Raw

I just finished Mockingjay for the third time, and I've finally figured out what about it frightens me. Needless to say, spoilers ahead.

It happens at the end of the book, not about those who die, who Katniss shoots, or her ending up with Peeta, but something much more real and ten times as frightening. Gale left her. She did not choose Peeta. She did not choose Gale. But he left. He left her in depression and fear. He left her alone and broken. He left her when she needed him most. She absolutely needed both him and Peeta to recover. But he was gone.

The idea that those you love could suddenly stop loving you and leave you with nothing is absolutely terrifying. And that's why the book is so effective, isn't it? I don't know if it's because I struggled with depression in the past, but it really hurts to read the end of this book.

I'm ten times as attached to Harry Potter, and have cried at least once every single time I have read the last book or seen the eighth film. Deathly Hallows has a horribly sad ending, and means so much more to me because it marks an "end of an era" of sorts. Mockingjay has its horribly sad bits, yes, but it's worse. Mockingjay leaves you without feeling at all. Exactly as Katniss surely did, when she returned from the Capitol.