By: Suzanne Collins
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Synopsis (From Goodreads): Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.
My Review: I have put the spoilers in this review in white text. highlight the text with your cursor to see them. Mockingjay was not what I expected. And yet it met all my expectations in a different way.
Like with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I spent two months before the release analyzing every little part of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire looking for clues. And I really thought I had the ending of this trilogy figured all out. Turns out I had no idea.
I have seen mixed reviews of this book and I think it all has to do with expectations. Plus, this book was so fundamentally different from the other two books in the trilogy that it is very hard to compare. There are no games and no arena. The world that existed in the first two books is virtually destroyed. Where is there to go from here?
What drew me to the the first two books was the action. Catching Fire and The Hunger Games never stopped moving. I couldn't put them down. Mockingjay had a different element of action. And it was much more psychological.
Have you ever been close to someone who has returned from war? Seen things that the rest of us only see as special effects in the movies? There is something that fundamentally changes in someone who has experienced the horrors of death and war that you and I will never understand. Suzanne Collins nailed this. Katniss is not the girl that volunteered for her sister Prim in the first Hunger Games. She doesn't know who she is. She has to discover that she is not just a pawn in anyone's games. Especially the good guys.
The hero of this book for me however was Haymitch. He is a Dumbledore for me on a totally different level. His unexpected wisdom surprised me every time.
After reading numerous reviews of Mockingjay, I have come to this conclusion. Those who hated it felt like it wasn't "happy" enough. I don't know what they were expecting after the first two books, but this isn't the type of story where everyone gets what they want all the time.
Spoiler:
Finnick's death was ignominious. In life, we don't get dramatic death scenes. Sometimes it is as quick as a car accident, a senseless murder or something equally fast. If you think that Katniss didn't feel the sting of Finnick's death acutely, you are wrong. She had nightmares about the other tributes that were trying to kill her and feeling guilt for killing them. Of course she mourned Finnick. Same with Prim. It was gone in a flash.
I am appreciative to Suzanne Collins for giving us a bittersweet ending. She is not afraid to kill off characters that matter. In a series like this, if you don't make those sacrifices you get a Breaking Dawn. And I would have been through the roof if that happened.
Another thing I appreciated about this book was that Suzanne Collins remained true to her characters. Regardless of whether or not you feel Katniss's choices were the right ones, they were hers. And she owned them, as she always does.
Spoiler:
And lastly, the Peeta vs. Gale thing. There was no big deciding moment. There was no dramatic scene where Gale BEGGED Katniss to choice him. Peeta was not self-sacrificing and "just wants her to be happy." Katniss silently made her choice. And Gale, being the man he is, accepted it. Was he happy about it? Probably not. But, he knew she made her choice and let it go. Frankly, observing Gale's and Katniss's relationship, I could see pretty early on in the book it wasn't going to last. Their friendship was based on a mutual need to survive. Once their hunting partnership pretty much dissolved, there wasn't enough substance left to justify a future. I thought it was handled beautifully. Partly because I hate big "CHOOSE ME" scenes ala Twilight.
In conclusion, I loved the book. Granted, the book would have had to have been pretty awful for me not to love it. But, I felt like no characters were betrayed, and there were no easy answers. This series was truly remarkable. It is one that I will be recommending for years to come to everyone I meet. There were so many things I liked about this book that I don't have room enough for the words.
Now it's your turn. What did you think of the book?
My Rating:
Profanity: None
Sexuality: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Violence: A lot. Not for the faint of heart.
