Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publication Date: September 2010
Length: 390 pages

Warning: This is a review of the third and final book in this series, and will contain spoilers from the first two books.

Katniss, her family, and Gale are alive and in District 13. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol.  A revolution is taking place across Panem, and Katniss is expected to stand up and be the Mockingjay, the figurehead of the rebellion. I say figurehead and not leader, because really, the powerful people organising this rebellion just want Katniss to be their pawn, to inspire the people.

I don't quite understand the widespread love for this book. I loved the first two, and this one just didn't do a whole lot for me. I mean, there was some good action, and the story of the developing revolution is definitely interesting, but there were just too many things that bothered me.

First of all, let's talk about the romance. The reason I've never called myself Team Peeta or Team Gayle is because I could not possibly care less about either of those relationships. Both guys are good characters and important to the story throughout the series, but I just never got excited about the romance at all. As for how the books ends in that area, I just kind of shrugged.

Other quibbles: Her voice-activated bow. What's the deal? Her fancy arrows certainly came in handy, but what was special about that bow? Did she ever even use the voice activation? What purpose would that even serve? Also: I did not cry while reading this book. I cried in both of the other two. For whatever reason, the sad scenes in this book just didn't have the oomph that, for example, Rue's death had.

Then there was stuff near the end that I didn't even understand. Spoilers starting now...


When they have that vote for whether or not they'll host a Hunger Games with Capitol children, and Katniss votes yes. WTF is that? When did Katniss become a horrible person? I understand wanting to kill Snow, but innocent children? That is so messed up, no matter what she's been through.


I don't know, maybe I just read this book at the wrong time, and wasn't in the mood for it or something. Everyone else who loves the earlier books seems to love this one, too. I'll definitely give the series another go some time and see if my opinion of its ending changes.

3 stars.

3 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, what does it say about me that I don't even remember that spoiler?!?! LOL

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    1. lol! That one stuck with me, because it just seemed like such a weird thing for her character to do!

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  2. Very exciting, suspenseful, and challenging. Hard to put down at any point. A complete entertaining experience throughout the story.

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