Mockingjay

Sadly, the finale is a let-down given the high standards of the first two; too high apparently.

What I liked about: the plot. I still love the way Suzanne Collins manages to surprise me with how the plot twists and turns, and how I usually didn't expect the way things turn out. So that's a plus. The pacing is still smooth and it's easy to read the book and keep wanting to read more.

I took off one star for how the plot was explained - like watching the news. Major events were reported rather than played out. Something's supposed to happen, then it happened, and we're given a summary. Not just once, but the whole story's like that from the midpoint.

Another star I took off for how the main characters lost themselves. Katniss, Peeta, Gale... even Haymitch seemed shallow. Katniss was just swept along in the story. It's like she became part of the sidelines and we're just a news reader chronicling what happened to her. And character deaths - some died so trivially - just a line or two and it's over.

I wonder if that's the actual message of the book - about how war just sweeps everyone along and about how in the end, no one really wins. Still, reading it just wasn't as gripping as the first two. The ending was a good, clean wrap-up though, although more could've been said on Peeta instead of just Katniss.