Mockingjay
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but… I loved this book! As I was reading through the 2nd book, I wasn’t entirely sure where Collins was going to go with the final installment, but I was both surprised and delighted with the direction that she chose. I don’t want to ruin this for anyone who stumbles across my blog and had yet to read the trilogy, so I’ll apologize if I get vague at any point!
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.
There were some elements and twists in the book that I’m guessing some readers could have seen coming, but, honestly, I didn’t. Every character who died, survived, ended up here or there was a complete surprise to me. There were far fewer happier moments in this book and the scenes got progressively more gruesome (if you can imagine that after the first two Games). BUT all of the above was served up in the right portion to keep me reading and wanting more.
There is one portion of the novel, towards the very end, when an important and rather emotional scene takes places that I wasn’t 100% pleased by how it was presented – it felt a little rushed and slightly informal. Though, at the same time, I can see how the format the information was presented in could be in line with how the narrator would probably have to relay the details. So, I guess that my one “gripe” isn’t a real full-on gripe.
Even though this book is quite obviously fiction (and possibly even a little fantasy, at that), I continue to see some parallels between the world and society of Panem and our current world. I feel like there are many excellent lessons within these three books and I’m excited by the fact that this series is so widely popular, especially with teenagers.
In the end, looking back through the novels, I fell in love with characters of Katniss and Peeta. I rarely end a book and feel a little bit of longing for the characters that I leave behind when shutting the cover, but I definitely felt it with The Hunger Games. Now I’ll just have to sit tight until March when the first film is released in the theaters. The trailer gives me chills.
What were your thoughts on these books? Are you going to see the movie(s)?
No Other Appetite 