Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Release Date: August 24, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 400
Source: Publisher
Other Titles in the Series: The Hunger Games & Catching Fire
Interest: Series
Challenge: None
Buy the Book: Amazon
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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.
Please know before you start reading... that this review is SPOILER FREE... no key plot points will be revealed... but characters are discussed.
Mockingjay... the final installment of The Hunger Games.. If you saw my non-review of The Hunger Games (oh you didn't? Well, you can check that out right here!) you know that I wasn't on the bandwagon when The Hunger Games was first released. I wasn't even on the bandwagon when Catching Fire was released. I think the hype of the series really turned me off... and I'm not sure exactly why. I've loved all the "big hype books" ... Harry Potter... stood in line at midnight to get those pieces of gold. Twilight (don't judge)... although I read Twilight long before it reached the mania that it is today. And in doing so, I had to wait for every freaggin' book to come out... ugh. But I loved my hype books! What was my problem...?
With The Hunger Games, I just wanted interested at all. It didn't sound all that great to me... although Suzanne had another series, I'd never heard of it. What made this book to great. Then this past Christmas (2009) I picked up my copy of The Hunger Games (yes... I bought a copy, I even had a copy of Catching Fire too, I just hadn't read either of them) and I started to read. And the rest my dear readers was history! I read Catching Fire shortly after, although I didn't post a review for it. I enjoyed it just as much as I had the previous book.
I was one of those crazy people that was dying to read Mockingjay... and I was especially one of those people that was jealous of those lucky ducks that were getting a chance to read it early! Well, wouldn't you know it showed up on my doorstep Friday the 20th... four days before the release date! Strict embargo stickers on the box and all. Too bad I was in Pennsylvania! But when I arrived home from my trip... I devoured it. And it has been haunting me since then.
This novel was so incredibly emotional. It physically drained me. It's been keeping me up at night. Oh what power the written word can possess. If I had to describe my overall feeling after reading the novel, it would be STUNNED.
This novel reveals Katniss in depths that I never knew she possessed... disturbing depths that I didn't want to know that a person could possess. But Katniss isn't the only character that outwardly displays the stain of war... of fear... I'll add Gale and Peeta to that list... and that's all I'll say about that.
Non-stop action. The poor girl. She never got a break. She just goes from being used by one person to another. Can she really trust anyone? I think she finally finds a few people that she can trust and those are the ones that are standing with her at the end. It's just disheartening that she had to endure so much pain to come to that conclusion. But with the pain and despair... there are glimpses of hope and joy... they were just far and few between. Don't expect this to be a light-hearted read with an ending wrapped in a big bow. Collin's didn't cheat her readers... or her characters. And I thank her and commend her for that.
Collins kept me guessing. I never saw what was coming... even when the foreshadowing was there. I refused to believe it, until it was impossible to do so. I was angry... I cried... I mourned. I'm still mourning. It was incredible.
I honestly don't know what say... it moved me in a way that few novels have. I've watched these characters develop, I've grown to love them... and now it's ALL OVER! You kick ass Katniss.
This is a series that is worthy of all the hype it received.
And can I just say... and this may be a little spoilery... so you'll have to highlight the text to read it but:
I was and still am TEAM PEETA!