Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press
Copyright: August 2010
978-0439023511

The amazon.com product description:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

Mockingjay is the third and final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, following on The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. It's also going to be a hard one to review without giving out spoilers. So... Off the top, I'm going to say that Mockingjay was an incredible story that kept me up until it was finished. In other words, I was reading until three A.M.

At the end of Catching Fire, Katniss was safe, as were half of the remaining tributes from the Quarter Quell Hunger Games. But, the fate of the others, including Peeta remained unknown. Well, Mockingjay picks things up from that point and keeps going as if there'd never been a break. All of the unresolved threads from Catching Fire are picked up at some point and sorted out: District 13, Katniss's family, Peeta, District 12, and of course, the Rebellion.

Even without a Hunger Games to center on, Mockingjay is a fast-paced and exciting novel to read. Although, it does rather require reading the first two books to understand this one. It's a bit different though, because there is more to it than just the action sequences. Katniss is learning about herself and how she's seen by the world of Panem, as well as the responsibilities that brings, being the Mockingjay and symbol of the rebellion. She does have some hard choices to make in this book.

There are some pretty good twists that you'll never see coming too. Not everyone is as they seem. That's a good part of what made the book so impossible to put down.

I won't recommend this series to younger teens. It's just a bit too brutal and violent. But, for older teens and some adults? Go for it. You won't be able to put it down. One thing about Mockingjay in this vein is that it doesn't glorify violence and war. It treats it as horrible, but sometimes as a necessity. The characters change because of what's going on.

A very good book, and a worthy ending to a good series.