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Loading... Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) (edition 2010)by Suzanne Collins
Work detailsMockingjay by Suzanne Collins
This was hard to read. I don't like my fiction so gritty, but the story was so well crafted, I really wanted to know how it was going to end. It's been a long time since I've read anything where the end wasn't easily predicted. I'm having a hard time deciding if the violence was excessive or appropriate, or even somehow necessary to the story. Hmmm. (  ) Snukes | Jun 14, 2013 |  This was a fun read, but yellow beams that melt your flesh off and purple lights that send blood spurting out of every orifice?! It's not the violence that offends me, it's the fact that I'd expect those sort of plot lines out of Calvin & Hobbes or my eighth grade journal, right next to the entry where my vegetables jumped off the lunch tray and held the principal hostage until we sent in the meatloaf crisis response team. Collin's skill to keep the reader interested in the story despite wanting to punch Katniss in the face is unparalleled. (  ) NickAngelis | Jun 13, 2013 | I was so excited to get to the final book of the trilogy! Similar to the first two books of the trilogy, I couldn't put this book down. Now that I'm done reading the trilogy, I want more! I want to learn what happens next. (  ) ADillon | Jun 13, 2013 | I just lost my first attempt at this review. Gah. Basically: I think the plot arc is perfect and concludes the trilogy just right. The course of the rebellion makes sense, the actions of Coin and Snow make sense, even the actions of the various former victors and most of the other supporting characters. Three things bothered me, though. One was that with Katniss as the narrator, her PTSD-induced haze, her lost wanderings, bog down the plot. I think it was pretty well portrayed (painful for me to read, in fact), and it's good to see the consequences of the things Katniss experiences actually explored in fiction. But she's powerless a good bit of the time and that weakens the story. We don't see moments of real, high drama, and sometimes we do but only through Katniss' emotional haze. It's effective in one way, but it makes it difficult at the same time, and I think few (if any) writers could pull it off. Two: The resolution of the love triangle. It was already starting to bother me in Catching Fire, but now it really did. I didn't know who I wanted Katniss to end up with, but I didn't want it to be easy, I didn't want it to be a foregone conclusion by the time Katniss got round to making a decision. I wanted the hurt to be visceral and real. The characterisations of Gale and Peeta have wandered from the believable, which doesn't help -- more in Peeta's case than Gale's, admittedly. I started calling him St Peeta. Three: The death of Prim. It seems almost... gratuitous. How much more pain can we inflict on Katniss Everdeen, our martyr-hero? I suppose it makes sense as a decision for the characters, seen that way, but god, Collins is a hard woman. For the most part, I think I enjoyed it. The last couple of chapters felt rushed, after the slow build of the rebellion. I wasn't immensely happy with the way the characters acted in the last... 20% or so of the book. But it concluded the trilogy well and logically. ( ) shanaqui | Jun 13, 2013 | it's so hard to tell these things till the end, but of course Peeta (Peter?) is Katniss' rock, and Gale is the great wind that keeps blowing her around. Quite upset me by the finish. Probably should not have read it all in one go -- but what's a Saturday night for? ( ) annodoom | Jun 12, 2013 |
 Collins is absolutely ruthless in her depictions of war in all its cruelty, violence, and loss, leaving readers, in turn, repulsed, shocked, grieving and, finally, hopeful for the characters they've grown to empathize with and love. Mockingjay is a fitting end to the series that began with The Hunger Games (2008) and Catching Fire (2009) and will have the same lasting resonance as William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Stephen King's The Stand. However, the book is not a stand-alone; readers do need to be familiar with the first two titles in order to appreciate the events and characters in this one.  “Mockingjay” is not as impeccably plotted as “The Hunger Games,” but nonetheless retains its fierce, chilly fascination. At its best the trilogy channels the political passion of “1984,” the memorable violence of “A Clockwork Orange,” the imaginative ambience of “The Chronicles of Narnia” and the detailed inventiveness of “Harry Potter.” The series ends on an ostensibly happy note, but the heartbreaking effects of war and loss aren't sugar-coated. This is one YA novel that will leave you thinking about the ramifications of war on society, not just the coming-of-age of a young woman. All in all, Mockingjay confirms what we've suspected already — The Hunger Games isn't just a powerful saga about a unique, memorable hero struggling to do the right thing in the public gaze. It's also an important work of science fiction that everyone should read, because if you don't, you'll be left out of all the best conversations. The novel's biggest surprises are found elsewhere. Hope emerges from despair. Even in a dystopian future, there's a better future. Is contained in
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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 wants revenge ... and President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe!
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