The feels!

I never realised until I read this book for the third time in November 2015, how much I dislike Gale and how much of an absolute arsehole he is in this book. Mockingjay is the first time we really get a proper glimpse of Gale. He was shadowed in the other books by the Games and by Peeta. For the first time, Gale is on his own with Katniss. But he proves himself to be bloodthirsty, ruthless and often cruel even though he knows that this is not what Katniss needs. I found Gale quite cruel and manipulative when speaking with Katniss at certain points in this book and he really plays on her emotions for him and Peeta to make Katniss feel guilty. I can't think of a time where I felt that Peeta really did this. He always accepted her, and her feelings for Gale so steadily. I feel like Gale always saw what he wanted to see, where Peeta saw Katniss for who she really was. In the end, I think that Gale and Katniss would have eventually ruined each other and those feelings would have become poisonous darts.

As I was rereading the trilogy, I also realised that Suzanne Collins is one of the very few authors that hasn't given us novellas in the male character's point of view. While I think it would be very interested to get The Hunger Games in Peeta's POV, particularly for when he joined up with the Careers and his few days with them, I also think novellas with Castor and Pollux and even Cressida would be amazing. I would even read a short story on Gale's life in District 2 after everything happens. They would be pretty amazing. I'm a sucker for novellas!