** spoiler alert ** 
 I think the best way to handle my assessment of the final book of Hunger Games is to break it into likes and dislikes. But I will say that anyone who is arguing that this book is depressing has to remember this is a series about KILLING CHILDREN. I think depressing is to be expected. And while I think the ending melancholy dragged a bit and was overly done, I found this book more dark than depressing. It's harsh. But it's also HUNGER GAMES. Get over it. Onto the points! 
 THE GOOD: 
 - Peeta WAS FUCKING AWESOME. I loved his hijacked plot and his struggle to return to reality and his refusal to ever let go of his morals or who he was. And that scene where he tells them about the attack, perfect. Also the scene where he overcomes his crazy with Kat's help was amazing and I cheered. 
 - Gale was an actual character, well developed, complex, intriguing and more than just another love interest. Whether you stood with Gale's Jet mentality toward the rebellion and Capitol or not, he was always great to read. And his final scene with Peeta is one of my favorite moments, as is when he tells Kat flat-out how she only loves them when they're in pain. Beautiful. 
 - Finnick! I love Finnick beyond words, especially his scene where he manages to play nice with Crazy!Peeta even after Peeta threatens to take his girl. I loved Finnick's crazy and I loved his flirting and his whacky boy-whore storyline and his tell-all moment. 
 - Johanna was another great returning face and who constantly filled me with joy whenever she was around. Her dark humor was just what we needed since Peeta was a bit too crazy for his usual cynical jokes. I was so sad she couldn't go on the mission, although that is probably a good thing since Collins would have just killed her in some stupid way like Finnick. More on that later. I also loved her scenes with Kat. 
 - President Snow. He didn't real get a chance to sign until the end but man did he shine. He was just as great as in Catching Fire and I weep that Collins didn't write more scenes between him and Kat because those have always been some of the best. He is a great antagonist. 
 - Prim coming into her own and becoming mature. 
 - Cinna still being a part of the story, even though he never really received a proper death. I still love his outfits and the way he thought of everything. 
 - The way the plot continued to have Kat acting out a role. Only this time she was the rebel leader. I just love the "real/not real" this series has always brought to it, and especially loved the play on that with Peeta's condition and the game he created for it. I loved the Kat was never the real hero because she was just a girl who had been forced into that role. Very realistic. 
 - That Peeta got his girl. Yeah, I'm a sap but the boy lost everything else, including his sanity. Might as well give him something he wants and that he fought for with everything he had. 
 - That Kat killed Coin and not Snow. This was just slick and great way to show what she's learned throughout the course of the series. 
 - Buttercup. I just love him. 
 - Also love Delly. Good stand-in for Effie. 
 THE NOT SO GOOD 
 - The deaths. I hated so many of the deaths because they were either off-screened or totally unworthy of their character. FINNICK'S DEATH WAS THE WORST. He deserved so much more than random death by mutts. He could have at least died saving someone. Ugh. Also needlessly killing Madge and Darius and half the others. Many felt just put in there to seem DARK. 
 - Prim's death. No, I don't like it. It feels too much to me like an author trying to invert the trope of coming full circle. I get its importance to make Kat mature and also to show that people never quite change. But I felt it was just poorly done. I don't know how it could have been done better. But mrr, I just disapprove. Though, I did consider the child-killing a particular gripping way to end the war and show the danger of becoming what you fight. That was good. 
 - Kat's angst. SO OVER THE TOP RIDICULOUS. I got sick of reading pages and pages about how depressed she was. I get it already, Collins. The last few chapters were the worst when it comes to this. I know it's supposed to evoke an emotional response but it just annoyed the fuck out of me. 
 - Kat abandoning Peeta. Yeah, I get it. He was NUTS. He tried to kill her. But the brutish way she treated him, A CRAZY PERSON, who got tortured because of her was just... unreal. The bitterness she held toward him like he was acting of his own volition. It really made me dislike her. As did her constant ditching him, especially how in Catching Fire her motivation was to keep her alive because he has always done the same for her. Kat treated Peeta like hell, and though she had some redeeming moments where she helped to bring him back, I just thought the majority of her actions were incredibly unfair. I really don't think normal people would act like this. I still contend that she does not deserve him. 
 Overall I like the book, the political intrigue and war is well done. It would have been my favorite since Kat was really coming into her own as a character for the first half, but as soon as they get back Peeta, things just sort of go downhill as far as her characterization. So Catching Fire remains the better. I also thought it was a nice bittersweet close. But yeah, Kat is not really the most sympathetic of characters so relating to her pain is made infinitely harder and takes away some of the emotional kick this book could have had if I didn't spend so much time being irked at Kat.