Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Published August 24th 2010 by Scholastic Press

More at: Goodreads

"Fire is Catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!"

     The nation of Panem is at war. The districts burn with the fierce flame of rebellion, fueled by the very spark the Capitol feared would ignite a revolution. Katniss, the victor of The Hunger Games, the girl on fire, has found herself once again in the midst of a most dangerous game. Now the prize for wining is not just her life, but the lives of those she loves, and the fate of the citizens of Panem.
     In this new game, just as in the arena, alliances must be formed in order to survive, but in a war waged not only with weapons but with carefully orchestrated propaganda, it is hard to tell what's real and who's side to be on. The old enemy, the Capitol has Peeta and President Snow destroyed District 12, but the new player, President Coin, who leads the rebels, may want more from the Mockingjay than just fueling the rebellion- she may want her to burn in the very fire she started.

And then it was over. This is the third and final book in The Hunger Games Trilogy. I tried to read this book as slowly as possible to savor every last word. If you are a fan of this series, you too understand the bitter-sweet feeling that comes with finishing it. While Collins has created a world in which I would never want to live, I now have some very good friends there that I will miss.

I suppose the big issue, for a lot of people, was who would Katniss choose? Peeta or Gale? And while she ended up with who I felt she would all along, she made the only choice she should have made- and chose Katniss. I loved this.

"Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't survive without."

So she did. She chose herself. The love triangle in these books was never the story. The story was Katniss. When it was all said and done, I didn't give a flip what boy stayed in her life, he was only ever a supporting character.

The trilogy itself was epic. However, for me, the final book wasn't. I didn't like Finnick's confession. It seemed strategically placed for shock value when the story was all ready shocking enough in it's entirety. I thought it was overkill. I didn't like who Gale became. I always preferred to think of him as a good old soul, in contrast to Peeta's calculated and manipulative nature.

But I loved the twist. When Katniss let loose that final arrow it was all I could do not to scream! And I love stinky, grumpy old Haymitch. I love that we are given so many bad guys that you couldn't trust anyone. Except your hairdresser. Collins gets that a good stylist is worth fighting for.

And though I usually don't like story lines that take this direction- I loved the final "gift" Katniss gives Peeta. He deserved them.

I read an article last week in which some stuffy curmudgeon complained about the violence in Mockingjay and when are we going to examine violence in children's literature and I laughed. Stupid, the first book was about CHILDREN KILLING CHILDREN in an arena, basically for survival AND FOOD and then there is a WAR. What did you expect Mockingjay to be about? Bunnies? War is NOT kind- regardless if it's in fiction and it doesn't care if there are children involved. Collins stayed very true to human nature. She waged a war that was manipulated by scripts and make-up and put it on TV for the masses to gawk at. It's an ugly concept and she portrayed it beautifully. Well played Ms Collins. Well played.