In the beginning Katniss only wanted to save Prim but in the end, she was killed. Peeta wanted to stay himself but he was hijacked. Gale didn’t want to lose Katniss but she ended up with Peeta. They all lost what they wanted most but it makes the book more believable knowing that all endings aren’t happy.

Mockingjay

People always ask me which Hunger Games book is my favorite, and I must say, ‘Hunger Games’ is my favorite, and ‘Mockingjay’ is my least favorite. However, ‘Mockingjay’ isn’t bad. Upon first read, I was sort of confused and nearly decided I hated it, before I understood the message Suzanne Collins was trying to give to her readers. This trilogy is NOT what you think it is when you pick up ‘The Hunger Games,’ and I think it’s important to understand that.

Throughout ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Catching Fire’ it seems to be a story about Katniss Everdeen and how she’ll save Panem from a terrible tyrannical government. Before I picked it up, I imagined Mockingjay would be a heroic story where Katniss saves the day. Breaking free from the government, as depicted on the cover, which would have been satisfying.  What is it in reality? A story of the horrors of war. When people say ‘Finnick shouldn’t have died,’ ‘Prim shouldn’t have died,’ that just tells me they don’t understand why Suzanne wrote this story. In war, people die who have no reason to die. They don’t deserve it, it does nothing to move anything forward, it just happens. It’s unfair. The story ends on a bittersweet note, since that’s what war does. It hurts people. Katniss and Peeta are forever damaged. If none of the characters had died like they did, it wouldn’t have given the same message. Although I must admit, I would have loved a version of the story where Katniss overthrew everything, and became President, and was the badass character she started as…that’s not the reality. War hurts people, and it damaged Katniss. Suzanne is trying to tell the public: war is a terrible terrible thing.