P-C,

okay, your explanation makes a lot of sense. Thank you. I have a feeling I was speed reading at that point, so I might not have absorbed everything properly.

No, I felt the same way. I read it over and over to see whether I'd missed something. It's somewhat of a cheat in the first-person POV, but not entirely. Katniss does withhold her motivations from the reader, but she does not lie. You have to read between the lines.

Oh, and I agree that what happened with Peeta was horrible. I never expected that, and I was afraid that there would be no semblance of a happy ending at all.

The whole thing was really horrible. I cannot believe Coin thought it was okay to put him in the same troop as Katniss. So not only didn't she want Katniss to come back, but anyone who served with her as well - since Peeta showed violence to all kinds of people.

I felt like I was speeding through the end of Mockingjay, too, and it took me a minute to get a handle on what was happening.

For me, the ending was the only possible semi-happy one given what happened to Peeta and it was enough for me, to see what Katniss was seeing on that last page.

I have no idea how they're going to make the *games* part of the movies, without a whole lot of expensive CGI.

I would have preferred Peeta being more like Johanna (damaged, but not programmed to be a lethal killer) than what he was, but oh well.

Man, I still can't buy it as a "happy" ending, because I just expect Peeta to go all Manchurian Candidate at any moment.

I feel much the same way, Steph.

And, while what the Capitol did to Peeta is pretty fucking horrific, for some reason the worst thing for me was Finnick's death, after he had just gotten to marry Annie. And I know that wasn't specifically planned the way Peeta's hijacking was (meaning, the scenario in which Finnick was killed wasn't designed specifically for Finnick; it was just general evil Capitol bullshit.

Somehow Finnick's death was way more emotionally wrenching for me than Peeta's hijacking.

Steph & Anne,

I completely agree. That's why I wanted to see something regarding them re-establishing their relationship. You would have to start all over again, right? And be fearful.

Re: Steph's comment: I was really disappointed that we didn't get to see how Annie was doing. I almost feel like his death wasn't "real" because we didn't really see the impact of it, if that makes any sense. I am hoping someone is taking care of Annie because she really needed help. Maybe Johanna is doing so.

Man, I still can't buy it as a "happy" ending, because ...

For me, it makes it more realistic because despite having the kids and living relatively peacefully, there were huge costs to everyone.

But knowing that Katniss can look at her kids in a moment of uncomplicated happiness, and that they're growing up in a world which is at least a little better than hers was a child seems a) like the most you can hope for, and b) a symbol of hope .