Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

#3 in The Hunger Games Series
Published in 2010 by Scholastic
5 Stars


Goodreads Review
Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. The thrill-packed final installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy will keep young hearts pounding.

Review:  Mockingjay is the thrilling conclusions to The Hunger Games series that is very different from the first two but still a great conclusion to the trilogy.  There is heart stopping action, terrifying enemies, and an ending that will blow you away.

Ok, first let's talk about what I didn't like about the book.  There's really only one point I want to make.  I really didn't like Katniss in this book.  She is so amazing and strong and resourceful in the first two books and I didn't like how weak she seemed in this one.  Seriously, she spent the entire book bleeding or unconscious.  I think half of the time she couldn't do anything because she was recovering from some bullet hole.  She seemed to allow people to take advantage of her and also was way more dependent on other people telling her what to do.  I understand that Katniss is just a kid and I can totally forgive her some of her mental weakness because she was asked to do tremendous things.  However I still wanted Katniss to be strong and accept her role as a leader more.  I wanted her to truly become the mockingjay, not just in appearance but in her heart as well, and I didn't really get that from her.  I thought she tried hard though, and I guess no one's perfect.  It's a difficult situation to be in, and I have a lot of difficulty criticizing her because I can empathize with her at the same time.

Now let's talk about my favorite parts (without giving away the ending of course!).  I personally loved what happened to Peeta.  I think it made his character grow in ways I never saw coming and it kind of broke apart that faithful and perfect exterior he'd had through the first two books.  I also like how this changed him for life, and that he never fully recovers.  I think it makes him a lot more like Katniss. (Can't say anymore without huge spoilers!)

I also just LOVED the ending.  I don't want to give away major plot points, but I loved the brutality and the ambiguity of the ending.  You never know exactly who is the enemy and who to trust, and I liked that the ending can cause debate and allow you to draw your own conclusions.  If you're looking for a happily ever after, you'll probably be disappointed.  But if you're looking for characters that deal with the horrors they've witnessed and committed in the best ways they can, then Mockingjay and the entire series would be perfect.

Overall Mockingjay is a haunting conclusion to the bloody trilogy that isn't afraid to wound it's most loved characters.  Instead of creating a fairy tale ending, Mockingjay takes a brutaly honest route and forces the reader to accept that there is some damange that will never heal and that some wounds run too deep.  Mockingjay is a chilling and beautiful ending to a chilling and beautiful story.