Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)

Who knew The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins could cause so much trouble. According to the ALA, the dystopian trilogy has been labeled by some as anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitive and satanic all while being peppered with offensive language and the too frequent scene of violence. I don’t see any truth to these claims except for the fact that, yeah, 22 kids are killed in the first book alone. So you got us on violence.

And it’s that violence that I want to focus on specifically for "Mockingjay," the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy. As you all probably know, the third book has no Hunger Games and instead focuses on Katniss and friends waging war against the Capitol to finally overthrow the sadistic turds who started the Games in the first place.

I understand and appreciate the need for this civilian-led rebellion, and this seems like a logical conclusion to the series. This highlights the heartache the Hunger Games have caused and the perverseness of the Capitol citizens who loved to watch them as much as we love to watch the Kardashians (maybe I’m using the term “we” loosely, but I sure love those ladies!). In short, I don’t think we have to worry about each state sending out a couple of tributes anytime soon, and if they do, I'm sure it will end in rebellion as "Mockingjay" does.

MAJOR SPOILERS!

Where to start?

I've sat for so long trying to answer that question. And I suppose there isn't really anyway to truly answer it well. So much happened, so many feelings altered, in fact right now it seems almost wrong to enjoy the book, wrong to have longed to read it so much. Wrong to have been so fixated on the love triangle. All of that is gone now. I don't care about it at all. What truly resonates in my mind is sacrifice. So many people died for Katniss, but not really for her, for what she represented, as the Mockingjay, the freedom and peace they all so longed for.

Finnick really stood out to me in this book, the pain he went through daily when Annie was captured by the Capitol, the joy he found when she was saved and they married. And the sacrifice he made, knowing she wouldn't get on well without him, and still giving his life so Katniss could make it to the President's home to kill Snow.

Prim. Even as I think of her I can feel tears forming in my eyes. My heart yearns for it to have been a mistake in the book, for her to still be alive and laughing. When Buttercup came back I had to stop reading and just cry, this was worse than when Rue died.

Peeta, his transformation was absolute. And terrible. I was so thrilled when I heard he had been brought back from the Capitol safely, then shocked when he tried to kill Katniss, and horrified when I learned what President Snow had done to him. Sweet, loving, wonderful Peeta. It was so hard to keep reading, but it got better as he slowly, recuperated and began trusting Katniss again, and Katniss him.

Gale is hard for me, I can't decide if I hate him, or love him. On one hand he did help Katniss through many hard times. But as she realized, he was motivated with hate and anger, and many times felt that killing innocent people was all right, as long as they were on the Capitol's side. And with his hand in Prim's death, and his abandonment of Katniss, I can't really appreciate him as I once did.

Haymitch is the one character that I never stopped liking. He brought humor, and a fatherly figure to Katniss. I was touched when they were facing up to the fact that they had both failed at their vow to protect Peeta.

Cinna, I still can't believe he is dead. It can't be...I so wanted him to live, but though I hated to admit it to myself, I knew he would die. Yet I still can't accept it. Though I am glad that his memory lived on in the amazing Mockingjay costumes for Katniss, even though it often tricked me into thinking he could be alive.

District 8 Bombing. I was crying and had chills during that whole chapter. The fact that so many innocent people died, combined with Katniss's rallying speech made that chapter unforgettable, probably one of my favorites in the whole book. It was the first time I really wanted her working for the rebels.

Speaking of which. I don't like most of them. I think they went about the revolution in the wrong way. Though I understand why they did it. Though I hate to admit it. I think they needed Peeta, not Katniss. To be their Mockingjay, maybe things would have turned out differently, not so tragic. Even so, I did not like the television promos when they were at the Capitol. It seemed to much like the Hunger Games, the very thing they were supposedly fighting against!

As for the Hunger Games, I did not like that either. In fact it made me quite angry that Katniss voted for them to have one last Hunger Games. After all her thoughts and words on how wrong it was to kill innocent, people. Or even guilty people who had truly reformed or hadn't understood what they were doing. And her anger at the Capitol for the Games and she still voted for them. If they really wanted to show the people of Panem that they were going to be different from the former government, the first thing they should have done was banned the games forever. I still can't believe they allowed one more to be enacted.

Katniss.....not quite sure about her. I felt for her, admired her, hated her, mourned with her, and understood her thinking(most of the time). But I can't decide if the good things she has done outweighed the bad. I suppose she can't decide that herself either, which raises her a bit in my opinion, still I think I'll with that I loved and hated her.

I should have known this book wouldn't be what I expected. The first book wasn't, and neither was the second, so why would this be any different. I still liked it, but as I said earlier, I don't feel that it is right to love it, that being said, I thought it was a perfect end for the series. I didn't think it would be possible and at some points I had completely given up at even a semblance of a happy ending, yet Suzanne Collins succeeded in giving me the perfect ending. Bittersweet, poignant, and a bit happy.

almost all of the questions from the first 2 books have answered and the ending couldn't be better.(Spoiler Alert) district thirteen is reveiled, but is it the utopia it seems to be. what happened to peeta.find out along with what happens to prim and snow in last last and most exciting book

Mockingjay is such an amazing finale, I just can't believe good it is. I was blown away by how good the writing, characters and the plot was. It was one of my most favorite books ever.

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.

I just wish there was another book coming out after this stunning trilogy that I will forever remember.

Just wanted to spend a few words about how amazing was this book, the entire series, actually. My words will never be up to the wonderful literary skills of Suzanne Collins so I couldn't neither imagine to be able to write a review. Anyway there was anything I could have said to despise the book, I loved it in every single aspect.
This was the perfect finale for the best trilogy I've ever read, breathtaking, intense, moving, so damn PERFECT! There are so many points of the book that made me cry like a little girl, seriously, I was having an emotional breakdown while I was reading the Mockingjay! And what about the terrible sense of a gap in you heart when you finished it? It's irreparable, and I think I will never find a series which caught me like this one.
The Hunger Games will always occupy a special place in my heart.
Thanks Suzanne Collins for writing such an amazing trilogy!

Speechless.

That’s how this book left me.

The ending to this amazing series left me wanting more. But I loved every second of it!
I will never forget this story and I feel crazy for having such a strong attachment to these characters.

Thank you so much, Mrs. Collins!

This was my least favorite in the trilogy. While I did enjoy the twists, I didn't like that many parts were jumped over and the ending was too fast. While some people may like this, I do not.
Overall though, I enjoyed the book and I loved the series. I enjoyed them so much, it only took me three days to read them all.

This book had its high points and low points. I was a little disappointed as it wasn't as gripping as I was hoping it would be. I found it dragging in places with far too much telling and not enough showing. I didn't get to connect with the characters as I was hoping I would have. Katniss also annoyed me at times with her confliction of who to choose, Gale or Peeta. I always knew it was going to be Peeta. With such catastrophies going on around her, I found that it wasn't terrifying to read. I couldn't put myself in her shoes. Katniss just didn't jump off the pages enough for me to grasp her character.

To round off, the trilogy has been a good one, but not a great read.

Where to start… I devoured this book as quickly as possible. I had to know what happened after the cliffhanger ending in Catching Fire. However, I was mildly disappointed. When the actual Hunger Games ended, there seemed to be something lacking from the plot. I had a hard time getting into the complicated political overthrow plot. This book also had some new characters that seemed a little out of place. Maybe out of place isn’t the right term. They were there, but I couldn’t figure out what purpose they served. It was hard to connect to any of them because there wasn’t much depth. It was as if they were there for the purpose of the plot’s subterfuge only. I really felt like there was no attempt to grow the new characters at all, except for maybe Boggs.




** Spoiler alert**


Then there is the problem with Katniss herself. In the other books I thought she was so strong and defiant. Now, she seems so weak. In the aftermath of the events in Catching Fire, it makes sense. Her mental breakdowns and nightmares are acceptable and one hundred percent justifiable. What annoys me, however, is her constant pity party. Everyone knows that bad crap happens (that was obvious in the first two books), but to keep harping on it drove me nuts. It’s as if we needed a constant reminder of how crappy life could be for her. Complete over kill.
I hate to say it, but this time around my favorite character was Finnick. He had the most depths out of all of the characters in this book. Oh, the secrets he has to share! Holy smokes. That was a dark turn I didn’t expect. But then he gets killed off. That irritated me. I really wanted him to survive. It’s not the fact that he died, either, that bothers me so much. It’s the manner in which he died. What a waste. That entire scene seemed so rushed and out of place. I didn’t even realize so many people died until two or three pages later. One of the major deaths in the book didn’t even stand out to me. I knew she died because of the massive bombing that occurred, but what was the purpose?
I will say that there was one surprise that caught me off guard. Peeta. Wow. I didn’t see that one coming. Poor, sweet Peeta.


No review would be complete if I didn’t talk about the ending. WTH?! I am so unhappy with how things ended. I’m all for Peeta, don’t get me wrong, but the way things were left with Gale seemed so wrong. No closure. I know there is supposed to be some great message about war and the roles we play—whether knowingly or not—but still… I felt so invested him that love triangle. I wanted a better solution. I don’t care so much who Katniss ended up with, it’s just the why that bothers me. It’s like she didn’t have a choice in the matter at all. She gets sent back to District 12 alone under the impression that no one will come for her. But then someone does… Only, it seems like he’s there because he has nowhere else to be. Did anyone else get that feeling? Obviously Peeta wouldn’t stay in the Capitol after what happened, so it only seemed natural that he would return to his home. With Katniss being there, of course they would end up together eventually. They are the only ones who can fully understand what it’s like to be a survivor of The Hunger Games. But does that mean he wants to be there with her or she with him? Not necessarily. It felt like they were both going with the hand life dealt them because they didn’t know what else to do.


** End spoiler alert **
I guess there was some sense of closure after the epilogue, but I still don’t know how satisfied I am with it. The pieces do fit together and there is plenty to think about afterwards, that’s for sure. Leaving the series with this book unread would be wrong. Be forewarned, though, it’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and how you feel at the end really depends on whose side you’re on.

The final book of THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy is captivating. I dropped everything to read this book as quickly as I could. It also made me cry.

While I wish there had been more focus on plot and Katniss MAKING changes -- less Katniss something epic and then being in the hospital for a long time -- this novel still managed to drag me in and keep me turning pages to reach the end.

I wasn't sold on the epilogue, but the last line of the final chapter (before the epilogue) Had Me.

I'd recommend this series to anyone wanting a compelling YA dystopian.