Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) in The Dusty Bookshelf

May 12, 2012 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it liked it

Shelves: permanent-library, good-fiction, young-adult, sci-fi-dystopia, summer-2012

3.5 Stars

I couldn’t wait to read MOCKINGJAY to find out what happens to Katniss and the other characters I fell in love with. And after reading the conclusion to the Hunger Games I was left dumb-founded, saddened, and angry; angry at Collins mostly. While her writing is still quite beautiful and descriptive, she surprised me with some unpleasant twists of plot and characterization.

When Katniss visits her home in the Seam for the first time, I felt her sadness and vulnerability. She still hasn’ 3.5 Stars

I couldn’t wait to read MOCKINGJAY to find out what happens to Katniss and the other characters I fell in love with. And after reading the conclusion to the Hunger Games I was left dumb-founded, saddened, and angry; angry at Collins mostly. While her writing is still quite beautiful and descriptive, she surprised me with some unpleasant twists of plot and characterization.

When Katniss visits her home in the Seam for the first time, I felt her sadness and vulnerability. She still hasn’t fully recovered from the concussion that Joanna gave her in the Quell Games. She feels as desolate and vulnerable as her surroundings and responsible. Her arrow piercing the arena force field brought the fiery explosion and Snow’s bombers rained fire, destruction, and death upon her people.

She reluctantly lets herself become the rebels “mockingjay” on her terms. She still wants to protect Peeta and the other victors that were captured by the Capitol. By forcing President Coin to accept her terms, Katniss becomes a pawn in the leader’s own agenda, and Katniss is very expendable. So are the other Hunger Games Victors. Coin is as much of a despot as Snow is. The evidence is the harsh and rigid living conditions in District 13. She doesn’t realize her influence upon the citizens of Panam. We readers get a glimpse of it when she visits District 8. Her visit to the hospital, her jump to the rooftop to down Capitol hovercrafts, her defiant pledge to Snow: If We Burn, so will You. The girl on fire when she is spontaneous has a truly warm and giving heart. Her views on the killing of all the people in District 2’s Nut is also evident, but her decision to kill the Capitol woman and her vote in whether or not hold a last Hunger Game floored me. I cheered her action at Snow’s execution.

But what Collins did to Peeta, Finnick, and Prim really surprised me into a furious rage against Ms. Collins. I absolutely loved those characters. Poor Haymitch, he was getting so likable and strong, only to end up a drunk once again. The resolution of the love triangle surprised me, but really didn’t. It had to be resolved in that way for the girl on fire, since the trilogy really was Katniss’ story. I have to admit that I again teared up, especially in the epilogue; a fine way to end the Hunger Games saga with children playing in the Meadow. My emotional reaction clearly is entwined within my rating of MOCKINGJAY, but I can’t help it.
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Apr 12, 2012 Carol rated it really liked it

Katniss must come to terms with her new reality. She is in District 13 along with her mother, Prim, Gale and the others he led to safety when District 12 was firebombed. Peeta is in the hands President Snow at The Capitol, probably tortured, probably dead. The rebels are real. They need her. She has little interest, thinking instead about Peeta, his confidence and ease, quick mind and way with words. Haymitch was supposed to save him! When circumstances provide Katniss with a few reasons of her ...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Diane rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian, series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The final installment of "The Hunger Games" trilogy was not as satifying as I had hoped. I could identify any number of themes I saw in the book: as girls do we let others define us or do we define ourselves; contemporary uses of social media and "reality" as propoganda; comparisons with ancient Rome and current geopolitical feudalism; and the psychological and philosophical underpinnings of the novel. None of these were explored or resolved as I had expected or hoped after my reading based on t ...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Vicki (The Wolf's Den) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-wolfs-den-reviewed, audiobook

Length: 11.6 Hours
Listened at 1.9x Speed

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

I can't recommend these audiobooks highly enough, though I would definitely avoid being in the driver's seat during the last disk or so. They heighten the emotional connection, so it may not be advised for some people, but they are definitely worth the experience if you want to remember these books. ...more

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