Mockingjay

Alert: spoilers abound. The overall pattern of the Hunger Games series is a familiar one to the genre: an ordinary individual (albeit one with some unordinary talents) is thrown into extraordinary circumstances, faces and overcomes an immediate threat to personal survival that turns into a much broader conflict in which this person plays a central part. Some of my favorite books or series follow this motif: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Dune, Ender's Game, Star Wars, the Hyperion series, His Dark Materials ... the list goes on and on. It is much easier to begin such a series than it is to end one. The beginning is easy, because the scope is smaller: a compelling mystery or situation, an enigmatic or charismatic hero or heroine, a seemingly insurmountable menace ... it all makes for good drama, pregnant with potential promise, with the details to be filled in later. A successful ending is much harder, and even amongst the works I listed earlier, some were able to achieve a successful ending better than others. This is because by the end of such works, the scope has enlarged, the world is bigger: for an author, it is easy for plot lines to spiral out of control (the post-Ender's Game trilogy and the finale of His Dark Materials come to mind) or for the ending to seem too implausibly 'pat', too "happily ever after" to do justice to the difficult journey trekked by the characters we grew close to. And yet, it is safer for an author to hew to the latter course, as there is something innately human about the desire to root for the "one man against the universe" who triumphs over all odds, beats the bad guy, and gets the girl (or boy) and the gold too, as improbable as it might be. That's why we love action movies, even though most deserve the caveat "as long as you don't think about it too much ..." This is why I loved Mockingjay, and found Suzanne Collins' ending to this series to be a remarkably brave choice. The "easy way out" was starkly apparent: Katniss could have saved Peeta (in a unique twist on the 'damsel in distress' motif--I must say, I found the choice of a female protagonist to be remarkably smart on Collins' part and refreshing for the genre), killed the bad guy, and they all could have lived happily ever after (with the man of her choosing). On some level, that might have still been a satisfying ending. But Collins' aim is to raise questions, strip assumptions bare, and leave the reader burned and bothered about the fundamental nature of reality, and of war most specifically. Actions have lasting repercussions, wounds and fear do not simply fade away during the chapter break. For me, the fact that Katniss attempts to run away from her demons makes her extraordinarily real. She has been beaten, stabbed, shot, blown up, poisoned, and tortured; she has killed and watched her closest friends and family be tortured and killed, while bearing responsibility at least in part for these actions; she has endured the genocide of her people. If this did not break her, how could she still be considered human? I would ask the critics who wished for a more stoic Katniss what they would have done in her shoes. Particularly given that the weight of Katniss' burden becomes increasingly weighty as Mockingjay continues and it becomes more and more clear that the liberators are fundamentally little different from the oppressors; a new regime under Coin would be no better--and perhaps worse in some ways--than one under Snow. One might be able to tolerate the pain and death if one believed it would lead to a brighter future, but this does not seem to be true had District 13 become the new masters of Panem. The "mission to kill Snow", which would have ended in the predictable 'triumphant victory of good over evil' in the hands of a less-skilled author quickly became a brilliantly perverse mockery of this trite motif, as it quickly becomes clear that Coin has sent Katniss to die along with some other people Coin viewed as a threat (all while keeping the cameras rolling for usable shots of 'the martyrdom of the Mockingjay'). The manner of Prim's death is also particularly heartbreaking, as is the realization that the revolution is really just the Hunger Games on a larger scale--whether orchestrated by Snow or by Coin, there is only one winner (and it is most decidedly not the superficial "winning tribute" of the Games). Both Snow and Coin's manipulation of reality, through propaganda and the use of the Hunger Games and the revolution as "reality TV" was also chilling, resulting in the need for the main characters to constantly question what was 'real' and what was 'not real': made up for the games, or the propaganda, or the war. As a reader, that moment when Katniss shifted her arrow, sending Coin to her death, was cathartic. She chose a 'third way' of sorts, a choice that meant true freedom and liberation for Panem (even if it potentially meant her own death). Even in this moment, Katniss has likely been manipulated (by Snow, and probably even more importantly by Paylor, whose decision to let Katniss speak to Snow set the final events in motion ... and resulted in Paylor assuming the presidency). Yet, at worst, this 'manipulation' served to fully reveal the truth, allowing Katniss to make a true, fully-informed choice. As if to validate the rightness of this choice, the book ends with the indication that a 'new normal' has been created, one more hopeful than could have been possible under either Snow or Coin. True to form, the wounds remain; yet, life goes on. Through her sacrifice and pain, Katniss has created a better world for the next generation; she has also chosen (wisely I believe) the partner with whom together they can make each other whole. The dynamic between Katniss and Peeta was one of the most important and interesting aspects of the entire series, so personally I found it gratifying to see them together at the end, starting a new family (although even this slight nod to convention was tempered by the need to explain their nightmares and roles in the days of Capitol rule to their children). A more subdued and melancholy ending than is typical for this genre, but one that is ultimately true to its characters and the situations they faced: "happy ever after" is for the 'propos' and Capitol newscasts, not reality. Not understanding this fact would make us little better than the viewers in the Capitol watching the Hunger Games for entertainment, seeing the individuals not as people but as 'characters' there to simply give us a good show. Collins expects and demands more of us. After a long and painful journey, a satisfying, if bittersweet, ending to an emotional, intelligent, and wonderful series that I look forward to going back and re-reading at some point in the future. The Hunger Games series more than met my expectations and has gone down as one of my all-time favorite series that I can highly recommend to others. 5 stars, easily.

This is the third, and final, book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. If you read the first two books, you will read this one. All I can say is to be prepared for one heck of a ride. A lot happens in this book and Collins doesn't hold off on killing off a lot of people. The book starts where Catching Fire left off. Katniss is in District 13 with Gale, her mom, and her sister Prim. The Rebel group based in District 13 is trying to get Katniss to take up the Mockingjay symbol and become the face of their revolution. Katniss is unsure if she wants to go this route or not. Peeta is still missing and presumed captured by President Snow and being held in the Capital. Katniss's journey eventually leads to the capital itself and a final face-off with President Snow. This is a hard book to review without spoilers but I will give it my best shot. The pace of this book is relentless. Collins does not pull punches when it comes to killing off large groups of people, as well as people we love and care about. This is a dark book, and that is putting it mildly. As far as characterization goes we begin to see even more of what defines Katniss as a character; she is not sentimental, she is a survivor foremost and that it what sets her apart from others. A lot of the decisions made by Katniss in this book are driven by that personality trait. In fact at one point Gale and Peeta are discussing Katniss and who she will "choose". Gale sums it up perfectly when he says something to the effect of "Katniss will choose whoever she can't survive without." On to other characters. The ruthlessness we saw in Gale at the end of the Catching Fire is built upon in this book. Gale is ruthless and practical to the point of dislike at times. He begins to look like a character that likes what Katniss stands for, rather than who she is. At the end of book two I was Team Gale all the way. I thought that Gale and Katniss had more in common in survival instincts and could pull off a good relationship based on those characteristics. As this book starts and continues, we see a side of Gale that is more ruthless and dispassionate than ever before. In order to avoid spoilers I won't say much about Peeta, except that he is back in the story for the second half of the book. Collins does an excellent job at showing both sides of the story. You get to see both the good the rebel forces do, and the harm they cause in rebelling against the Capital. As Katniss and team enter the capital, Collins relates the Capital takeover as yet another type of dome just like previous "Hunger Games" this is an interesting idea and ties the three novels together well. In each of them we see our teams of characters struggling to stay alive, doing things no one should have to do. In each book there are brutal deaths. There's quite the twist at the end of this book. People may be surprised at who Katniss kills. All I have to say about this is that I was satisfied with the choice Katniss made, and had actually been hoping that Collins would have it play out that way. Katniss's actions at the end seemed like the best way to follow Katniss's beliefs, while trying to ensure the best ending for humanity as a whole. The epilogue was interesting. It was kind of nice to get a definitive ending to everything that played out before. It wrapped things up nicely. Still, I didn't think the epilogue was necessary and I think the book would have actually been a bit better and more thought-provoking without it. As with the previous books the writing style of this book was incredibly readable and engaging; no matter people think of the plot, you have to admit Collins is one heck of a great writer. Overall I thought this was an excellent conclusion to the series. Readers may not like how some of things play-out; but I thought they played out realistically and I liked the decisions Katniss made at the end...I thought her decisions really stayed true to the core personality trait of her character, which was to survive. I am eagerly awaiting whatever Collins comes up with next.

This novel kept saying things in a way so easy to understand and so difficult to digest. The author.. god she knows at what point the peaks and lows should be. And the humor and inside jokes. The details in which she explained the environment and situations. I loved reading this novel beside the marvelous plot it provided. Only part which didn't waved soemthing was elaborating the dark scenes so much. Back and forth. And giving the essence of it right in front of our nose. Like its a white rose.

Esta serie de Hunger Games atrapó a mi adolescente, muy recomendable para que tengan el hábito de la lectura.

The first two books of this trilogy: The Hunger Games and Catching Fire have both been exceptionally written and both had an excellent, exciting execution. I would highly recommend both of them to anyone. Although I given this book a 5 star rating, I believe there are a few 'kinks' with this book that have not been experienced with the two previous ones. Firstly, the novel starts off to be quite slow, boring and generally uninteresting leaving the reader somewhat demoralised and therefore hoping for more in the rest of the book, which sadly does not come up to expectations. However, as I have said the expectations are very high due to the lacking introduction. Personally, I found the introduction repetitive but according to physologists, the way in which Katniss continually behaves is normal, therefore showing that this book is actually slightly factual. Eventually, after the boredom of the start of the book, we begin to see more action unfold. From here, the book is superbly and masterfully written. The teams of 'Team Gale' and 'Team Peeta', which originates from the Twilight series, is constantly in war within this book as you would expect, however to me, this becomes tedious as Collins continues to make Katniss constantly swapping between the two. ***SPOILERS ALERT*** Eventually, Katniss chooses Peeta even after his ordeal with the Capitol. However, she is displayed as not loving him or the children they bear. To me this is ridiculous, a story's plot is followed by the main character - the plot is over throwing the Capitol and regaining power to oneselves and allowing oneself to make decisions about oneself and not having the Capitol make the decisions. Of course, the Capitol does fall but Katniss does not gain her independency but rather continues to allow herself be controlled by people around her. Example: President Snow manipulates her and controls her to kill the President of District 13. This is not right! She should gain some independence and make her own decisions, she should come out of the war and heal but she does not. Is Collins writing a political book about the effects of war or is this a young adults book where the character should not be so close to reality? ***SPOILERS ENDED*** The book is exceptionally moving in parts and can bring some to tears, however when you question why Collins did something, the answer is: "To hurt Katniss more". We see many deaths, however many of these are anonomous, for we do not know who most of the people who are dying are and therefore their deaths become pointless and meaningless (perhaps that is what she intended). There is a lack of characterisation in characters such as Gale, Peeta, Katniss, Prim and their mother and this makes it harder for the reader to empathise with them - something not seen in the previous books. However, despite all of this, I did give it a 5 star rating after all and I did so because it deserved it. It has a lot of action and makes you continue to read until you know exactly what happens, which I admit is perhaps unsatisfying to some but overall, I believe that even the people who rated it badly only did so out of spite for they didn't like the way that Katniss suffers and ***SPOILER ALERT*** doesn't truly recover. ***SPOILER ENDED*** It is a must read and I would recommend it to anyone but it is not quite as good as the previous books but The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were absolutely outstanding.

La trilogie se dévore et se relit même avec le même plaisir. Dire qu'il s'agit d'un livre pour adolescents me paraît réducteur. certes les personnages principaux sont des adolescents mais à la différence des Harry Potter ou Twilight, l'histoire aborde toute une série de thèmes qui font appel à un minimum de culture et ou de connaissances historico-politico-sociétaux : références aux régimes totalitaires, à la rome antique, à la manipulation médiatique, à la téléréalité.... en outre, l'histoire est dramatique, cynique sur le comportement humain, on est loin d'un happy end ou du "ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants". Mon reproche se trouve sur le côté très prude de la romance qui me paraît peu crédible et sur la fin : Le roman comprend +/- 1200 (les 3) et l'auteur balaie la fin sur - de 20 pages. Une fois la révolte terminée, l'auteur semble n'avoir plus rien à dire ce qui est dommage compte tenu de la qualité des +/- 1180 pages qui précèdent. Bref, une trilogie d'enfer, géniale.

Just as like my Catching Fire review, this book is magnificent. People can argue about the ending, how it was "rushed" but I find she made it perfectly. She gave the reader a sense of what happened, how the "Star Crossed Lovers" ended up, and give freedom to the reader for some specific things. Not so much that it feels rushed, but amazing. The book is just as long as its predecessors 391 pgs. The book comes with many twists and turns, and has an extremely realistic ending. It is not your typical love story. Twilight is baloney, this is extremely well crafted, and a successful ending only adds to the experience. The ending is true to the characters, and very great. Like Catching Fire, the quality is amazing, nothing wrong with the pages or hard cover, slip cover was also not ripped. The book gets 5 STARS.