Character Murder

Like most people, I loved The Hunger Games when I first read it. It was refreshing to have a spiky but competent female protagonist. Katniss isn't someone I'd like to invite for dinner, but I enjoy following her and sympathize with her awkwardness. The tough female sidekick has become a more common thing in YA fantasy, but as a protagonist is still pretty rare. Like everyone else, I found both Peta and Gale charming. The pacing is quick and by the end it's hard not to cheer for team Katniss. Catching Fire, while not a strong through and through, is still a good fun read. It's really, in many ways, a rehash of the first book with some new characters.

Mockingjay, however, made me want to just throw the book out the window. Collins developed all these great complex characters and then proceeded to strip them all of what I loved and then killed most of them ignominiously. In short, she committed character murder. The ones left alive were now completely unlikable. I ended up wondering if she had Stephen King problems. (ever notice how a lot of his early novels end with some sort of catastrophic fire or explosion instead of solid character resolution?)

So it's with some trepidation that I begin the final book of Collins's Gregor the Overlander Series. So far I've loved the first four books. I read the first chapter of the last book today and I'm worried that this is going to be Katniss all over again.

Wish me luck.