Genuinely curious anon here! What do you have against Suzanne Collins that makes you dislike her so much?
I have a lot of issues with Collins as an author. A lot. Most of them come from Mockingjay so I’m just going to focus on that. I really dislike Mockingjay as a book. Like a lot. And as a really huge Gale stan, I wanted to love it because there is so much Gale. But I couldn’t, And it’s not because of Gale’s actions, because Gale stays on course. It’s everything else that got flipped.
I feel like Collins spent two books building up hope and building up a revolution and then completely flipped her narrative in the third book. I know, I KNOW, that people love that book because it shows the true consequences of war, etc. etc. But you can show the true consequences of war without framing an entire revolution like it was unnecessary (read: Les Miserables). Collins didn’t do that. She made it seem like these people would’ve been better off without the revolution (they wouldn’t have) and like it wasn’t important (it was) or necessary (it really was). That’s what I have a problem with. I don’t have an issue with showing the tragedy of war. Of course it’s a tragedy. But you can show that without undermining the revolution you created. These people were oppressed for 75 years. A revolution was necessary. The violence, however tragic, was necessary. In my opinion, she failed greatly in showing that. And if that was her intent, then we have a whole other set of issues. And because of how she framed the revolution, this entire fandom (almost) views Gale as the bad guy when really he was an oppressed boy fighting back against the government that oppressed him. Somehow, though, SOMEHOW, he’s viewed as the villain. I blame the fandom a lot for that. I blame Collins more.
I also hate what she did to Katniss. And I hate what she did to Peeta. We already discussed that I hate how she framed Gale, so I’ll focus on these two. She stripped Katniss of her agency. Katniss spent Mockingjay not making choices, not making decisions. She had things hidden from her. She embraced her status as the Mockingjay and then nothing really came of it. What I really wanted was for Katniss and Gale and Peeta to lead the revolution and burn Snow and that government to the ground. Katniss as the symbol and Peeta as the politician and Gale as the fist. But we were all deprived of that. And Peeta! Peeta who worked in words, who could manipulate anybody into doing anything, had that taken away from him. Peeta, who would’ve been such an asset to the revolution, had that taken away from him. And because of that, this fandom says he wasn’t a rebel and Francis Lawrence says “he spoke for peace” when that is absolutely not true. Peeta was a rebel as much as the rest of them, but he didn’t really get a chance to show it. The sad part is, Katniss was a rebel, too, but she didn’t really get a chance to show it, either. And she was there. She should’ve been able to. Collins should have let her.
I despise the ending. I HATE it. And contrary to what most people believe, it’s not because Katniss ends up with Peeta. I’ve made my peace with that, whatever. I would’ve loved for it to have been her choice. But Collins took away Gale first. She didn’t make it a choice. It’s just another way Katniss loses her agency. And then Collins says, “it would’ve happened anyway.” THEN WHY DO IT? Collins made the decision to strip Katniss of her choices instead. She made the decision to completely destroy this 17-year-old girl. She took away her sister, her best friend and her mother. She left her with nothing. And then I’m supposed to believe this series is about hope? This series isn’t about hope. It’s a tragedy. Sure, Katniss has Peeta. But she doesn’t have a sister. Or a mother. Or a best friend. Collins takes everything from this girl and I’m supposed to buy this “happy” ending because she has Peeta and she has kids? No thank you.
And maybe I could’ve bought this so-called happy ending if Collins explained it. But no. She just said they grew back together. But she didn’t tell me how. She didn’t tell me how long it took. It was like the book had to end in a certain number of pages and she gave up. TELL ME HOW. Tell me how they struggled. Tell me how they grew back together day by day. Because otherwise I don’t buy it. So I don’t buy it.Â
And don’t even get me started on the epilogue. Don’t get me started on “it took me 5, 10, 15 years to agree, but Peeta wanted them so badly.” Don’t get me started on how Katniss was terrified to carry these children, how she gave them to Peeta because HE wanted them so badly. Don’t get me started on how she doesn’t say their names. Don’t get me started on how I’m supposed to buy how this series was about hope at the end because Katniss had children. I’m sorry, I don’t.
Also, Collins didn’t show how the government turned out. You spent two books building up to the revolution and then didn’t tell me if the war was really won, how the government worked out, how things are going, etc. Not to mention you forgot about all of your characters except for two. I have a focus on Gale. I’ll admit that before anyone else. But not only didn’t she tell me what Gale was doing, she didn’t mention Haymitch or Annie or Johanna or Effie or anyone else in that epilogue. And maybe most readers didn’t care, because Katniss and Peeta had babies and whatever, but I care. And I’ll never forgive her for not telling me.
