Mockinjay is the third and final book in the Hunger Games trilogy.
First off I want to say that I am super sorry for it taking me so long to review Mockingjay. I know it was a big release, as it was for me too - and probably most of the book bloggers out there have already reviewed it. My main reason for the delay is a lack of good writing time and an influx of reading material. I read it many books ago, just haven't gotten the chance to write about it. And since I bought my own copy, other deadlines pushed this one down to a lower priority. So, sorry about that. But here it is! Finally! ;)
You know the drill, reader. If you haven't read The Hunger Games and/or Catching Fire (the first two books in the trilogy) do NOT, I repeat do NOT, read this review. Read the other reviews and read the books, you crazy bookworm! To read my reviews of those books, simply click on the titles.
I was not able to reread The Hunger Games and Catching Fire before Mockingjay, which is my usual custom. Therefore, I have a harder time writing a decent premise of this final book. But I'll give it a shot. :)
Katniss Everdeen survived the Hunger Games. She survived the Capitol's hatred. But the Capitol's hatred garnered a way to rid themselves of the rebellion inducing Katniss. The Quarter Quell. Yet, again they failed. Because a long planned revolution made itself known in rescuing Katniss from the arena - a rescue that was in part planned by the long time thought extinct District 13.
But though Katniss is safe and her family is safe and her best friend Gale is safe - her District 12 fellow survivor Peeta has been captured by the Capitol and the bloody revolution has no end in sight. The answer to reaching the end of the war and freedom from the Capitol's longtime tyrannical grip, it seems, is Katniss accepting the role of Mockingjay - the symbol and encouragement of the revolution. But what will she choose? And how will any of it end well?
I was almost scared to start Mockingjay because of how crazy suspenseful I suspected it would be! But also super-duper, addict-like excited!
Mockingjay begins so hopelessly, so sadly, so discouragingly that it broke my heart. The pace picks up to a steady clip, building tension to the point where my teeth sat on edge. My eyes stung, there was a lump in my throat, and my heart ached and I hadn't even reached 100 pages yet. Suzanne Collins writing ability makes me care so much, it literally hurts.
As the pages kept flying by, I miss Peeta and I'm scared by the plot development. This is one of those really rare reading experiences, like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (not to mention the rest of the books in that series).
Mockingjay is, at times, truly painful for me to read as the phenomenal character studies and dismal dystopia barely gives me a chance to breathe as it stresses me out. Everything soon becomes about getting Peeta back and I realized that I was, and am, truly Team Peeta - I know many of you disagree. But I finally picked a team.
Somehow this final Hunger Games novel manages to be tragically romantic, increasingly heartbreaking, touching, inspiring, beautiful, and jarringly raw. The conclusion had me wiping tears from my eyes, stunned, and blown away by the poetic strength of one of the most depressing ends I have ever read. It still lingers in my mind.
To be honest, I hoped for a bit more levity. I hopes for a bit more excitement and thrill. Instead I was torn to shreds with excellent writing, but not the most happy of turns. But Mockingjay never was about fairy-tale endings. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll stop with my analysis and make sure you know that YOU might not find it sad and YOU might feel differently.
But I was flabbergasted, that is for sure. I'm just left feeling a bit, well, bittersweet. A mixture of different opinions and emotions. Maybe that is the point. But it was one hell of a book. Bravo, Suzanne Collins!
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