Yeah, it felt like the most paradigm-changing possible thing for Katniss happened... at the very end of the book. I mean, perhaps Collins was trying for symmetry (with Book One starting with saving Prim, and Book Three ending with failing to do so?), but it didn't work for me because I really wanted to see how that would affect Katniss. Especially since my frustration had been that Katniss was so passive and detached through the entire book, and this was something that would force her out of detachment, and yet we still didn't see it.

I think she did want to portray the grimness and pointlessness, but (to me; again, other readers felt differently, I know) it felt like she demonstrated the numbness and pointlessness by making the book feel numbed and pointless. Which isn't the only way to convey that.