Wow, this book took me on one heck of a ride! Mockingjay was without a doubt my favorite book in the Hunger Games series. It was the perfect fusion of action and emotion, a culmination of what happens when poorly treated citizens reach their breaking point.

In the final book, Katniss agrees to become the "Mockingjay," the spokesperson for District rebels who plan on overthrowing President Snow and the Captiol. This time around, we get an even more thorough glimpse at character personalities and motives, as everyone plays a key role -- from Gale and Finnick, to Prim and Peeta. All thirteen -- yes, I said thirteen -- districts come together to fight as one in order to win the war.

Though Katniss reluctantly agrees to serve as the Mockingjay, she is still last to realize just how much of an effect she has on people, something I found a bit hard to swallow, given her self-absorbed behavior. At first I was frustrated by her arrogance and flagrant disregard of authority and couldn't get over how incredibly self-absorbed she acted at times. But then I realized that that's a fairly accurate depiction of what most 16 year olds are like -- regardless of if you're middle of war -- and cut her some slack because, while flawed, her reactions are realistic. The best kind of heroine is an imperfect one -- and Katniss was most definitely imperfect.

The twists were even better than those in the previous books and did an excellent job at keeping me on the edge of my seat, chomping at the bit to find out what will happen next. Initially I found the descriptions of the Captiol and the war scenes too hard and jumbled to follow, but that's probably because I was so enraptured in the story that I was reading faster than my brain could visualize the setting and paint a picture of what was going on.

Mockingjay is a lot deeper than I expected (especially from a YA). The raw, gritty portrayal of war is brazen and doesn't shy away from what I'm sure is an accurate depiction. I can honestly say that I choked up more than once over the inevitable deaths that are a consequence of war. In the end, this book moved me, got under my skin, and had me reflecting on both dystopian life and the effects of war.