Summary from Goodreads:
"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 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 her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost.
Review:
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
OVERVIEW:
Mockingjay, the final part of the Hunger Games trilogy did live up to most of my expectations. I was very keen to read the final instalment after I finished the previous two books, however I did not want to raise my expectations and then be disappointed when I finished the book. Luckily, for the most part, Mockingjay was a satisfying end to the trilogy.
CHARACTERS:
KATNISS:
Katniss remained a strong, unique and memorable character. I loved being able to see things from her point of view. Mockingjay had time for Katniss to reflect on and absorb everything that had happened to her and those surrounding her in the past two books. Once again, Katniss is used as a pawn in other people’s power games.
Katniss is perhaps one of the strongest heroines I’ve had the pleasure to read about. I really appreciated the fact that the love triangle was somewhat low key and that she had time to reflect on all that had happened. I really would like to read more about characters like this one. Recommendations?
There were times that I was annoyed with Katniss’s perspective. She didn’t get to witness some major events that were catalysts for the plot and we as readers missed out on a lot because of that. Katniss was told about certain events after they’d happened and this disappointed me because she was usually in the centre of action in previous books.
PEETA:
Peeta was the character who shocked me the most. I was not expecting the dramatic change in his character and I was very surprised in the twist of events that Collins inflicted upon us. I felt so sorry for Peeta and I really sympathised with him. He had been used just as much as Katniss. The trauma he went through sounded appalling-however, this was mostly told about and not shown. However, that was gruesome enough.
I did like the fact that there was a change in Peeta’s character. For the past two books, he was always there for Katniss and was strong. However, now we got to see the effects that the Hunger Games had on him and see him reacting to Katniss in a totally different way. It was shocking, scary and horrifying. I would have liked to have seen more on how he got better but for a long time Katniss stayed away from him so we didn’t see him as much as we could have.
GALE:
Gale was okay. I can’t say I cared much about Gale throughout the trilogy, I’d say I’m indifferent. However, the ending left me miffed. Was he the one that caused Prim’s death or not? I know you can’t have all the answers, but this is one that I think Katniss should have tried to find the answer to. Katniss and Gale talk very briefly at the end of the book and I didn’t think it was enough for two people who had been lifelong friends and looked after each other’s family.
PRIM:
Prim had a bigger role in Mockingjay. I didn't really care that much about her in the Hunger Games or Catching Fire, but in Mockingjay I finally got to see more of her- which is because Katniss didn’t have to go into the arena again. Prim was a good character. She was nice, nursing and wise. She offered Katniss words of wisdom. I was surprised that Prim died.
DEATHS:
There were a lot of deaths in Mockingjay. This was a given I suppose as a war was taking place. I was expecting one of the three main characters to die: Katniss (it could’ve happened as the book was in the present tense and she could’ve died at the end), Peeta or Gale.
PRIM: I really wasn’t expecting Prim’s death. However, it really did show how cold-blooded both District 13 and the Capitol were. Coin probably ordered Prim to go and Prim, being so good-natured did and of course she was also just a pawn in the game.
SNOW: I really wished that Katniss had killed President Snow herself. This was a letdown. He either choked on his own blood or was crushed by the crowd. We’ll never know. Katniss should have had two arrows-instead of one- and done the job properly for reader satisfaction! Nothing by halves, please.
COIN: Katniss did kill Coin who was just another power-hungry villain! This was good!
BOGGS: He was a really nice character and of course it was sad that he died but it just shows the brutality and uncertainty of war.
FINNICK: I didn’t know Finnick was going to die when he did. I mean, I knew he might, this was a war after all, but he died earlier than I expected to and by the end I realised it was because there wasn’t a huge battle at the end where there would be a storming of the President’s mansion. Finnick had such a sad life and it had only just got a bit better as he married Annie-but alas, it was not to be.
CINNA: In Catching Fire, I was quite sad that Cinna was beaten up and, in all probability, dead. However, I was never certain that he really HAD died and wasn’t just locked up somewhere and being tortured. I guess he did get killed as he didn’t appear in Mockingjay, but I would have liked this to have been confirmed through the characters’ dialogue.
DARIUS AND THE AVOX GIRL- LAVINIA: Horrific. Even hearing it second hand, the description of what happened to them was enough to disgust me. Perhaps this was a reason that Collins didn’t show it through Katniss’ own eyes. The brutality and reality of it was really shocking. I don’t think they’ll show it in the movie either if they want it to be certified 12.
LOADS MORE: There were so many more deaths. The list includes but is not limited to the patients and the medics at the hospitals, the children at the end, the citizens of the Capitol, most of District 12, the others that were in Katniss’ team.
PACE:
The beginning and the middle were quite slow and the ending was where things really speeded up; this was both good and bad. It was good because there was a lot of action and because of the rapidity of events. But it was bad because this should have happened sooner. I really wanted more to have happened at the beginning.
The ending felt rather abrupt, abstract and open-ended. Many questions that I really wanted answers to were not answered. Katniss also missed out on a lot of the action so I felt like I missed out on some of the book.
There were a few times when I got annoyed that Katniss didn’t know about something until after it had happened. Scenes such as when they rescued Peeta- although in retrospect, I can understand why this had to be this way.
While I was pleased by the final instalment, it could have been better. I wanted more HOPE for the future at the end of Mockingjay and while I did get a little bit, the uncertainty was the overriding factor.
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
The biggest disappointment was the epilogue. It just felt too general and sketchy. Perhaps Collins wanted to leave it up to us to decide what happens next, but the information was not enough to satisfy me and I wanted answers. Come on, I got answers in Lord of the Rings!
The questions that I wanted answers to were:
1. Why did Katniss say ‘yes’ to there being another Hunger Games after all she’d been through?
I really thought she would say no so I was shocked. I can understand why she said yes, because it really is human nature to want the people that inflicted you with so much pain to go through what you went through- losing a loved one and participating in the Hunger Games-but I wanted Katniss to tell me this herself and not assume it.
2. What does Katniss DO for the rest of her life?
I know she has two children-the boy and the girl- but as stated in the epilogue, this wasn’t until a long time later. I really thought it would have been great if Katniss and Peeta ended up being advisors to the government or something of that sort.
3. Also, what were her children’s names?
This is a small qualm but when Katniss talks about ‘the boy’ and ‘the girl’ it sounded really awkward. Why wouldn’t you call your children by their names? Strange.
4. Paylor was the new President. What do we know about her?
She could be just another Snow, just another Coin. There was no character development of this character that holds the most important office- so readers are left ignorant of what will happen in the future. Will the future be full of hope or bloodshed? We’ll never know. I need answers.
5. What happened to Gale?
Seeing as he was a main character, I wanted more details as to what happened to him after the ending. Does he ever see Katniss again? What does he do with the rest of his life?
6. Does Peeta recover fully or does he have trouble with his condition?
7. Was there another Hunger Games for the Capitol's children?
8.I'm sure there are more. I'll add them here when they come to mind.
WRITING STYLE:
Collins wrote beautifully in Mockingjay, as she did in the Hunger Games and Catching Fire. There were times I was really sad and because I was reading aloud, my voice shook. I’m really impressed with the way that Collins has managed to stay in character and not go off course.
Previous to reading the book, this had been a big fear of mine. I put off reading it due to the fact that I don’t like to finish off series' that I really enjoy because then it WILL DEFINITELY be over and also, because I don’t want to be disappointed. It even happened with Harry Potter- but that’s a whole other story.
CONCLUSION:
I enjoyed Mockingjay a lot and would recommend this trilogy to anyone. It really is the cream of the crop of both dystopian fiction and YA fiction. Though there were some qualms (which are stated above) that I had with the book, I liked it very much overall and was sad to have finished. I hope to read more from Suzanne Collins soon!
Book Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Concept: 5/5
Author: Suzanne Collins
