English language
Published July 10, 2016
Mockingjay is a 2010 science fiction novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is chronologically the last installment of The Hunger Games series, following 2008's The Hunger Games and 2009's Catching Fire. The book continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, who agrees to unify the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the tyrannical Capitol. The hardcover and audiobook editions of Mockingjay were published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010, six days after the ebook edition went on sale. The book sold 450,000 copies in the first week of release, exceeding the publisher's expectations. It received a generally positive reaction from critics. The book has been adapted into a two-part movie, with the first part released on November 21, 2014 and the second part released on November 20, 2015.
I think I'm in the minority here, but I think this book gave the series gravity and emotional resonance that had a fantastic impact.
Horrible ending. The problems of the first two books are repeated here, but with greater intensity. Also, could've done without Harry Potter-esque epilogue (I didn't like it in Harry Potter and I think it's even crappier here). At least she finally makes a decision, but it feels incidental, given that the other choice isn't available anymore.
Another riveting read...I obviously enjoyed this series immensely, even though I would have enjoyed a few more details here and there. Overall, very much worth reading.
To all of my "friends" who recommended that I read this series: I am currently sticking pins into the voodoo dolls I made of you.
If I would have wanted to watch bad TV I would have done so.
The final book of the Hunger Games trilogy does not disappoint. We see a lot more depth into the world and get to see some cool action. The story still revolves around Katniss, which means we don't get to see things she doesn't, but we get deep into her mind. We can see that she, along with some of the other victors, have been greatly impacted by the Games and the subsequent events. This is not your typical escapist fantasy where the hero goes and chops up his/her enemies and then goes back home to a normal life. I was very satisfied with the ending and the plot events.
The only downside I can think for the book is that the pacing is a bit uneven. Some parts fly by, while others drag a bit. Still, it's a very engaging read. I was a bit worried since book 2 had …
The final book of the Hunger Games trilogy does not disappoint. We see a lot more depth into the world and get to see some cool action. The story still revolves around Katniss, which means we don't get to see things she doesn't, but we get deep into her mind. We can see that she, along with some of the other victors, have been greatly impacted by the Games and the subsequent events. This is not your typical escapist fantasy where the hero goes and chops up his/her enemies and then goes back home to a normal life. I was very satisfied with the ending and the plot events.
The only downside I can think for the book is that the pacing is a bit uneven. Some parts fly by, while others drag a bit. Still, it's a very engaging read. I was a bit worried since book 2 had a bit of a romantic vibe to it, but while it's present in book 3, it is a bit more subdued.
So I was thinking, "Eh, will give it my typical four stars," but the last 100 pages were incredibly intense; first time in a long time I couldn't put a book down - and that's the main reason I give it five stars. It's not a Change Your Life story, but Collins sure did craft a gripping story throughout these three books.
Also, I don't consider this a spoiler: Katniss, Peeta, and Gale should have considered polyamory.
The final book in the series, with the districts at war with the Capitol, and with Katniss as the spiritual leader of the rebellion.
I was so looking forward to this book, and I am so disappointed. The first two books were well paced, with well-drawn central characters and a positive, hopeful, rebellious tone. Collins was very adept in the first two books to balance the tension and the violence with lighter scenes and humorous moments.
But this books feels like it is from a completely different series. In this series no, a single smart resourceful person can't win an impossible game by changing the rules; she can't throw off oppression by being clever and playing her oppressor's game better than they play it; and no matter how much she escapes being used and manipulated there will always be someone else around to use and manipulate her more.
Good grief. …
The final book in the series, with the districts at war with the Capitol, and with Katniss as the spiritual leader of the rebellion.
I was so looking forward to this book, and I am so disappointed. The first two books were well paced, with well-drawn central characters and a positive, hopeful, rebellious tone. Collins was very adept in the first two books to balance the tension and the violence with lighter scenes and humorous moments.
But this books feels like it is from a completely different series. In this series no, a single smart resourceful person can't win an impossible game by changing the rules; she can't throw off oppression by being clever and playing her oppressor's game better than they play it; and no matter how much she escapes being used and manipulated there will always be someone else around to use and manipulate her more.
Good grief.
Katniss, our strong, self-assured protagonist, spends the first half of the book paralyzed by crushing self-doubt and PTSD, while the war rages on around her. Much of the action takes place while she is unconscious in the hospital (and is later explained to her), or elsewhere while she watches it on TV. This makes for an extremely slow and frustrating pace. I kept wondering when Katniss was going to stand up and behave like Katniss. When she was going to actually be the protagonist of her own damn series.
The good news is that the pacing picks up in the second half of the novel. The bad news is that so does the violence. Although there are a large number of new characters introduced in this part of the book, we don't get to know anyone well enough before they are quickly killed off, along with some of the more interesting, well-drawn and well-loved characters from the previous books. The second half of the books spirals away into unrelenting barrage of bombs and monsters and war and death, culminating in the explosion that kills Katniss's sister and puts Katniss unconscious into the hospital and in anguish once again.
By the time the book gets around to the final denouement, when Katniss lies to the council to get close enough to the president in order to kill her, I honestly didn't really care what Katniss did. She could have stripped naked and danced for all I cared. As it was I had to read that passage three or four times to figure out exactly what was going on -- what Katniss was planning, if she was lying or if she was just giving up. I know lots of other people who were very unclear at that point, who did not know that this was a turning point for Katniss in the book. If this is the one point where Katniss does manage to make her own decisions, where she stops being manipulated by everyone around her, then this one passage needed to be written far more clearly and strongly and with a lot more passion. But at this point in the book there is no passion at all; it is all just numb and empty.
Which brings us to the happy romantic ending, which is the saddest, flattest, most nihilistic happy ending I think I've ever read. Gale turns into a monster and kills her sister to win the war, and then vanishes with no closure or confrontation to the triangle. Her mother goes off somewhere to I forget, but there's also no goodbye scene or closure. Poof. Peeta is there, but then Peeta has had about a half dozen different personalities throughout this book, so sure, why not be the loving husband. And, oh, Peeta wants kids so she has kids even though she will always be dead inside, the end.
Good grief.
I've read that Suzanne Collins wanted to write a book about war, about how war is incredibly damaging to people and how it would have an unbelievably horrible effect on a 17 year old girl. And I suppose if that was her goal than she suceeded swimmingly at that. But the first two books are so hopeful -- that Katniss would succeed against all the odds against her -- and for this book to turn so unrelentingly dark, so hopeless, just seems to me to be contrary to the feel of the series as it was presented in the first two books.
I feel betrayed, and I wish I hadn't read it at all.
I might bump this down to 4 stars after I have time to let my emotional reaction to the book cool a bit.
I will miss this series.
This is definitely one that deserves more like 3.75 stars. I'm reluctant to give it more, simply because...well, because I don't want to. In the finale to the The Hunger Games, Katniss has woken to find District 12 destroyed and the revolution in full swing. There are so many weird parts to this story-the Rebels' ease with using children to fight their revolution; Katniss' inability to see how she's being used, even though her peers seem to get it; Peeta's miraculous and inexplicable recovery; and the overall lack of resolution with Gale and Peeta. I liked the message about war and how it's basically always evil, regardless of the motivations behind it. Really depressing ending, though.
