Rating: 4.5/5 StarsGenre: Science Fiction/Dystopia
Release Date: 8/24/2010
Books in Series: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
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THIS REVIEW CONTAINS WHAT SOME MAY SEE AS MINOR SPOILERS-PLEASE BE CAREFUL OF SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS. FOR MAJOR SPOILERS POST IN THE MOCKINGJAY SPOILER POST
About the Book: The third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Rebellion is happening, Katniss is wanted to lead it, but she doesn't know if she can. No one is safe as the Capitol and the rebels fight in a powerplay and Katniss is in the middle of it all. Can she save the people she loves? Will the rebellion take down President Snow?
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I bought the book at midnight and had it finished five hours later. The story was very engaging and action packed and I had to keep reading-even if it meant staying up all night!!
Mockingjay, and The Hunger Games trilogy in general, are books that beg to be discussed. After Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan read it, we spent an hour and a half talking about Mockingjay, and probably would have talked more if sleep hadn't taken over. I really feel like the books have a wide appeal and would really be great for a multi-generational book discussion-I think different ages will view things differently and I really can't wait to talk to my teens about it.
This one has a different feel than the previous two-there's more war prep and combat than the other two books, but that's to be expected I guess, given that a rebellion is happening. There's also more on-page violence than in the first two books, which was somewhat jarring considering the first book had a lot of off-page violence. But then again, this is more of a war story and in war there are casualties and Ms. Collins never shies away from the pain and realities of war and its affects on everyone. I really loved that there wasn't an easy way out-the author shows that there never is an easy solution and that the path getting to the end isn't going to be easy-nor is the recovery. War will always have an effect on those involved and there's never an easy answer. I also loved the fact that while District 13 was found, they weren't an immediate savior and made everything better-District 13 wasn't perfect and the utopia some might have expected.
The characters are very broken-think of all Katniss has been through leading up to this point-and throughout the book she switches between being strong and letting her broken state weigh her down. To me this made her even more realistic.
There are lots of new characters introduced, but you get to know many of them, even if they are supporting characters. Ms. Collins has a way of writing about the supporting cast that makes you know them and care about them even if you haven't known them the whole series. Plus, she gives main characters who we haven't really gotten to see or know about from the first two books a time to shine, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, I was satisfied with the ending and thought it was a great and realistic conclusion to the series.
Why only 4.5 Stars? MAJOR SPOILERS!! Highlight to see: I really felt one of the main four-Gale, Peeta, Haymitch or Katniss needed to die. I felt by having all of them come out of it all alive, even while damaged, was a little too perfect. I also thought there was just a bit of the of combat training narrative that could have been cut-for me, that dragged the book down a bit.
Full Disclosure: Reviewed from personal copy I purchased
A friend of mine commented that she thought Hunger Games was actually more of a middle grade novel because so much of the violence was off-screen. She made that comment a few hours before I read it, but I had to agree.
ReplyDeleteThis one is very much YA.
Great review...I read it because yours is the first I've seen sans major spoilers. I'm loving Mockingjay right now, and I'm putting my review up tomorrow :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it!
Jennie-Agree totally!! I booktalked Hunger Games to fifth and sixth grade classes but Mockingjay is YA. I think readers who were mature enough to handle HP7 can possibly handle Mockingjay as well, but it is older than the previous two in terms of theme and violence.
ReplyDeleteMelissa-Thanks-I'm looking forward to check out your reivew! I tried to be very vague and not really give anything away!:)
I really really loved the finish to this series, and I see where you're coming from in your highlighted comments, but I suppose the Gale vs Peeta decision (if there ever really was one) would have been always in question if there had been an alternate ending with them.
ReplyDeleteI've linked to your review at mine of the same, here: http://www.thediaryofabookworm.com/2010/08/mockingjay-review-with-nothing-you-cant.html
Nice review - thanks. You must have been really excited to have whizzed through it like that!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be one of the few people whose review I've read that felt the ending was too perfect - most seem to have found it upsetting and unhappy. I agree though, some of the big characters should have gone. For me, I'd have liked to see some bigger deaths in the first two books to set up the fragility of life and the peril that the characters were living in.
Hey-ho, maybe I'm just a bloodthirsty wotsit.
My review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins