Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins *May Contain Some Spoilers*

Title: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Inc

Published: August 24 2010

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 390

Source: Received as a gift

Read: June 5-6th

My Rating: 5 Stars

In a Few Words: Emotional,  Vengeful,  intense

Goodreads: Add it to your shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.

Melissa's Musings:


My initial reaction on finishing this was just a huge sigh, and then "Wow." I have to say, I didn't quite expect it but the epilogue did make me tear up a little. It's not too surprising I suppose, since I was at the point of goosebumps several times reading this.  I went tearing through the first 300 pages and then wanted to slow down and savor it.

There are so many twists and turns, it's a constant ride of action, with very little downtime. Poor Katniss seems destroyed by all that's she's been through, and yet there's more damage coming.

There were a few things that I felt kind of...I don't quite know the word I'm looking for, disappointed maybe?

Kat and her family are relatively safe, living in District 13 now that she's been rescued. And at first, it looks like life might start to get better, but then you realize that District 13 uses Katniss in their own agendas as much, if not more than President Snow does. The manipulation by District 13 is very thinly veiled, and angering to those of us who just wanted to see Katniss be free from all of the chaos.

I was angry that they didn't rescue Peeta right away as well, but I understand to a point why they didn't. I don't like it, because they did it to use Katniss, to make them do what they wanted, to get her to become their Mockingjay.

Where I was lamenting in my review of Hunger Games that Kat didn't feel enough of what had happened to her, here it almost seems like too much. You can tell that everything that's happened has gotten to her, that something inside has snapped. Especially when you read about her hiding in places like dark closets and laundry chutes. I think this breakdown is part of what makes me feel so much for her at the end of the book. She's survived the games twice and now this extra game playing with District 13 just doesn't seem fair anymore.

There is a lot of death in Mockingjay. It's to be expected in the middle of a war, but there's just so much. And many of the characters I really grew to love. Particularly Cinna. I don't know exactly what it was about him but the first second I read about Cinna I liked him. And the way that they beat him right in front of Kat to rattle her before her second entrance into the Games, was just unfair. Expected, by the very nature of the Capitol, but still unfair. There are many other deaths that I could talk about, but I don't want to put in any spoilers.

There's so much I could say about this series. I'll just say that I'm glad that I read them, because they are really life changing. They truly do stop and make you think. I should hope to think that our current society will never end up like Panem. What a scary place that would be.