I hope you've all read Mockingjay by now. Because we're gonna pretend for a second that the YA book series Hunger Games is my boyfriend and this blog is my 16-year-old self's journal.
Oh, and
SPOILER ALERT don't read this post if you like your books fresh and unspoiled SPOILER ALERT
Dear Diary (squiggly unicorn),
Today is my first day of school and I just met this totally sweet guy named Hunger Games! Oh gosh and he totally asked me out! (exclamation points with hearts)
Date 1: OMG this guy is amazing. Hunger Games is so dark and mysterious. He’s so heroic and selfless and totally cares about his family and is super outdoorsy! He has a bow and arrow! Totally can’t wait for date 2.
Date 2: Wow wow WOW! We had so much fun and let’s be serious, my heart was racing the whole time. He was romantic and clever and all activist in that politically charged way that doesn’t involve aggressive handshakes and campaigning, but like, really cares. And he can, like, drink water from trees. So cool. And at the end he was totally like “Just you WAIT for date 3.” AAAh!! Can’t wait!! (heart heart star kissy lips)
Date 3: K, so, everything started great and I knew for sure this was going to be the best date evah of my LIFE. Hunger Games had so many great things planned and I was secretly hoping he'd ask me to prom. Then, uh, while we were at the restaurant, he was all “I know I planned this great dinner and movie, but Imma gonna leave now. How about I just vaguely describe the rest our date to you, and then end abruptly with infinite sadness and no hope? And give you NONE of the fun things we shared on our first dates?” Like, hUHH??
Totally reminds me of my BFF’s relationship with Lost, only that ended way worse and more confusing . . . yet I somehow feel more betrayed by Hunger Games. WTF? Now I wonder if those first two dates were even worth it at all ‘cause they just got me all geared up for the third! And now, NO PROM! Lame. (sad cat picture)
K BAi,
~*jules*~
Back to normal blogging self:
Mockingjay totally fell flat for me. It was well written, had intense action, and even started great - but at the end I realized the only thing this series had going for me was Katniss and Peeta. And Prim. And Finnick. And Gale. And District 13. You know, all the beautiful and hopeful things that turned out to be crazy, evil, flaky, or dead in the end. This book left me with nothing to root for, and by the last third I honestly wondered if I was reading some confusing dream sequence that would at some point return to the fast-paced war we were previously expereincing. In fact, when I was at that last third, I realized there weren’t possibly enough pages left to give me a satisfying ending and tie up all the loose ends. Which it didn’t. "But it's realistic," yadda yadda. "War isn’t pretty, war is bad," blah blah. You know what? So is this book.
I wonder what Harry Potter's up to this weekend.
LOL. Jules, you got it just about right. I loved it. Then it got summarized. The HOPE was what drove the first 2.5 books in the series. However, endings are hard. (I've never concluded a series, but the prospect of doing so scares me witless). There are so few good endings to series. Ms. Rowling was a rare exception on satisfying conclusions.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post.