BRT: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Number of Pages: 390

Rating: 3/5 stars

Date Published: August 24, 2010

SUMMARY

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. [Goodreads]

REVIEW [SPOILERS]

Mockingjay was a book with an indefinitely different feel to it than the first books had. Mockingjay felt dark and gloomy from the start, and understandably so—but there was one thing about this book that really irked me from page 1. Katniss is no longer the girl on fire... she’s the girl that fizzled out.

All of her earlier bravery seems to be malfunctioning, she’s more selfish than she is caring, and it’s even stated that she’s gone a bit...shall we say...loony? I can understand it. The Hunger Games alone are enough to drive someone insane—but it just didn’t sit well with me when Katniss’ thoughts didn’t feel fully coherent at times. Not to mention the love triangle—Katniss’ flip-flopping got irritating. Fast. This wasn’t good for my interest in the book.

There were also a bunch of characters just suddenly thrown in, and it’s not hard to guess who’s okay and who’s a corrupt jerk. Katniss doesn’t even mind even when it’s hinted she knows what’s going to happen at the end—she just goes with everything. Instead of taking charge like she did in the past two books, she did whatever she was told like a good little Mockingjay in this one. This was what the people in 13 wanted, but I highly doubt any readers did.

The deaths were all pointless—we got attached to these characters and then they were ripped away within a split second. Sure, realistic, but not something that people want to read. Suzanne Collins is commendable for her writing skill, but there is a line in which you have to be careful not to cross—the line between meaningful death and pointless death. She crossed that line far too many times in this story.

Honestly, I found Finnick’s death more traumatizing than Prim’s. Prim just felt like a placeholder in the story, a reason for Katniss to go even darker than she had been for the rest of the story. An excuse for her to finally go off the deep end. I didn’t like it. Finnick’s WAS meaningful, but at the same time, pointless. I can’t really put into words what went through me here.

I enjoyed reading about the war efforts. Watching Katniss journey with everyone else into the cities and districts in order to seize control was fun for me. I kind of got lost on how the streets near the Capitol resembled the Games but oh well. Watching the battles held a lot of interest, but at the same time, the pointless death from earlier.

I think that’s all I have to say. This book is a must-read for Hunger Games fans, but you shouldn’t spend your money on it. I’d borrow it from someone. Like I did. :3 It doesn’t seem like there was much I liked about this book, but there was a lot to like—good writing, good pacing. Katniss just messed some of it up.