Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Release Date: August 24, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

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 if 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 plans--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 feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.

There was so much hype surrounding the release of Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. After reading it, I will say this: the book most definitely lived up to the expectations I had and went even further. I’ll try to give as little away about the book in this review, and I apologize if I do know that I am not doing it on purpose.

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were never two of the lightest and happiest books but Mockingjay goes even deeper than the previous books did. As you may know, it talks a lot about war, which is far from being a topic handled lightly. Suzanne Collins manages to write close to 400 pages without making the book extremely dark and depressing. Throughout, there are moments of hope, happiness and laughter that manage to make up for all the darkness and war that’s also present. I loved those moments, and at times they were what got me through the pages that were darker and more depressing.

Suzanne Collins really tackles the issue of war and all that it entails. She really looks at the effects it has on people, and how there is always more than one side to every story. Often there will be the sides of opponents and the truth, and even then not everything is necessarily explained. She also looks at how war can take its toll on people; almost every character in the book doesn’t see the point of going on at one point or another and questions their motives for doing what they are doing. There is really one main question asked throughout the novel: is it really right to take revenge on people by doing the same thing to them they did to us? Katniss asks herself and others this question many times during the book.

It’s really hard not to give anything away and I now that if I do people won’t be too happy with me. I’ll leave it at this so if you’re not done reading I won’t have spoiled anything. I’ll leave you with this: while I was reading I laughed, I smiled and I cried and went through a whole range of emotions.

Also, if you haven’t heard of the Hunger Games books you’ve obviously been living under a rock and if you have heard of the books but haven’t read them you are really missing out on some awesome books.