Revolt

Thirteen was used to hardship, whereas in the Capitol, all they’ve known is Panem at Circenses.

Finally, I have finished the original trilogy of The Hunger Games! Since I had seen Part 1 of the movie (I finished everything but the last three chapters before watching Part 2), much of this book was of little surprise to me. There is somewhat less action here than in Catching Fire, since a lot of the first part is mostly Katniss reacting to the events of the previous book and recuperating from all that has occurred. However, where Mockingjay shines is its turn towards the political machinations that underlie the narrative and the goals idealized by the rebels against the Capitol. As such, the focus necessarily shifts away from the characters, though we do get some interesting reversals of expectations here. Certain characters are shadier, feel a bit unfamiliar compared to before. However, much of our main cast from the previous book, whom I enjoyed reading about, are either dying, not present, or not in the right state of mind for this book. Katniss herself is an emotional wreck, and this makes it more of a harrowing read. She certainly has a lot going on here, and I don’t envy her. Some characters also get an unfair treatment from Collins; I don’t understand her rationale for some of the roles certain characters end up playing. The narrative certainly has some plot twists, but by nature of either not being a teen or having been aware of the overall lore, the twists unfortunately didn’t come as much of a surprise---they were easily anticipated. Perhaps for a more seasoned audience, these twists were telegraphed a bit too heavily. Either way, I appreciated the message that Collins was sending through this story. I also wish the pacing were better throughout the novel. The first two-thirds are rather slow-going and start to ramp up only towards the end, and then the final third part of the book goes all-out in resolving the plot and tying everything together. It does fit the classic narrative/conflict development pattern, but the climax could have begun earlier than it did.As with the other books, the themes are quite stark in Mockingjay. I especially liked how Collins depicts the effects of trauma and PTSD from war; after all, in her own understanding, the series is a war story. We get nothing if not a brutal depiction of the effects of the rebellion, the subjugation of the Districts, and the overall conflict to control Panem—especially for the kids/teens. Katniss feels powerless, to be sure, but that is by design; she is involved in a plot whose origins lie in the adults around her. The adults of Panem have a lot that they should be held accountable for. The ending and epilogue were a bit cheesy, but Collins still manages to keep it gritty. Although I do dock a million points for her canonically making the source of the name ‘Panem’ from the Latin ‘panis’, which in-universe becomes so silly. As far as YA dystopias go, this series is definitely much better than most of them. Am I glad I finally read and finished it? Yes. Of course, now I have to go read the prequel and see whether that lives up to the hype as well.

[Spoilers for book 1 and 2 of the series]

I first read this book two or three years ago and didn't remember much about it. Now, having read it again I was totally blown away with this book. I totally forgot how much I loved the "The Hunger Games" series and am glad to have picked up the book again before watching the movie (which is totally awesome guys!). I loved how the characters were portrayed and think that the character development was extremely well done.

The focus on the last book of the trilogy lies on politics, how the lines between good and bad blur during a war and how everybody just wants to win no matter the costs.
It was also a very emotional read that made me cry, especially in the last part of the book. Katniss who has always been so strong seems to break in the aftermath of the destruction of her district.
Torn between her responsibility being the symbol and somewhat leader of the rebellion and her fears and feelings Katniss becomes an even more complex character than in the previous books. All the other more important characters have to change as well as life will never be the same again after the rebellion.

All in all, this book is a very good example of the way war effects people. A must read series for everyone!

Wow! I was definitely right that the second book was more of a segue than anything else. This book took the characters from the previous two and put them in interesting and different situations. It had them all growing emotionally, and we could see the growth happening! It was extremely well written, and the plot, while there was nothing unrelated, it was totally unexpected. It was a fabulous ending to the story, and although it left you caring about the characters, it didn't leave you hanging. And although some of the characters who were killed left a hole in your "heart", always necessary. It was a truly satisfying conclusion.
It is too bad that I only felt comfortable giving the second book in the trilogy three stars. To not take that to mean that it's not worthwhile! The three books all count on each other and require each other. And the particular version that I listened to had an interview with the author at the end which was also enlightening, and it made me really like her (although I have to admit, the fact that she's a television writer is somewhat offputting :-))

You know, for what this book is? It was good. Probably the strongest of the three books in both character and story.

On the other hand, I can see how people could really hate this book after loving the first two. Mostly based on two reasons:

1) It's a completely different sort of book. [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg|2792775] and [b:Catching Fire|6148028|Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1268805322s/6148028.jpg|6171458] were more or less 75% Romance/Relationship based & 25% Dystopian Rebellion on the side. Mockingjay was more like 90% Dystopian Rebellion and War Novel and maybe 10% tragic, dysfunctional romance. If you were expecting anything like the first two books--you were very quickly informed otherwise. Instead of Katniss trying to figure out what Peeta's (non-existent) game is, or Katniss figuring out her own feelings for Peeta, we got war training, fighting, blood & gore, mind-trips, tyrannical leaderships, torture rescue missions, and tense relations with everyone involved.

2) Because of the shift in story focus, this allowed this book to be absurdly depressing (which you probably guessed from some of the above descriptions). There's no one really to root for in this book, or side with. The rebel faction turns out to be just as bad as (if you ask me--worse than) the Capital they're fighting. The death toll is through the roof--no one is safe be they children or adults, and Anyone Can Die gets a work out. If something bad can happen, it does. Katniss is powerless to control the events around her through most of the book (which on a sidenote, I admired as much more realistic storyline considering her age & experience based on the super-strong fighter everyone keeps thinking she should be), and it turns out that everyone lies. People are broken physically & emotionally, light and happy moments are few and far between, and I could go on, but I think you get the picture. At least the first two novels had some sense of victory/accomplishment to them, be it winning the games, or just flat out destroying the arena. This one's just a spiral into disaster on all fronts, with maybe a tiny shed of light in the epilogue representing the fact that "time moves on."

All that aside, it is a very good novel. No one said every book has to be happy or encouraging. Mockingjay does depressing very well, and I think it's probably my favorite of the three novels--which is something, considering I was mostly on board with Hunger Games in the first place for the Peeta/Katniss romance. Everyone gets their time to shine, character wise, and we get to see what people are really made of. The ending (read: the final execution), in particular, was something I appreciated. If she had to kill one of them, I'm glad it was the one she picked. And Snow's end was more than appropriate, and probably better for Katniss in the long run. The action was good, everyone's sense of madness was well played out, and the last little jab at the end was a nice final punch in the gut. Everyone is flawed, and everyone paid for their actions.

If you keep in mind the change in focus, and take the book for what it is, I think you'll enjoy it. Either way, if you've made it this far there's no reason not to finish the series.

Ein fulminantes Ende der Panem-Trilogie

Katniss wurde gerettet, Peeta ist gefangen im Kapitol. Die Distrikte ertrinken in Panik, Not und Hilflosigkeit. Eine Gruppe von Menschen versucht, das Kapitol zu stürzen und Frieden in das Land zu bringen. Und Katniss soll die Aktion anführen: Als Spotttölpel symbolisiert sie die Kraft und Stimme der Menschen.

Es herrscht Krieg. Zerstörung. Tod. Mitnichten ist diese Jugendbuchreihe leichte Kost. Es wundert mich, das dieses Buch für Jugendliche ab 12 Jahre empfohlen wird. Dieses Buch ist real geschrieben, keine unschönen Beschreibungen werden ausgelassen und es passieren furchtbare Dinge. Gerade diesen dritten Band würde ich keinen Jugendlichen unter 15 in die Hände geben.
Natürlich kommt es immer darauf an, wie man ein Buch liest. Will man auf die Liebesgeschichte aus (die eigentlich nur eine Nebenrolle spielt), so liest man das Buch schnell durch und bemerkt die Schrecklichkeit vielleicht gar nicht. Wer aber dieses ganze tragische Geschehen Wort für Wort liest und es in den eigenen Gedanken wahr werden lässt - dem schaudert es.

Ich ziehe meinen imaginären Hut vor Suzanne Collins, die mit diesem Abschluss der Trilogie sich selbst übertroffen hat. Ihr Schreibstil ist kurz und bündig, dennoch beschreibt sie real und nah. Sie fängt den Leser ein und bringt ihn in die Welt von Panem.

Katniss ist sehr menschlich. Man kann sie als Vorbild sehen, ihre Stärke und Ausdauer ist beeindruckend, doch macht sie auch Fehler und ist manchmal zu kalt. Letztendlich trifft sie die richtigen Entscheidungen. Besonders beeindruckt war ich von der Szene, wo sie jemanden umbringt (ich verrate an dieser Stelle nicht wen, aber die, die das Buch gelesen haben, wissen bestimmt, wen ich meine) und damit die ganze verkorkste Situation rettet.

Das Ende einer Buchrreihe ist wichtig. Darüber entscheidet sich ein Großteil des Gesamteindrucks der Reihe. Suzanne Collins hat ein perfektes Ende geschrieben. Auch dass sie nicht ausführlich wurde, sondern mehr auf die Moral der Geschichte einging (so nahm ich es auf), gefiel mir sehr gut.

Ich kann jedem Menschen - vorallem auch den Erwachsenen - nur zu dieser Reihe raten. Sie ist erschreckend, aber auch wunderbar und vorallem lehrt sie uns, was wichtig ist.

I don't feel like Mockingjay was as good as it could have been. I feel that it started well - lots of things happening and lots of detail. But the ending seemed kinda weak. It was almost as if the author had been writing it and found herself getting tired of the story and just wanted to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

The story as a whole wasn't entirely predictable, though it did have moments where you could guess what was going to happen. I just feel like Katniss lost her fire towards the end, and granted, she was probably exhausted by physically and mentally, but the girl who was on fire for two and half books seemed very much extinguished. And I just feel like after building up certain ideas throughout the whole trilogy and to a larger degree in this final book - for example Katniss' desire to kill Snow - how those ideas played out in the end was somewhat disappointing.

That said, Mockingjay was still a good read. There was still a lot of action, and it was fast paced enough that I read it in a weekend. So while I was disappointed in many ways, this did not detract from the fact that Mockingjay was a good read.