I've so far only watched the first 2 movies in the Hunger Games series and have recently been given all 3 of the books.
What are people's opinions on reading Mockingjay first as opposed to watching the 2 Mockingjay films first & then reading the book? (And, obviously, no spoilers please...except that i already know that Prim dies).
I would recommend watching the films first. Then you won't be constantly focused on
the differences. Although the films are very true to the books. Give the films a
chance to stand on their own. Then read all the books for further context and then
compare them to the films. Like in most cases the books are deeper than the films.
But due to the split of Mockingjay(a decision made by the studio not the filmmakers)
they had the chance to elaborate on certain themes in more depth than the books.
And be aware that Mockingjay(films and book) have a decidedly different tone than
the first two films/books.
I think for me, very unusually!, the films are actually better than the books.
The ideas in the books are great, very interesting, political - about war, inequality, power, love.
But I didn't think they were fantastically well written.
For that reason, I think it might be better to watch the films first.