually going to lose the loving Peeta we had known thoughout the first two books. As with number one, I wasn't entirely happy with Katniss' reaction. I could understand it, yes, but I also know that Katniss is smart and that this is one flaw that she should've worked out in the first two books. Obviously the ending redeemed any annoyances I had with Katniss' behaviour, but while I was reading the book, I thought it was cruel that Katniss was completely ignoring him when he needed her most. Then again, Katniss admitted to herself that she ignored him when they were moving through the Capitol, so perhaps I'm taking my thoughts from there and my real reaction at the time wasn't so analyzed? Just show you how these books are wonderfully written, telling you just enough to keep you "getting it", but leaving enough room for personal interpretation and analysis.

3) Well. I mean, I'm sure you're aware that most readers would choose District 12 over 13, their reasoning being something about conforming, etc. But the fact is, we only saw District 13 from Katniss point of view. If Katniss didn't feel like a pawn and had the choice to bring her family to District 13 before Prim was chosen for The Hunger Games, I'm sure Katniss wuold've gladly agreed. You have to understand that no matter how strict District 13 is, it is still safer. And there's definitely a good reason for being strict with resources and the division of duties.

4) Absolutely not. It was a fantastic twist. I agree with Lauren and Kandace: of course I was fairly positive Snow had to die in the end, or fans wouldn't pleased if he just "disappeared". And of course I thought there was something fishy about Katniss just plainly shooting Snow and then, the end. It was truly perfect. Every part of those last few pages leading up to his and Coin's death.

5) I was a bit surprised with the District 12 part: usually when Collins kills someone or something, the price is final and it stays dead. I'll have to reread the book to make sure, but did they say that they managed to start growing things again in District 12? I did think that it would be fitting for Katniss to live in District 12, I just didn't expect it to come to her so easily in the end.

Peeta. Well, I've always preferred him to Gale, but that's me. I wanted to see a bit more of Katniss' thought processes on choosing one or the other and was a bit disappointed she did not make the reference to the "who she can't survive without" talk that Gale and Peeta had. I must admit though, the sentence of her requiring Peeta's love and not Gale's fire certainly made sense and it did kind of "do" it for me in terms of explaining why Katniss chose him. A sort of confirmation that she loves him. I just thought there might be more.

Thanks for asking these questions. The first thing I wanted to do once I finished the book was go and discuss it with someone immediately, whether online or in person. The forums disappointed in me though with their one sentence reactions, so it's very pleasant to find a blog like this with well-written comments and posts.

Now I have a question for you: what did you think of all these questions? =D And, did you wish to learn more about whatever happened to Gale, as most fans complain?

[Sharon Tzur]

4) I wasn't surprised by her killing Coin, but I was disappointed. I thought that by the end of a book which is supposed to be a bit anti-war and anti-violence, the protagonist sees no problem with shooting and killing a person who she sees as evil. No trial? No justice system? I also couldn't figure out why Katniss and Haymitch or even Gale would agree to hold hunger games for children of District 1. Well, maybe for Katniss there was a motive - not to let Coin get any indication that she - Katniss - opposes her - but that should be made clear to the reader - and the others? Are they totally without any compassion for the children of district 1?

5) It was obvious to me that she would go with Peeta at the end and not Gale - plenty of foreshadowing there. Best line in the whole series is here realization that a man of compassion is what she needs