** spoiler alert ** 
 7th&up. 
 WARNING- Spoilers abound!! 
 As much as I love Katniss, Peeta, Gale & the world Collins created (hence the 4 stars), for many reasons I found this book a little infuriating. 
 Example: I realize that it was a necessary plot point, but I still couldn't get over how long it took for Katniss to decide she needed to rescue Peeta. Even though Collins couldn't have let her succeed, she should have been fighting to go after Peeta since page one. Nothing else fit in with her character. 
 Also, the lack of hope, constant depression, and betrayal on top of betrayal got to be too much for me. There was less poignant moments and romantic gestures as compared to the previous books. Less hope, less inspiration, less of those shining moments that (in my mind) exemplify The Hunger Games trilogy. 
 And Peeta. Oh, Peeta. The mind-jacking element was dramatic and a well-crafted hiccup in the Katniss/Peeta soul-mate thread, but the lack of a dramatic recovery, or overcoming moment/scene displeased me. 
 And the ending. Sigh. Not terrible, and slightly sweet, but my romantic nature desperately wanted more. I needed to be left with no doubt that our two heroes were meant to be together, and realized it. Instead it felt the slightest bit like settling, especially since Gale just dropped off the edge of Panem (so to speak). It all kind of fell flat for me. 
 On the other hand, the trilogy is complete- would any ending really have made me happy? 
 I'm so sad that it's over!