Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) in Be a geek and read

Dec 29, 2009 Stephanie *Eff your feelings* rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, sci-fi

Oh why do I like these silly YA books? I don't know, I just do, and I loved Mockingjay. And there shall be no more....*sigh* ...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Maddison rated it it was amazing

CAUTION!!!!!!IF YOU ARE GOING TO READ THE HUNGER GAMES SERIES, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite books of all time. At first you think that there is no hope, favorite characters are gone, then you think that it will turn out perfect but your wrong again. It takes a surprising twist of events and things that you would never guess would happen, happen. Peeta and Katniss come back together, and I feel every thing that Katniss feels, becuz Suzanne Collins writes so amazingl ...more

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Jul 29, 2010 Rebecca rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm going to have trouble with this review. The emotions this book evoked are very hard to channel and articulate, and while I'll do my best, I can't say that it'll be entirely coherent. Needless to say, once I was finished, I had to let out a beleaguered breath: while a quick, engrossing read, it's by no means easy.

This book is easily the darkest of the trilogy. And possibly the hardest to read, too. It's not a happy book, and while that seems to be fairly obvious, this being "Hunger Games" and I'm going to have trouble with this review. The emotions this book evoked are very hard to channel and articulate, and while I'll do my best, I can't say that it'll be entirely coherent. Needless to say, once I was finished, I had to let out a beleaguered breath: while a quick, engrossing read, it's by no means easy.

This book is easily the darkest of the trilogy. And possibly the hardest to read, too. It's not a happy book, and while that seems to be fairly obvious, this being "Hunger Games" and all, it bears repeating: This is not a happy book.

It picks up maybe a few weeks after the events at the end of "Catching Fire": Katniss is now settled with the rebellion settled in the remains of District 13, and she is not coping all that well with the aftermath of the previous book. She is not the most stable of people right now, and spends most of this book in what seems to be a state of shock, more simply going through the motions and tamping down on the emotions, lest she lose it altogether. You really feel for her, here, wanting so much for her to find some way to be happy when it's all over, but not really knowing how that can be as things play out.

As for the rest of our cast, we are joined by plenty of familiar faces, and some new ones, too. As per usual, Collins handles her side-characters very well, and you will probably come to care about them at least a little, one way or another.
I said in my review of "Catching Fire" that I hoped this book would endear Gale to me a bit more. And it has...sort of. I appreciate him more than I did before, certainly. But thinking about him doesn't really muster up anything more than it did before: maybe that he's a bit more bloodthirsty than anticipated (then again, a lot's happened.) I do wish things between him and Katniss had been resolved a bit better, but again, a lot's happened, and things have changed between them.
As for Peeta, he stands with more or less the same verdict as he did in the other books. However, he did spend quite a bit of this book breaking my heart (and Katniss's, too.) Needless to say, I'm glad how things ended with him.

Apparently, there are those out there who are remarking how much more violent this book is than the others; but really, I don't think it was that much more violent than its predecessors. It's probably more that the violence isn't quite as fantastical (and, therefore, detachable) and takes place in city streets, amongst civilians. And another factor is Katniss's state of mind: these books have always been good at not glorifying or going into too much detail about the violence, more presenting what has happened and accentuating on the horror of what's occurred. But Katniss's unbalance seems to sensitize her more to the things happening in front of her and makes her less equipped to deal with it, causing it to feel just that much more horrible. But I will admit, the violence against young children did throw me off a little. Violence against children isn't exactly new to this series (see premise,) but this time around, most likely because of reasons posted above, it affected me a little more.
And in all honesty, I'm glad for it. I'm glad Collins didn't shy away from what was happening. It's so easy, to simply gloss over the terrible things that happen in books, to downplay them into something much more manageable. But sometimes, that's not the best thing to do. This is one of those instances in which I'm glad the author decided not to sugarcoat or glorify the events taking place, and handled it with respect by portraying it for what it is: violent, horrifying, and bound to stick with you.

This is a difficult conclusion to a difficult series. It's as gripping as it ever was, but it's heartbreaking, too. Rest assured, our heroine does get a happy-ish ending- as happy as it could be, considering- but it's a long, dark road to achieve it, and it's marked by heavy losses. But it's definitely a satisfying ending, even if you don't agree with certain decisions made in the end, and it really ties the series together nicely. ...more

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May 29, 2012 Camille rated it liked it

Shelves: lendable, kindle, books-i-own, fantasy, adult, dark, 3-stars

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The conclusion to the epic series, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

STOP READING NOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS!

You can read my review of the first book by clicking here, and the second book by clicking here.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins concludes the series, and the story of Katniss Everdeen in Panem. The second book left off with a horrible cliff-hanger with Katniss being removed from the Hunger Games stadium before the games were even ...more

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