Katniss, Gale, and the District 12 survivors are living underground in District 13. Peeta is being held by the Capitol and there is no news as to whether he’s dead or alive. The book is set a week or two after the events of Catching Fire. (In critiquing such actions, I’ll be careful to not give away the body count or ending additionally, so much happens in this book that the details given here aren’t as spoiler-y as they may seem.) Characters act out of sorts, seemingly for the express purpose of sinking the book faster. I don’t think it’s solid to write off a book as “too dark,” but the moments of darkness in The Mockingjay come at the expense of everything that has been previously established. It lacks the spare moments of warmth and hope that were always found in the others. In The Mockingjay, however, these flaws are amped up and harder to overlook. Whatever criticism can be heaped upon The Mockingjay can be applied to the other books: the frenetic pacing, the crummy love triangle, an unlikable protagonist, etc. The Mockingjay is an unsatisfying finish and the weakest of the three books, but the reason is hard to pinpoint. It’s impossible to discuss without giving spoilers for both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Note on SPOILERS: This review is for the final book of The Hunger Games trilogy.
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